Dr. Mays Imad‘s academic journey began at the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where she pursued philosophy and minored in chemistry. She earned a doctoral degree in cellular & clinical neurobiology, with a minor in biomedical sciences, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona’s Department of Neuroscience, she joined Pima Community College (PCC), where she taught a variety of biology-related subjects. During her tenure at PCC, she founded their Teaching and Learning Center (TLC). Throughout her education and professional journey, Dr. Imad has maintained a keen interest in exploring how the nervous system perceives and interacts with the world, which has deeply influenced her approach to both teaching and research.
Currently serving as an associate professor at Connecticut College, Dr. Imad is focused on understanding the social determinants of student wellbeing and success and conducts research on biofeedback, trauma-informed education, and equity pedagogy. Her work reflects a deep commitment to equity and justice and repair in and through education. With fervor, she advocates for institutions to pay close attention to intergenerational trauma and to prioritize repair, healing, and growth. She holds fellowships with the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) as a Senior STEM Fellow, the Mind and Life Institute, and is a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Dr. Treya Allen is an education developer, teacher, and developer of teachers. She currently serves as the DEI-Focused Instructional Support Coordinator in the Office at General Education at the University of Arizona and a part-time faculty member in the Psychology, African American Studies, and Student Success disciplines at Pima Community College. Her teaching practice centers on elevating scholars and families through culturally relevant ways of knowing–both ancestral and intergenerational. She is the curator of underground retention programs for Black scholars at the collegiate level and an independent learning specialist for students in K-12. Her mission is to empower parents as the first teacher of their children and to see Black children soar academically, socially, and developmentally.
Having been a Black girl and woman in the same public pre-K through graduate school schooling systems, Dr. Allen’s research centers on the exploration of experiences of Black women and girls in higher education and the development of specific support for and retention. A result of this work has been the development of mentoring groups and retention programming with the direct purpose of helping Black women and girls succeed both academically and professionally.
She is committed both to academic and community spheres of engagement as it relates to Black communities. She currently serves on the Metropolitan Education Commission as a Commissioner representing Black students and families and as the Vice Chair of the Executive board of that same body. She is readily found across the state of Arizona serving as afforded the opportunity.
Dr. Allen is a proud first-generation college and graduate student. She is also a proud triple-alumna of Northern Arizona University having earned her Bachelor degree in Sociology, Master degree in Human Relations Counseling, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her favorite place in the world is in the middle of a book stack in any library, bookstore, or archive.
Dr. Hyun Joon Park is an Assistant Professor of psychology at Ajou University, South Korea.
Being exposed to group-based discrimination or negative stereotypes can lead individuals to experience psychological threat. Hyun Joon investigates the multilevel pathways (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup, and regional-level processes) through which psychological threat impacts academic performance, intergroup relations, and health, with a focus on testing interventions that mitigate the experience of threat.
A defining feature of his research is that he utilizes innovative biological and computational approaches to maximize the ecological validity of his work. Dr. Park graduated in August 2022 with a Ph.D. in social psychology, and a minor in social data analytics (a program focused on applying computational methods to social sciences), from The Pennsylvania State University. He received his undergraduate degree from Korea University with a double major in psychology and economics.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Park served as an assistant professor of Psychology at Connecticut College.
Dr. Michael Reder is the director of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning at Connecticut College. He has worked with dozens of colleges and universities to help them provide effective support for their faculty, create holistic and integrative curricula, and utilize assessment evidence—all focused on improving student undergraduate learning and experiences.
Dr. Reder regularly runs workshops that focus on instituting high-impact, equity-focused teaching practices, at a variety of national and international conferences, including the American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) Annual and Network meetings, as well as the POD Network. He also has worked with leading universities and colleges across the United States and the world, offering workshops for faculty and staff designed to improve student learning. Dr. Reder’s work on improving teaching and learning has been published in To Improve the Academy, AAC&U’s Peer Review and Liberal Education, and Essays in Teaching Excellence. He has contributed chapters to the books Rethinking Liberal Education and A Guide to Faculty Development 2nd ed. He has guest edited a special issue of the Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning (JCTL) focused on improving teaching and learning at smaller institutions. He serves on the Editorial Boards of JCTL and AAC&U’s Liberal Education. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics and philosophy, and a doctorate in literature and literary theory.
Dr. Nadine V. Wedderburn is Associate Professor in Social Science and Public Affairs at Empire State University (SUNY) in upstate New York. She teaches sociology, public policy, public affairs, and research methods, and her research interests lie at the intersection of society, race, and justice. A strong advocate of lifelong learning, Dr. Wedderburn is committed to holistically supporting the intellectual and professional growth of students, helping them joyfully uncover their knowledge, skills and abilities lodged in unique spaces of learning. Dr. Wedderburn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Florida International University.
Dr. Bryana White is a clinical psychologist who integrates evidence-based therapy methods and identity-affirming practices to support and empower clients in their movement toward mental health and wellbeing. Dr. White’s undergraduate studies were completed at Vassar College where she majored in psychology and Italian, and completed a correlate sequence in Africana studies. Dr. White completed her masters’ degree in psychology and her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Rhode Island. There she focused on the connection between intersecting aspects of identity, sociopolitical realities, and psychological functioning.
Dr. White’s primary work is clinical and applied in nature. She approaches clients, learners, and communities in a manner that is trauma-informed, with compassion and understanding, and she works to honor and affirm all parts of who people are and what they experience. Notably, her appreciation of the impact of sociopolitical realities on individuals’ experiences, relationships, and psychological functioning informs the approach of all of her work. Much of her early career work took place in the context of college mental health. Recently, Dr. White served as the Assistant Director and Identity-focused Specialist of Student Counseling Services at Connecticut College. Presently she works as a clinical psychologist at Rhode Island Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a practice providing mental healthcare to a broad range of individuals. She also facilitates individual and community-level interventions that support mental health and well-being from an identity-informed and integrative framework.
Dr. White teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Rhode Island and provides supervision to graduate students as well as postdoctoral and early career psychologists. Finally, Dr. White provides consultative services related to college mental health and the ethical approach of aspects of identity across contexts.