The Academic Minute from 08.30 – 09.03
Monday, August 30th
Heather Tanana – University of Utah
Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribes in the Colorado River Basin
Heather Tanana is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and Assistant Professor & Wallace Stegner Center Fellow at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Heather is experienced in state, federal, and tribal courts and clerked for Judge Nuffer at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. In recognition of her work related to Tribal communities and the pandemic, Heather was awarded 2020 Attorney of the Year from the Energy, Natural Resources & Environmental Law Section and the Jimi Mitsunaga Excellence in the Law Award from the Utah Minority Bar Association. Heather’s research interests include exploring the overlay between environmental and health policy, promoting better practices in Indian child welfare, and criminal justice in Indian Country.
Tuesday, August 31st
April Thames – University of Southern California Dornsife
Toxic Racism
April Thames is an associate professor of Psychology who studies how social context interacts with the brain to influence health and mental health outcome. She operates a translational neuroscience research program that studies the impact of chronic disease, substance abuse and socioeconomic disadvantage on neurological, cognitive and mental health outcomes.
Wednesday, September 1st
Edna Chun – Columbia University
Systemic Racism
Dr. Edna B. Chun is an award-winning author and educational thought leader with more than two decades of strategic human resource and diversity leadership experience in public higher education. Dr. Chun has co-authored eleven books and numerous journal articles in the areas of talent management, human resources, and diversity. Two of her books, Are the Walls Really Down? Behavioral and Organizational Barriers to Faculty and Staff Diversity and Bridging the Diversity Divide: Globalization and Reciprocal Empowerment in Higher Education received the prestigious Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). The New Talent Acquisition Frontier, the first book to lay out a concrete roadmap to the integration of HR and diversity strategy, was awarded a silver medal in the 2014 Axiom Business Book Awards.
Thursday, September 2nd
Phil Chen – Beloit College
Political Representation
Philip’s work has appeared in numerous journals in political science and psychology, including Political Behavior, American Politics Research, Personality and Individual Differences, and Political Research Quarterly. His work concerns the role of social identity in U.S. politics through the lens of political psychology, with a particular focus on how political communication alters the effects of race and gender on political behavior and public opinion.
Philip is a frequent guest on Wisconsin Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio. Prior to entering academia, he worked for the Minnesota State Legislature. He teaches courses on U.S. politics, race and ethnicity, political psychology, and research methodology.
Friday, September 3rd
Leanne Dzubinski – Biola University
Gender Bias
Leanne Dzubinski is Associate Professor of Intercultural Education in the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University. She teaches doctoral courses on education, leadership, and research methods for students working in multicultural settings. She completed her PhD in Adult Education and HROD at the University of Georgia. Her publications include studies of adult learning, online learning, qualitative research, women in leadership, and women in Christianity.
