Biennial Graduate Student Diversity Challenge Conference

We are thrilled to offer a free platform at the ISRC for graduate students to showcase their research and foster engaging discussions within a community of experienced scholars. Our conference is dedicated to advancing the field of psychological scholarship, specifically in relation to race and racism.

Race and Racism in Psychological Science:
Considerations for Emerging Scholars
November 11, 2023
Online via Zoom

This opportunity is focused on showcasing the work of Graduate students as they present their work and receive valuable mentorship from esteemed scholars in this field. Join us to contribute to the production and dissemination of impactful research on race and racism. This conference is free and open to graduate students.Ìý

Call for Proposals

We are inviting submissions of proposals for poster presentations, individual research papers, and symposia focused on various aspects of race, racism, anti-racism and racial trauma. The symposia proposals should represent a collection of 3 presentations centered on a unifying theme and can comprise both research and conceptual presentations.

Please submit your proposal to isrclsehd@bc.edu no later than SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

When submitting your proposal, please include the following in separate documents:

  • Cover page with Presenters and Affiliation
  • Overview of presentation:Ìý
    • 300 words maximum for posters and individual paper presentations
    • 500 words maximum for symposia including a brief description of each individual presentation

The proposals will be submitted to an anonymous peer review process and notifications of acceptances will be issued by September 23, 2023.

The Keynote Address will be delivered by Dr. Brian TaeHyuk Keum (he/him) from 9:30am-10:45am EST. Dr. Keum will share his personal growth and development as a scholar, including what drew him to study race and racism and some of his critical research findings.

Dr. Brian Keum
Dr. Brian Keum
Boston College
He/Him
X
Dr. Brian Keum

Dr. Brian Keum

Boston College

He/Him

Brian TaeHyuk Keum, PhD, (he/him/his) is the Buehler Family Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College. He was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at UCLA. He earned his PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park. Dr. Keum's research focuses on (a) mental and behavioral costs of online oppression (e.g., online racism), (b) intersectional perspectives in mental health and socialization among Asian Americans, (c) multicultural and social justice issues in clinical training, (d) culturally-congruent and culturally-relevant psychological measure development/evaluation, and (e) promotion of cross-racial anti-racism solidarity.ÌýHe is the recipient of the Rising Star Award by the National Multicultural Conference Summit, the Division 17 Fritz & Linn Kuder Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Counseling Psychology, the Division 45 Emerging Professional - Contributions to Research Award, and the Division 46 Distinguished Early Career Professional Contributions to Media Psychology & Technology Award.ÌýHis work has been covered by various national media outlets such as The Washington Post, LA Times, CEOMOM, VICE, Kaiser Health, MedicalXpress, and NPR subsidiaries. Dr. Keum has received over $1 million in funding from numerous local and national organizations, including a three-year $800,000 grant from the State of California's Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program examining the role online racism can have on tobacco product use among racially minoritized emerging adults and ways to mitigate the harmful outcomes.

Panelists

Roberto Abreu
Roberto Abreu
University of Florida
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Roberto Abreu

Roberto Abreu

University of Florida

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Roberto L. Abreu (³ó±ð/³ó¾±³¾/é±ô) is an assistant professor of Counseling Psychology and the director of the Collective Healing and Empowering VoicEs through Research and Engagement (¡Chévere!) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida (UF). He is also an affiliate faculty in Center for Latin American Studies, and the Center for Gender, Sexualities and Women’s Studies Research at UF. His research explores ways in which marginalized communities resist systemic oppression and promote collective well-being. Specifically, my work has made significant contributions in four areas: (1) relational experiences and mental health outcomes among Latinx LGBTQ youth and their families and communities, (2) relational experiences and mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth and their families, schools, and communities, (3) LGBTQ adults’ experiences of discrimination, oppression, violence, and support, and (4) immigration and mental health outcomes within Latinx communities.Ìý

Roberto’s work is guided by social justice values such as person-environment interactions, growth, resilience, and resistance. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in over 30 top-tier journals, over 12 book chapters, and co-edited two books: (1) Affirming LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education (APA publication) and (2) LGBTQ+ Affirmative Psychological Interventions: A Latine/x Perspective (Springer publication). Roberto currently serves as Associate Editor for Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion (JPHP) and Qualitative Psychology (QP).

Alvin Alvarez
Alvin Alvarez
San Francisco State University
he/him
X
Alvin Alvarez

Alvin Alvarez

San Francisco State University

he/him

Alvin Alvarez (he/him) is currently a Professor of Counseling and formerly the Dean of the College of Health and Social Sciences at San Francisco State University. His doctorate is in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland. His scholarship focuses on Asian Americans, racial identity, and the psychological impact of racism and has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and has been awarded the Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship and the Asian Pacific American Network Research Award from the American College Personnel Association. He is the coauthor of The Cost of Racism: Contextualizing the Experience of Discrimination, and Asian American Psychology: Current Perspectives. He received the Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award from the Society of Counseling Psychology. He is a past President of both the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race – Division 45 of APA and the Asian American Psychological Association who awarded him their Distinguished Contributions Award and the Early Career Award. His proudest achievements though are his two daughters – Sabrina (14) and Sophie (11) – who are convinced they are smart and funny young women with even more important things to accomplish than him!Ìý

Jioni Lewis
Jioni Lewis
University of Maryland, College Park
she/her
X
Jioni Lewis

Jioni Lewis

University of Maryland, College Park

she/her

Jioni A. Lewis (she/her) is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of Training in the Counseling Psychology Doctoral Program in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Lewis’s primary line of research applies intersectionality theory to investigate the influence of racism and sexism on Black women’s health and wellbeing. She also examines protective factors that buffer individuals against the harmful effects of gendered racism, such as radical healing, collective coping, and resistance strategies. Dr. Lewis has received several national awards for her research, teaching, and advocacy, including the 2019 Emerging Professional Contributions to Research Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race (APA Division 45), the 2020 Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology Award from the Committee on Women in Psychology, and the 2022 Fritz & Linn Kuder Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the Society of Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17). She is Past-President of the Psychology of Black Women (APA Division 35-Section I), where she served as Lead Coordinator of the Inaugural Psychology of Black Women Conference in 2021. She is currently the Vice President for Education and Training for the Society of Counseling Psychology.

Bryan Kim
Bryan Kim
University of Hawaii at Hilo
he/him
X
Bryan Kim

Bryan Kim

University of Hawaii at Hilo

he/him

Bryan S. K. Kim (he/him) is a professor of psychology and the chairperson of the Division of Social Sciences at University of Hawaii at Hilo. He received his PhD in Combined Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (Emphasis: Counseling Psychology) from University of California at Santa Barbara. Previous to UH Hilo, Dr. Kim was a tenured associate professor at UC Santa Barbara and before that a tenure-track assistant professor at University of Maryland. Dr. Kim has over 90 publications (including 9 psychological instruments) and 100 presentations in the areas of multicultural counseling process and outcome, measurement of cultural constructs, counselor education and supervision, and immigrant experiences. His current research examines the relations among enculturation and acculturation (e.g., adherence to Asian cultural values) and psychological functioning among Asian Americans and Asian international persons. Dr. Kim is currently the editor of The Counseling Psychologist journal and the immediate past editor of the Asian American Journal of Psychology. Dr. Kim serves on the editorial boards of several other journals including the Journal of Counseling Psychology. Dr. Kim is a recipient of research awards from several psychology and counseling organizations and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 17, 29, and 45), Asian American Psychological Association, and International Academy for Intercultural Research.

Yara Mekawi
Yara Mekawi
University of Louisville
she/her
X
Yara Mekawi

Yara Mekawi

University of Louisville

she/her

Yara Mekawi, PhD, (she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville. She is the director of the Challenging Ongoing Legacies Of Racism (COLOR) lab and her research focuses on examining racial discrimination and racial prejudice at the intersection of affect and cognition. Using interdisciplinary and multi-method approaches, she pursues three main lines of inquiry: (a) What are the cognitive and affective mechanisms through which race-related stress is associated with psychopathology in racially marginalized groups? (b) What are the cognitive and affective factors that maintain racially-prejudiced behavior and attitudes among White individuals? and (c) What are the most effective strategies to reduce racial prejudice and ameliorate its effects on the mental health of individuals from racially marginalized groups? Dr. Mekawi is interested in the assessment and integration of meaningful DEI practices within organizations and the implementation of interventions designed to increase access for historically excluded racial groups. In her spare time, she dabbles in portrait and macro photography, graphic design, laser engraving, and painting.

Shawn Utsey
Shawn Utsey
Virginia Commonwealth University
he/him
X
Shawn Utsey

Shawn Utsey

Virginia Commonwealth University

he/him

Shawn Utsey (he/him) is a Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his B.A. in psychology from North Carolina A&T State University, his M.A. in rehabilitation counseling from New York University, and his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Fordham University. Dr. Utsey’s research is focused on understanding how racism-related stress impacts the psychological and physiological health of African Americans. In addition, he has examined how trauma is manifest in the victims of racial violence. Dr. Utsey is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of Virginia, where he has a private practice specializing in treating race-based traumatic injury.

Ìý

Elizabeth Vera
Elizabeth Vera
Loyola University, Chicago
she/her
X
Elizabeth Vera

Elizabeth Vera

Loyola University, Chicago

she/her

Elizabeth Vera (she/her) is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University. Dr. Vera's areas of scholarship include well-being of BIPOC and linguistically diverse youth, conceptualizations of social justice, and the application of prevention, outreach, and advocacy in the field of psychology. She is an Associate Editor for The Counseling Psychologist, and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Divisions 17 and 45.

Melanie (Mel) Wilcox
Melanie (Mel) Wilcox
Augusta University
she/her
X
Melanie (Mel) Wilcox

Melanie (Mel) Wilcox

Augusta University

she/her

Melanie (Mel) M. Wilcox, PhD, ABPP (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department ofÌýPsychological Sciences, Institute of Public and Preventive Health, and Department of PsychiatryÌýat Augusta University. Her research, leadership, and advocacy is centered around three pillars:Ìý(1) Culturally and structurally responsive care and training; (2) Racial and socioeconomicÌýinequity in higher education; and (3) critical whiteness, antiracism, and social justice moreÌýbroadly. She is currently President-Elect of APA Division 17, the Society of CounselingÌýPsychology. She is also in her 6 th and final year on the APA Board of Educational Affairs. Mel is aÌýlicensed psychologist and works part-time in private practice at the Aguirre Center for InclusiveÌýPsychotherapy in Atlanta, GA, providing psychotherapy and psychological assessment viaÌýtelehealth.