WEBVTT

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- Thank you so much.

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I know it's kind of a pain in the neck

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to come out on a Saturday morning,

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but we know that you're here, most of you,

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for other annual conference
programming, and it's our

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only chance to actually get
you together as a class.

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So, here you are, the class of 2015,

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and you are-- (laughs)

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(cheers)

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and you are, as of last week,

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a student of mine pointed out,

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now halfway through your program.

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You're halfway through
summer, too. (laughs)

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(cheers)

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You're half way done.

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It's actually fun for
us to see you all here,

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and we're happy to bring
you together as a class.

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Just a couple of, it's our
only chance to talk to you

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about any kind of updates
or changes that have

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happened since we saw
you last as a whole group

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in your first year orientation.

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So it's been an incredibly busy year here.

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As you know, we have a new
president of the college.

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We have a new provost who arrived here

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two days ago, and we have a new dean

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of the School for Social
Work who arrived on Monday.

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I got to meet the provost last night

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'cause we're in the middle
of annual conference,

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as you know, and she is
just a trip and a half.

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She's just smart and funny

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and relaxed, and the new
dean arrived, as you know,

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on Monday, and she is smart
and funny and relaxed,

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and I think we're all really gonna enjoy

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working with each other.

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It just feels really,
very, very, very good.

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So you've met Maryanne,
did many of you get

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to come to the reception and meet her?

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Yeah, I think you're gonna
have a good time with her.

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So we're very, very pleased about that.

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Importantly, I wanna introduce
to you more formally.

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Some of you have met, informally,

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Maria Del Mar Farina.

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(applause)

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I can't tell you how
happy I am about this.

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Katelin Lewis-Kulin joined
us a year ago, December,

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as a full-time Associate
Director of Field.

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She can't be here today
because of family illness,

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and sends her regrets.

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Maria joined us as a half-time

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Assistant Director of Field in May.

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She's a graduate of the MSW program here.

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She's in the middle of
her doctoral program here.

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She teaches at Westfield State.

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She teaches here.

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She has been on the
Counseling Service staff

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over here at Smith College, and she's now

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with us half-time, I don't
know how, all of this.

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She must have,

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and her daughter's here,
so she could attest.

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Maria has more energy

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than most people on the planet.

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But she's here half-time, and in part,

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I don't mean this in, I
know I sound a little jokey

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about the computer stuff,
but part of Maria's job

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is to drag me into the next century.

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I told people my daughter says,

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"Mom, you crawl into the 1970s

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"and then applaud yourself." (laughs)

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And I said, "Yes, that's about right."

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But I'm not great on all this,

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all this newfangled computer stuff,

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and Maria and Katelin have done just

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an extraordinary job of
getting materials up online,

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to get learning platforms up online.

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She's gonna be showing you
much of what she's done

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and I think it's gonna help enormously.

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Even though I don't
understand a lot of it,

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I think, the fact we have
students spread all over the

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country, and your lives are
getting more complicated.

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We know that the work in clinics

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is getting more complicated,

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and it's hard for people
to access information.

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I see, I know from my practice class,

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somebody from my class wrote to me

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at one in the morning with a paper.

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It's like you guys are going

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all hours of the day and night.

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And having some of this stuff up online

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is gonna make it far more
accessible to you, I think.

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Maria has taught here for how many years?

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10 years?

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She teaches second year practice as well.

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We're really glad she's
here, really glad to have

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a gifted teacher, clinician,
and educator here with us,

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so thank you.

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And it's great fun for me to have

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more of a team around me.

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It's been a one-woman
show for too long here.

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So these are very, very
important additions,

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I think, here to our staff and faculty.

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I wanna acknowledge for you as second year

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students, how complex
the land of Field is.

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We know full well that you're
going out into agencies

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that, I think, very well represent what

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social work practice
looks like these days.

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They're very much preparing you

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for the land of social work.

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But we're very aware that agencies

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are increasingly strapped financially,

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supervision hours are not billable,

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reimbursable hours for these supervisors,

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and I think we're pushing
up hill often times,

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to get the required supervision hours.

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We have a few more agencies where we've

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made planful, we don't
want it to be careless,

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planful decisions to
have an hour-and-a-half

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of individual, plus an
hour-and-a-half of group.

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And the clients are more
compromised in some ways

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by the time they're accessing care.

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We know full well that gone are the days

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where supervisors will
carefully select a caseload

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for students, based on
what the students' learning

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needs are, and that more
and more of you guys

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are going into agencies and seeing

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whoever comes in the door.

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And that by the time
people come in the door,

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they're often times in dire straits.

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Maria and I teaching second year practice,

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we're both very aware of it,
as we look at your papers

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and your case studies,
and your in-pass papers,

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how incredibly difficult
the clinical work is

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that you're dealing with.

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I want you to feel free to be students,

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and to be in process with that.

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I think, asking students mid-point

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in their training to work
with such incredibly complex

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mental health issues can pull
you off-center a little bit

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as learners, and to feeling
like you have to act like

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you know more than you do.

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Please know, you get to be learners.

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You get to turn to your supervisors.

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Use your faculty field advisors

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who are there to really help make sure

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you're getting what you need.

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I think, sometimes,
students aren't getting

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what they need, and then
they're afraid to speak up,

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or they say they're afraid
they'll get in trouble

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if they speak up, or
they're afraid they'll get

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their supervisor in
trouble if they speak up.

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Use your field advisor,
'cause their job, really,

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is to serve both you and
the agency, in terms of

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making sure you're getting what you need.

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And it really should
be a balanced caseload

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of about 12, 15 in the second year.

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Sometimes direct service
hours should be a mix,

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if it's approprate to the setting

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of individual, group, and or family.

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You should be getting
two hours of supervision.

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If it's not all individual,
at least two hours

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of some combo platter
of individual and group.

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And we want the caseload that's assigned

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for students to be a
caseload that's designed

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to meet your learning needs.

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For example, if you're a Spanish speaker

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and you want to work with predominantly

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Spanish-speaking clients.

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That's great, we're
happy to have you do it.

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If you're a Spanish speaker
and the agency suddenly

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starts assigning you every
single Spanish-speaking

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client who comes in the
door, because they've

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not done what they should
do around the staffing,

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that's not in the service
of your learning needs.

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Does that make sense?

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So we want you to have
as best as possible,

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a racially, ethnically, class,

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diagnostically varied
population as possible,

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that you're working with, and again,

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that it be on behalf of your learning.

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Makes sense?

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It's an increasingly
competitive world out there

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for interns, we have very
long-standing relationships

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with agencies that serve us well,

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but you do need to know that

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for most of the 96 years of the school,

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30 of which I have been here,

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students did not need to interview.

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Smith students didn't need
to interview for these

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field placements, agencies
just to saved spots for us.

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And this one agency in California said,

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"We've got two training spots.

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"We save one for Smith,
uninterviewed, save it

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"for you guys 'cause
your students are great.

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"Send the other spot out
for competitive interview."

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and they said to me, "We
turned away 55 qualified

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"applicants for that other spot."

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So you guys who've not had to interview,

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need to know that, that
you're sitting in spaces

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that have been preserved for you because

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of the relationship they've
got with the school,

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because of the faith they
have and the fact that

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you're clinically and
theoretically grounded

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by the time you get to them, in some ways.

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You're there twice as many hours.

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I think about other schools
who send students out

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into internship in September,
before they've even

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started any course work,
and it makes me worry.

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You guys have a lot of
coursework under your belts.

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So, you're well prepared
to go out, but just know

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you're sitting in spots for which 55

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other qualified candidates
were turned away.

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We did, in the last couple
of years, agree to let

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some students go out
on interview, which is

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a mixed blessing in some ways.

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It's allowed us to be competitive at some

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very, very top-notch places in the county,

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but it has forced us into
an interview situation

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with a number of these agencies.

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And that's tough, because it means we have

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to identify students
who might be interested

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in these spots really early, prepare you,

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get you out for interview.

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It means going through,

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some of you went through many hoops,

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go through one interview,
thank you very much,

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come back and go through
another interview.

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It becomes very, very competitive.

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And not every student who interviewed

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for a spot got it, and
that's a very different

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experience for us at Smith.

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And most students who didn't get them,

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didn't get them for any reason

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that is the fault of the student at all.

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They didn't get them
because there were 150

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other applicants and
somebody else had more years

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experience, does that make sense?

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So I don't want people feeling badly

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if they didn't get a
spot through interview.

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And many of you, over half of you

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are just tucked into spots without that.

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But just know, we have
one place that converted

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into an interview-only
spot, because two years ago,

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we had a student go out
there, and every other

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student in this very high-powered setting

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had had to competitively interview.

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Our student didn't, they
just popped right in

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to a Smith-saved spot, and our student,

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this is several years ago now,

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said to the rest of the student group,

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"I'm from Smith. I didn't
have to interview."

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And the training director
got on the phone and said,

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"Now you do."

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(laughter)

253
00:10:57.282 --> 00:10:59.725
Just be gracious with
your colleagues, I guess,

254
00:10:59.725 --> 00:11:02.294
is all I'm saying about that.

255
00:11:03.556 --> 00:11:06.435
I think you guys had student org elections

256
00:11:06.435 --> 00:11:08.455
this last week, is that a true story?

257
00:11:08.455 --> 00:11:10.220
Did I hear that?

258
00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:11.911
No, you haven't. You have.

259
00:11:11.911 --> 00:11:14.051
(students speaking)

260
00:11:14.051 --> 00:11:14.980
Pardon me?

261
00:11:15.903 --> 00:11:17.576
At the end of last term, ok.

262
00:11:17.576 --> 00:11:19.852
Since this is your only
meeting though, as a class,

263
00:11:19.852 --> 00:11:22.592
I wondered if student
org folks might stand

264
00:11:22.592 --> 00:11:24.519
and introduce themselves to your class,

265
00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.839
and tell us who you are,
and what you represented.

266
00:11:27.839 --> 00:11:30.308
(applause and cheers)

267
00:11:30.308 --> 00:11:31.488
Right.

268
00:11:31.488 --> 00:11:34.240
(applause)

269
00:11:35.103 --> 00:11:36.789
Jessica, starting with you,

270
00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:37.946
people probably know you,

271
00:11:37.946 --> 00:11:39.460
but tell people your name

272
00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:41.068
and what you're work will be.

273
00:11:41.068 --> 00:11:44.593
- I'm Jessica Summers

274
00:11:44.593 --> 00:11:47.492
and I'm the field rep for our class,

275
00:11:47.492 --> 00:11:48.626
or one of the field reps.

276
00:11:48.626 --> 00:11:51.339
- It's great, I'm glad. (laughs)

277
00:11:51.339 --> 00:11:53.574
(applause)

278
00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:56.963
- I'm Katie Forman, I'm the secretary.

279
00:11:57.897 --> 00:11:59.421
- Katie Foreman, secretary.

280
00:11:59.421 --> 00:12:01.200
(applause)

281
00:12:01.991 --> 00:12:03.149
- (mumbles) I'm Jackie,

282
00:12:03.149 --> 00:12:04.933
I'm one of the members of (mumbles).

283
00:12:04.933 --> 00:12:07.756
- (mumbles), great,
congratulations, you guys.

284
00:12:08.787 --> 00:12:09.838
- I'm Amanda White.

285
00:12:09.838 --> 00:12:11.837
I'm the other field rep (mumbles).

286
00:12:11.837 --> 00:12:13.780
- Hello, Amanda White, other field rep.

287
00:12:13.780 --> 00:12:15.233
(applause)

288
00:12:16.038 --> 00:12:18.890
- I'm Janay Peters, I'm a
member of the (mumbles).

289
00:12:18.890 --> 00:12:19.924
- Hi, Janay.

290
00:12:19.924 --> 00:12:21.989
(applause)

291
00:12:22.592 --> 00:12:24.856
Where did we lose you here?

292
00:12:24.856 --> 00:12:27.126
You were standing and then you sat?

293
00:12:27.772 --> 00:12:29.787
Ok, up in the back.

294
00:12:29.787 --> 00:12:31.121
- I'm Christine (mumbles)

295
00:12:31.121 --> 00:12:32.789
and I'm also a member of (mumbles).

296
00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:37.159
- Ok, Janay, thanks, and thanks Christine.

297
00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:38.089
Yes.

298
00:12:38.089 --> 00:12:39.802
- (mumbles).

299
00:12:39.802 --> 00:12:43.028
(applause)

300
00:12:44.266 --> 00:12:46.747
- I'm Jennifer Jimenez and I'm house rep.

301
00:12:46.747 --> 00:12:49.572
(applause)

302
00:12:51.407 --> 00:12:53.358
- Hi, I'm Vanessa, I'm (mumbles).

303
00:12:53.358 --> 00:12:54.447
- Great.

304
00:12:54.447 --> 00:12:56.423
(applause)

305
00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:02.490
- I'm Danielle Franks, I'm (mumbles).

306
00:13:02.490 --> 00:13:06.201
(mumbles)

307
00:13:06.201 --> 00:13:07.065
- Ok.

308
00:13:07.065 --> 00:13:09.730
(applause and cheers)

309
00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:12.534
Where are they? (laughs)

310
00:13:12.534 --> 00:13:13.976
Anybody else?

311
00:13:13.976 --> 00:13:15.495
This is great.

312
00:13:15.495 --> 00:13:17.869
You know Smith has an incredibly,

313
00:13:19.070 --> 00:13:22.352
I think, well-organized
and invested student org

314
00:13:22.352 --> 00:13:24.527
and we have a curriculum day in the fall

315
00:13:24.527 --> 00:13:26.454
where all the reps come to campus

316
00:13:26.454 --> 00:13:29.007
and work with faculty on curriculum.

317
00:13:29.007 --> 00:13:33.186
I think it helps really link
curriculum with real life,

318
00:13:33.186 --> 00:13:35.137
with what you guys are
really doing in the field,

319
00:13:35.137 --> 00:13:37.830
and flowing that back to us.

320
00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:39.897
And I think it's important
to meet your field reps

321
00:13:39.897 --> 00:13:43.147
as we're talking about
field stuff here today.

322
00:13:43.147 --> 00:13:45.419
What we ordinarily do,
and we'll touch base

323
00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:47.973
about this, is to have a
monthly phone conference

324
00:13:47.973 --> 00:13:50.922
with the field reps, where Katelin and I,

325
00:13:50.922 --> 00:13:54.119
and now Maria, Katelin, and
I talk with the field reps

326
00:13:54.119 --> 00:13:56.065
once a month about what's going on,

327
00:13:56.065 --> 00:13:58.327
and what kinds of issues
you guys are dealing

328
00:13:58.327 --> 00:14:00.420
with the field, and we can also flow

329
00:14:00.420 --> 00:14:02.664
information from us back the other way,

330
00:14:02.664 --> 00:14:04.150
here's how placements are happening,

331
00:14:04.150 --> 00:14:06.287
here's when placements are happening.

332
00:14:06.287 --> 00:14:09.695
I think you can use your field reps, also,

333
00:14:09.695 --> 00:14:14.178
much as I want us to be, and I mean it,

334
00:14:14.178 --> 00:14:15.995
for people to be able to call us

335
00:14:15.995 --> 00:14:18.650
if you're in a jam in the field.

336
00:14:18.650 --> 00:14:21.401
People don't get in
trouble for calling us.

337
00:14:21.401 --> 00:14:24.001
We try to be problem solvers.

338
00:14:24.001 --> 00:14:26.021
Katelin and I divide the universe in half,

339
00:14:26.021 --> 00:14:29.481
so if you're in New England and New York,

340
00:14:29.481 --> 00:14:31.849
Katelin's your person here.

341
00:14:31.849 --> 00:14:33.451
If you're anywhere else in the country,

342
00:14:33.451 --> 00:14:35.497
I'm your contact person.

343
00:14:35.497 --> 00:14:37.334
Most problems, really, as they come up

344
00:14:37.334 --> 00:14:39.145
can get dealt with with the supervisor,

345
00:14:39.145 --> 00:14:41.185
and if that doesn't work,
with the training director.

346
00:14:41.185 --> 00:14:43.498
But we know that you've had situations

347
00:14:43.498 --> 00:14:46.062
in the field where it's not working.

348
00:14:46.062 --> 00:14:48.221
You're not getting enough supervision,

349
00:14:48.221 --> 00:14:49.902
caseload's out of control, something crazy

350
00:14:49.902 --> 00:14:52.343
is happening in the agency, whatever.

351
00:14:52.343 --> 00:14:54.758
So we do want all of you,
at that point you call

352
00:14:54.758 --> 00:14:57.909
your FFA and to feel that
then you can call us.

353
00:14:57.909 --> 00:14:59.441
But I think students, sometimes,

354
00:14:59.441 --> 00:15:01.624
just inevitably will
feel nervous about that.

355
00:15:01.624 --> 00:15:04.139
Sometimes they wanna just think it through

356
00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:07.204
with somebody else or
problem-solve it a little bit.

357
00:15:07.204 --> 00:15:09.178
And the field reps have
been a great resource

358
00:15:09.178 --> 00:15:10.535
around that 'cause students sometimes

359
00:15:10.535 --> 00:15:13.296
will call a field rep and say,

360
00:15:13.296 --> 00:15:15.417
"Just don't know what to, does this sound

361
00:15:15.417 --> 00:15:17.205
"right to you? Here's what's happening

362
00:15:17.205 --> 00:15:20.378
"in the agency and it
feels pretty funky to me.

363
00:15:20.378 --> 00:15:22.793
"It just doesn't sound
right. What do you think?"

364
00:15:22.793 --> 00:15:24.554
The field rep will listen
to it and sometimes

365
00:15:24.554 --> 00:15:27.154
call us and say, "Student's
not wanting to come

366
00:15:27.154 --> 00:15:29.105
"forward quite yet, but
what would you think

367
00:15:29.105 --> 00:15:32.057
about a situation where,"
fill in the blank.

368
00:15:32.057 --> 00:15:33.526
We can talk with the field rep

369
00:15:33.526 --> 00:15:34.666
about what we would do,

370
00:15:34.666 --> 00:15:35.893
and they can go back to the student,

371
00:15:35.893 --> 00:15:37.960
and sometimes that just
eases for the student

372
00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.048
I think that line of communication.

373
00:15:41.048 --> 00:15:42.554
We might say, "We would get in

374
00:15:42.554 --> 00:15:45.047
"secondary supervision, or we would move

375
00:15:45.047 --> 00:15:47.441
"the person to a different
unit, or we might

376
00:15:47.441 --> 00:15:50.112
"actually have to change
the placement, or whatever."

377
00:15:50.112 --> 00:15:51.829
So use your field reps and we'll stay

378
00:15:51.829 --> 00:15:52.940
in good communication.

379
00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:54.629
So welcome to the two of you.

380
00:15:57.696 --> 00:15:59.712
I think what I'm gonna do, at this point,

381
00:15:59.712 --> 00:16:02.150
is turn things over to
Maria, who's gonna show you

382
00:16:02.150 --> 00:16:05.586
those incredible work
that she has been doing

383
00:16:05.586 --> 00:16:07.885
with the Moodle course
that she understands

384
00:16:07.885 --> 00:16:09.437
and I'm starting to learn about.

385
00:16:09.437 --> 00:16:11.076
So Maria, thank you.

386
00:16:11.891 --> 00:16:15.248
(applause)

387
00:16:16.648 --> 00:16:18.311
- Good morning.

388
00:16:18.311 --> 00:16:21.024
I wanna keep this brief
'cause I'm very excited

389
00:16:21.024 --> 00:16:22.975
to have some third year students

390
00:16:22.975 --> 00:16:26.968
that have volunteered to come and talk

391
00:16:26.968 --> 00:16:30.126
to all of us about their
anti-racism projects.

392
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.079
How many of you have found this link

393
00:16:34.079 --> 00:16:35.936
for the field department resources

394
00:16:35.936 --> 00:16:39.090
and material course in your Moodle page?

395
00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:40.901
Does everybody have it?

396
00:16:40.901 --> 00:16:44.373
If you don't have it, please let me know.

397
00:16:44.373 --> 00:16:47.817
This is an effort that
we're trying to make

398
00:16:47.817 --> 00:16:50.719
to incorporate your
suggestions from first year

399
00:16:50.719 --> 00:16:53.602
and to really respond to the resources

400
00:16:53.602 --> 00:16:56.232
that we have available and how we can stay

401
00:16:56.232 --> 00:16:58.324
more connected when you're in field.

402
00:16:58.324 --> 00:17:02.016
Some of this material may
not pertain to you as much.

403
00:17:02.016 --> 00:17:05.266
It may be more relevant
for first year students

404
00:17:05.266 --> 00:17:07.867
and some of the material,

405
00:17:07.867 --> 00:17:10.983
it really is assigned for second years.

406
00:17:10.983 --> 00:17:13.514
So one of the things
that we did, for example,

407
00:17:13.514 --> 00:17:17.809
was to upload all of your
placement description forms,

408
00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:21.099
so that first year students
could have access to it,

409
00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:24.694
so that you can have
access to the opinions of

410
00:17:24.694 --> 00:17:28.223
other students that have
been where you have been.

411
00:17:28.223 --> 00:17:31.196
In response to the need to interview,

412
00:17:31.196 --> 00:17:33.487
we develop interviewing resources,

413
00:17:33.487 --> 00:17:35.440
and I believe that some of you actually

414
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.302
may have used some of this that was sent

415
00:17:38.302 --> 00:17:41.598
by Katelin or Carolyn this year.

416
00:17:41.598 --> 00:17:44.469
And it includes a PowerPoint

417
00:17:44.469 --> 00:17:49.076
and some files with some possible tips

418
00:17:49.076 --> 00:17:50.822
for the interview process.

419
00:17:50.822 --> 00:17:52.958
One of the things that I wanna highlight

420
00:17:52.958 --> 00:17:54.816
is something that we're
gonna be developing,

421
00:17:54.816 --> 00:17:56.859
which are the integrative seminars.

422
00:17:56.859 --> 00:18:01.287
Those exist for most of you

423
00:18:01.287 --> 00:18:04.163
but we're gonna be adding descriptions

424
00:18:04.163 --> 00:18:06.610
as well as identifying who is the person,

425
00:18:06.610 --> 00:18:08.704
the instructor that will be running them,

426
00:18:08.704 --> 00:18:10.164
and when they're meeting.

427
00:18:10.164 --> 00:18:13.591
And we're also gonna be
trying to do some remotely.

428
00:18:13.591 --> 00:18:16.471
For some of you that may
be placed, for example,

429
00:18:16.471 --> 00:18:19.605
one person, if I'm
correct, you're over there,

430
00:18:19.605 --> 00:18:23.320
that may be the only
Smith intern, for example,

431
00:18:23.320 --> 00:18:27.542
in Vermont, to try to connect

432
00:18:27.542 --> 00:18:29.741
all of you in some way.

433
00:18:29.741 --> 00:18:33.402
But the focus of today, largely,

434
00:18:33.402 --> 00:18:36.324
is the anti-racism field assignment.

435
00:18:36.324 --> 00:18:40.035
I've uploaded here the
most recent guidelines.

436
00:18:40.035 --> 00:18:43.146
We have made some changes
to it, and by the way,

437
00:18:43.146 --> 00:18:46.281
we're gonna continue
to review this project.

438
00:18:46.281 --> 00:18:48.231
We have been doing it for twenty years.

439
00:18:48.231 --> 00:18:51.923
I, myself, sat there and
I also was part of that

440
00:18:51.923 --> 00:18:54.593
in this anti-racism assignment.

441
00:18:54.593 --> 00:18:57.078
But rather than me
talking to you about it,

442
00:18:57.078 --> 00:18:59.098
I thought that it would
be best to actually

443
00:18:59.098 --> 00:19:02.999
have students that have already done it.

444
00:19:02.999 --> 00:19:06.594
I have uploaded for you the abstracts

445
00:19:06.594 --> 00:19:09.612
of all of the anti-racism field projects

446
00:19:09.612 --> 00:19:12.580
that were done in this academic here.

447
00:19:12.580 --> 00:19:15.615
And with consent, I've also uploaded

448
00:19:15.615 --> 00:19:18.146
some of the projects themselves.

449
00:19:18.146 --> 00:19:21.536
There's the Edith Nourse
VA project and you're gonna

450
00:19:21.536 --> 00:19:26.176
be listening to them
speak about their project,

451
00:19:26.176 --> 00:19:29.148
and also some videos that they used

452
00:19:29.148 --> 00:19:31.958
for you to look at if you're curious.

453
00:19:31.958 --> 00:19:34.187
The Addison County Mental Health Services'

454
00:19:34.187 --> 00:19:36.969
Samuel Lurie will be
talking about his project,

455
00:19:36.969 --> 00:19:39.010
and you have here, the PowerPoint

456
00:19:39.010 --> 00:19:42.957
that he will be using as
well as his own project.

457
00:19:42.957 --> 00:19:46.181
Without further introduction,
if the panel members

458
00:19:46.181 --> 00:19:49.176
can come up and I will introduce you,

459
00:19:49.176 --> 00:19:51.003
and then the rest is just gonna be

460
00:19:51.003 --> 00:19:52.884
them presenting the project and you

461
00:19:52.884 --> 00:19:55.850
asking questions that you may have.

462
00:19:57.052 --> 00:19:58.945
- Thank you, Maria.

463
00:19:58.945 --> 00:20:00.832
Let's trade places just for a second.

464
00:20:00.832 --> 00:20:02.473
- We'll trade.
- We'll trade.

465
00:20:03.411 --> 00:20:08.108
As they're getting set up,
we are twenty years in.

466
00:20:08.108 --> 00:20:09.567
We're on the 20th anniversary

467
00:20:09.567 --> 00:20:11.609
of our anti-racism mission, which is,

468
00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:15.043
you've heard it say a
thousand times, is very meant,

469
00:20:15.043 --> 00:20:17.203
deliberately to be a statement about

470
00:20:17.203 --> 00:20:20.055
our commitment to being in
process around this work.

471
00:20:20.055 --> 00:20:22.168
We don't mean it in an arrogant way.

472
00:20:22.168 --> 00:20:26.555
We don't mean to suggest
that we're there, somehow.

473
00:20:26.556 --> 00:20:29.010
We would like these anti-racism projects

474
00:20:29.010 --> 00:20:33.070
that you're gonna hear about, to be,

475
00:20:33.070 --> 00:20:37.253
to the extent, possible,
small, manageable,

476
00:20:37.253 --> 00:20:40.569
and successful for you in the field.

477
00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:42.613
It's actually an anti-racism assignment,

478
00:20:42.613 --> 00:20:45.066
not an anti-racism project, and we fall

479
00:20:45.066 --> 00:20:46.947
into the language of calling it a project

480
00:20:46.947 --> 00:20:49.501
which makes it sound like
the community project,

481
00:20:49.501 --> 00:20:51.289
which makes it sound
like it should be taking

482
00:20:51.289 --> 00:20:52.911
three hours a week,
which makes it sound like

483
00:20:52.911 --> 00:20:56.045
it should be taking eight months to do.

484
00:20:56.045 --> 00:20:58.228
We mean to be an assignment

485
00:20:58.228 --> 00:21:00.225
within your field placement.

486
00:21:00.225 --> 00:21:02.895
It falls within the 30 hours.

487
00:21:02.895 --> 00:21:05.310
It doesn't need to be a long-term project.

488
00:21:05.310 --> 00:21:09.257
It can be a one-shot piece
and you're gonna hear

489
00:21:09.257 --> 00:21:11.526
a range from your colleagues here.

490
00:21:11.526 --> 00:21:15.035
And it is meant to be
constructive to your agency.

491
00:21:15.035 --> 00:21:17.121
This is not about deputizing you to go out

492
00:21:17.121 --> 00:21:19.392
and write out the racist
in your field placement

493
00:21:19.392 --> 00:21:21.784
'cause it doesn't work.

494
00:21:21.784 --> 00:21:24.540
We know that we're
asking students who have,

495
00:21:24.540 --> 00:21:27.163
in some ways, the least power in a system,

496
00:21:27.163 --> 00:21:30.368
to have the most difficult
conversation in the system.

497
00:21:30.368 --> 00:21:32.411
So we wanna be mindful about that.

498
00:21:32.411 --> 00:21:34.315
We're mindful that if
you're a student of color

499
00:21:34.315 --> 00:21:36.901
going into an agency and being asked to do

500
00:21:36.901 --> 00:21:39.726
anti-racism work, that
that can, in some agencies,

501
00:21:39.726 --> 00:21:43.487
put you in a very unique
and complicated position.

502
00:21:43.487 --> 00:21:46.970
And we know that asking
students to do this

503
00:21:46.970 --> 00:21:50.058
risks you putting yourself
in a position with an agency

504
00:21:50.058 --> 00:21:52.794
if acting like you're an
expert about something

505
00:21:52.794 --> 00:21:55.148
that can be a bit of a setup for you.

506
00:21:55.148 --> 00:21:57.934
So we very much encourage
you to think about

507
00:21:57.934 --> 00:22:00.953
partnering with existing
resources in the agency,

508
00:22:00.953 --> 00:22:03.878
partnering with allies in the agency,

509
00:22:03.878 --> 00:22:07.199
and picking an assignment that is small,

510
00:22:07.199 --> 00:22:10.217
manageable, and potentially successful.

511
00:22:10.217 --> 00:22:12.771
You need to do a proposal
that goes to you FFA.

512
00:22:12.771 --> 00:22:13.859
They'll give you feedback.

513
00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:16.212
Often times the FFAs
have to peel people back

514
00:22:16.212 --> 00:22:17.880
and say, "Make this a little bit smaller.

515
00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:19.924
"You're taking on something too big,"

516
00:22:19.924 --> 00:22:21.522
which comes from your enthusiasm

517
00:22:21.522 --> 00:22:24.894
and your passion which we appreciate.

518
00:22:24.894 --> 00:22:26.835
I'm gonna let Maria introduce our panel.

519
00:22:26.835 --> 00:22:28.716
You'll hear some real-life examples

520
00:22:28.716 --> 00:22:31.828
and then we'll have lots of
time, I think, for questions.

521
00:22:31.828 --> 00:22:33.587
So, great, thanks.

522
00:22:34.583 --> 00:22:37.747
- Thank you so much for
accepting the invitation.

523
00:22:37.747 --> 00:22:40.734
By the way, after you do your anti-racism

524
00:22:40.734 --> 00:22:43.376
assignment this year, I will be reading

525
00:22:43.376 --> 00:22:44.973
each and every one of them.

526
00:22:44.973 --> 00:22:46.433
So after reading all of them,

527
00:22:46.433 --> 00:22:48.964
I reached out to all
of you, and thank you.

528
00:22:48.964 --> 00:22:52.716
So we have Todd Chan and Jilda Bernadetta

529
00:22:52.716 --> 00:22:54.719
that will be talking
about their experience

530
00:22:54.719 --> 00:22:57.200
in Edith Nourse VA--

531
00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:58.841
- Maria, you need to get behind the mic

532
00:22:58.841 --> 00:23:00.223
'cause we can't hear you.

533
00:23:00.223 --> 00:23:01.705
- Ok, here I go.

534
00:23:01.705 --> 00:23:03.458
Ok, better now.

535
00:23:03.458 --> 00:23:04.921
I'll start all over again.

536
00:23:04.921 --> 00:23:07.299
So, Todd Chan and Jilda Bernadetta

537
00:23:07.299 --> 00:23:08.943
from Edith Nourse.

538
00:23:08.943 --> 00:23:12.658
They will be talking
about their assignment.

539
00:23:12.658 --> 00:23:16.281
Samuel Lurie from Addison
Community Mental Health,

540
00:23:16.281 --> 00:23:19.554
Addison County Mental Health Services.

541
00:23:19.554 --> 00:23:23.107
Jamie Daniels from the
University of Massachusetts,

542
00:23:23.107 --> 00:23:26.284
the Center for Women and Community.

543
00:23:26.284 --> 00:23:31.031
Annabelle Lane, Dina
Pasalis, Laura Wardner-Larson

544
00:23:31.770 --> 00:23:34.092
from the Cambridge Health Alliance.

545
00:23:34.092 --> 00:23:35.973
Did I encapsulate everybody?

546
00:23:35.973 --> 00:23:39.730
Ok, whoever would like to start first.

547
00:23:39.730 --> 00:23:41.867
- Can we make a couple of
requests before we start?

548
00:23:41.867 --> 00:23:42.320
- Yes.

549
00:23:42.320 --> 00:23:43.980
- One, is there a way to
turn off the projector?

550
00:23:43.980 --> 00:23:47.626
- I'm gonna do that right now
if I can get it to respond.

551
00:23:47.626 --> 00:23:48.560
- And the other--

552
00:23:48.560 --> 00:23:51.972
(Carolyn speaks)

553
00:23:53.865 --> 00:23:56.261
And the other thing, I
know this is not gonna be

554
00:23:56.261 --> 00:23:59.230
a positive request, but
this is panel discussion

555
00:23:59.230 --> 00:24:01.041
and we would love for
it to be a discussion,

556
00:24:01.041 --> 00:24:03.015
and you guys are so far away.

557
00:24:03.015 --> 00:24:04.710
If you would be willing to move forward,

558
00:24:04.710 --> 00:24:06.370
it would be great.

559
00:24:09.525 --> 00:24:10.806
- Good idea.

560
00:25:30.712 --> 00:25:33.364
- So thank you for moving forward.

561
00:25:33.364 --> 00:25:37.709
I'm gonna start our group project.

562
00:25:37.709 --> 00:25:39.299
In the last year we were sitting

563
00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:41.504
in the same seats that
you were sitting in.

564
00:25:41.504 --> 00:25:45.010
And it was really helpful
to have the people

565
00:25:45.010 --> 00:25:47.306
who had been in our placement share,

566
00:25:47.306 --> 00:25:50.941
in a really real way,
what their experience was.

567
00:25:51.909 --> 00:25:55.163
They were describing the
challenges of implementing

568
00:25:55.163 --> 00:25:59.128
their anti-racism assignment,
and it was painful.

569
00:25:59.128 --> 00:26:01.078
There was shame in their description,

570
00:26:01.078 --> 00:26:04.244
and frustration and disappointment.

571
00:26:04.244 --> 00:26:07.365
I think it was something
that we could identify with

572
00:26:07.365 --> 00:26:09.790
'cause they were the
challenges of creating

573
00:26:09.790 --> 00:26:13.944
change on a complex and
really charged topic.

574
00:26:14.806 --> 00:26:18.134
It was in an institution
where they knew very little

575
00:26:18.134 --> 00:26:21.152
about what the norms of
the institution were,

576
00:26:21.152 --> 00:26:23.706
or how it operated, and in which

577
00:26:23.706 --> 00:26:27.793
they had really no tested allies.

578
00:26:27.793 --> 00:26:30.088
In addition, they could've
been perceived as people

579
00:26:30.088 --> 00:26:32.270
who didn't have a lot of
stake in the organization

580
00:26:32.270 --> 00:26:34.081
because the expectation would be that

581
00:26:34.081 --> 00:26:37.355
they would only be there for nine months.

582
00:26:37.355 --> 00:26:41.192
So it was helpful to get
some advice, and at least,

583
00:26:41.192 --> 00:26:43.723
from what they described, it also seemed

584
00:26:43.723 --> 00:26:46.068
like members of the
organization had experienced

585
00:26:46.068 --> 00:26:48.552
a similar sort of pain, given the way that

586
00:26:48.552 --> 00:26:52.686
their anti-racism project
or assignment played out.

587
00:26:52.686 --> 00:26:54.907
It was really clear to
us at the beginning,

588
00:26:54.907 --> 00:26:57.786
even before we started,
that our major goal was,

589
00:26:57.786 --> 00:27:01.524
basically, to repair a
rupture, that our job was

590
00:27:01.524 --> 00:27:03.726
to meet the organization where it was at,

591
00:27:03.726 --> 00:27:06.466
and repair the relationship.

592
00:27:06.466 --> 00:27:09.113
Although we may have had grand ideas

593
00:27:09.113 --> 00:27:11.038
about what we wanted to do

594
00:27:11.038 --> 00:27:14.728
and whatever the language was around,

595
00:27:14.728 --> 00:27:18.320
rooting out the anti-racist, or whatever,

596
00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:22.119
we were clear about
keeping our expectations

597
00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:25.553
in alignment with what the strategy was,

598
00:27:25.553 --> 00:27:29.193
which was to really repair
what the rupture had been.

599
00:27:30.213 --> 00:27:33.597
I think, I don't know if I
went two minutes but I'll stop.

600
00:27:34.946 --> 00:27:36.571
- Ok, great.

601
00:27:36.571 --> 00:27:39.429
So we entered our placement

602
00:27:41.497 --> 00:27:43.467
not really knowing what
to expect in terms of

603
00:27:43.467 --> 00:27:47.039
the agency's attitude about the project.

604
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.442
I think that because there was

605
00:27:49.442 --> 00:27:51.648
a fraught history with our project,

606
00:27:52.817 --> 00:27:56.288
it was a unique experience

607
00:27:56.288 --> 00:27:58.420
but that is true for
all of the placements.

608
00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:01.439
They've seen the project
over and over again,

609
00:28:01.439 --> 00:28:03.951
and that was especially evident

610
00:28:03.951 --> 00:28:06.080
in our case because

611
00:28:07.573 --> 00:28:10.370
it turned out that they were very,

612
00:28:10.370 --> 00:28:12.715
the whole year, it was a very long, slow,

613
00:28:12.715 --> 00:28:15.362
bureaucratic process of
developing our project

614
00:28:15.362 --> 00:28:18.462
and getting the go-ahead from this

615
00:28:18.462 --> 00:28:21.698
mysterious system of

616
00:28:21.698 --> 00:28:24.895
upper people in the agency.

617
00:28:24.895 --> 00:28:28.370
When we arrived, we were presented,

618
00:28:28.370 --> 00:28:29.880
we were introduced to a staff member

619
00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:31.970
who was gonna be our guide,

620
00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:34.729
and she framed her role as supporting us

621
00:28:34.729 --> 00:28:37.236
and helping us so that what
happened to the interns

622
00:28:37.236 --> 00:28:39.829
before us wouldn't happen again.

623
00:28:39.829 --> 00:28:41.313
(laughter)

624
00:28:41.313 --> 00:28:43.720
But as the year
progressed, it became clear

625
00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:45.740
that her role was also to make sure

626
00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:48.440
that we didn't do anything that might be

627
00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:51.518
too provocative or cross the line or,

628
00:28:53.025 --> 00:28:55.716
basically we would write
drafts for our project,

629
00:28:55.716 --> 00:28:57.380
and she would take it up

630
00:28:57.380 --> 00:29:00.654
to the unknown group of people in the sky,

631
00:29:00.654 --> 00:29:02.674
and they would review every word,

632
00:29:02.674 --> 00:29:05.266
and then it would get
sent down back to us.

633
00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:08.670
So there were some, in
case you can't tell,

634
00:29:08.670 --> 00:29:11.665
there were some frustrations
in terms of feeling

635
00:29:11.665 --> 00:29:15.403
a bit micromanaged and it did feel like

636
00:29:15.403 --> 00:29:19.954
our original idea for the
project was to facilitate

637
00:29:19.954 --> 00:29:23.177
a discussion or a series of
discussions in our agency

638
00:29:23.177 --> 00:29:26.432
around the use of language with race,

639
00:29:26.432 --> 00:29:28.669
with a focus on the word Caucasian.

640
00:29:28.669 --> 00:29:30.584
We wanted to, we had heard it a lot

641
00:29:30.584 --> 00:29:32.813
and we wanted to bring awareness

642
00:29:32.813 --> 00:29:36.598
of the problematic origins of that word,

643
00:29:36.598 --> 00:29:40.286
but that seemed to feel
threatening to the agency.

644
00:29:40.286 --> 00:29:44.258
So our project became
even more scaled down.

645
00:29:46.591 --> 00:29:49.857
Finally, we did receive
the go-ahead in April

646
00:29:49.857 --> 00:29:53.625
to actually do some discussions. (laughs)

647
00:29:55.066 --> 00:29:58.756
I guess to say what I felt like

648
00:29:58.756 --> 00:30:03.235
the key learning was from
that development stage,

649
00:30:03.235 --> 00:30:06.552
one of us, and we can't
remember who it was now,

650
00:30:06.552 --> 00:30:10.732
one of us reframed the
micromanaging as a positive,

651
00:30:10.732 --> 00:30:14.075
that the agency was actually
invested in the project

652
00:30:14.075 --> 00:30:16.970
and taking an active leadership role,

653
00:30:16.970 --> 00:30:18.731
even if sometimes to us,

654
00:30:18.731 --> 00:30:22.862
it felt a little too controlling.

655
00:30:22.862 --> 00:30:24.197
Yeah. (laughs)

656
00:30:26.428 --> 00:30:29.400
But, along those lines,
the project doesn't

657
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:32.001
have to be this solo thing that only

658
00:30:32.001 --> 00:30:33.998
the Smith students are responsible for,

659
00:30:33.998 --> 00:30:36.939
because the agency staff
people, they're the ones

660
00:30:36.939 --> 00:30:39.472
who are gonna be there year after year.

661
00:30:41.425 --> 00:30:44.732
So now we can move on to the next part.

662
00:30:44.732 --> 00:30:47.682
- So what we actually ended up doing was

663
00:30:47.682 --> 00:30:49.662
two separate discussions

664
00:30:49.662 --> 00:30:51.890
with same content each, about an hour long

665
00:30:51.890 --> 00:30:53.779
on different days and times of days.

666
00:30:53.779 --> 00:30:57.129
So it happened mid-April, early April,

667
00:30:57.129 --> 00:31:00.887
very close to the actual
end of our internship.

668
00:31:00.887 --> 00:31:02.694
The goals that we had at that point,

669
00:31:02.694 --> 00:31:05.736
were officially unblending the categories

670
00:31:05.736 --> 00:31:09.497
of race, ethnicity, and nationality,

671
00:31:09.497 --> 00:31:12.511
really spread understanding
of race as a social

672
00:31:12.511 --> 00:31:16.220
construct but one that
has very real power,

673
00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:20.051
and we still had our
covert object of unmasking

674
00:31:20.051 --> 00:31:23.874
Caucasian as a non-scientific concept.

675
00:31:23.874 --> 00:31:27.818
So the events were both guided discussions

676
00:31:27.818 --> 00:31:29.699
on racial categories, their history,

677
00:31:29.699 --> 00:31:32.949
and how and why we use them clinically.

678
00:31:32.949 --> 00:31:35.357
And the content and delivery,

679
00:31:35.357 --> 00:31:39.045
we had some historical
information on what context

680
00:31:39.045 --> 00:31:41.715
the racial categories
originally came from,

681
00:31:41.715 --> 00:31:44.060
as probably all of you
know by now, hopefully,

682
00:31:44.060 --> 00:31:46.498
the term Caucasian comes from 19th century

683
00:31:46.498 --> 00:31:49.888
European Pseudoscience
that was trying to prove,

684
00:31:49.888 --> 00:31:53.301
scientifically, the
superiority of white Northern

685
00:31:53.301 --> 00:31:55.530
European people versus everybody else.

686
00:31:55.530 --> 00:31:57.792
So it's extremely
politically motivated and

687
00:31:57.792 --> 00:32:02.404
it really hurts, at least, me
personally to hear it used.

688
00:32:02.404 --> 00:32:04.824
Then we had a discussion piece on how

689
00:32:04.824 --> 00:32:07.378
the participants identified themselves.

690
00:32:07.378 --> 00:32:10.513
We were constantly pretty
conscious of the fact

691
00:32:10.513 --> 00:32:12.883
that we were four white women

692
00:32:12.883 --> 00:32:15.311
initiating a discussion on race,

693
00:32:15.311 --> 00:32:18.840
and concerned that we really wanted

694
00:32:18.840 --> 00:32:20.813
to focus on critical whiteness studies

695
00:32:20.813 --> 00:32:23.437
and that we couldn't do that.

696
00:32:23.437 --> 00:32:26.781
Another part was a radio clip from NPR,

697
00:32:26.781 --> 00:32:29.149
discussing how racial
identifications can shift

698
00:32:29.149 --> 00:32:30.701
during an individual's lifetime,

699
00:32:30.701 --> 00:32:31.905
which was really helpful.

700
00:32:31.905 --> 00:32:34.451
I think that we had very
different kinds of materials.

701
00:32:34.451 --> 00:32:37.183
We had audio, we had
experiential exercises,

702
00:32:37.183 --> 00:32:38.945
we had discussions,
and we had a little bit

703
00:32:38.945 --> 00:32:41.906
of a didactic piece in it.

704
00:32:41.906 --> 00:32:43.442
And then we collected feedback

705
00:32:43.442 --> 00:32:45.137
from the participants as they left,

706
00:32:45.137 --> 00:32:46.980
which is part of the anti-racism project,

707
00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.006
asking for one thing they were taking away

708
00:32:49.006 --> 00:32:51.212
with them, and what they had wished

709
00:32:51.212 --> 00:32:53.435
had been discussed but wasn't.

710
00:32:53.435 --> 00:32:55.643
The feedback was quite positive.

711
00:32:55.643 --> 00:32:58.615
We had, I think, 12 or 13 people in the

712
00:32:58.615 --> 00:33:00.997
first discussion, and a
little bit less in the second,

713
00:33:00.997 --> 00:33:05.601
so it wasn't a great, huge success

714
00:33:05.601 --> 00:33:09.158
in regards to participation but we felt

715
00:33:09.158 --> 00:33:12.850
that we actually had
really good conversations.

716
00:33:12.850 --> 00:33:15.545
So that's what we actually ended up doing.

717
00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:21.344
- Hi, good morning, everyone.

718
00:33:21.344 --> 00:33:23.945
Jil and I, we worked at
the Bedford VA Hospital

719
00:33:23.945 --> 00:33:26.475
for this past internship.

720
00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:29.894
I know we have a limited amount of time

721
00:33:29.894 --> 00:33:31.929
so I'm gonna get to the three most

722
00:33:31.929 --> 00:33:35.110
important things that I thought were

723
00:33:35.110 --> 00:33:39.096
the most important part of our assignment.

724
00:33:39.096 --> 00:33:41.395
The first thing is collaboration.

725
00:33:41.395 --> 00:33:44.181
From the very beginning,
Jil and I, we reached out

726
00:33:44.181 --> 00:33:47.425
to the Equal Opportunity,

727
00:33:47.425 --> 00:33:51.228
EEO manager at the Bedford VA, Deborah,

728
00:33:51.228 --> 00:33:54.673
who was very enthusiastic about having us

729
00:33:54.673 --> 00:33:58.841
participate and be a part of this work.

730
00:33:58.841 --> 00:34:01.581
She really invited us and provided

731
00:34:01.581 --> 00:34:04.739
a welcoming atmosphere for us.

732
00:34:04.739 --> 00:34:06.613
And it turned out that,
in February when we did

733
00:34:06.613 --> 00:34:08.910
the presentation, it
was Black History Month.

734
00:34:08.910 --> 00:34:11.774
So we were able to use our presentation

735
00:34:11.774 --> 00:34:14.565
under the sponsorship of the EEO office

736
00:34:14.565 --> 00:34:16.960
to do a presentation as part of

737
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:18.512
the Black History Month celebration.

738
00:34:18.512 --> 00:34:19.762
So that was something very important,

739
00:34:19.762 --> 00:34:22.130
to go into something that's pre-existing

740
00:34:22.130 --> 00:34:25.079
within the agency, instead of trying to do

741
00:34:25.079 --> 00:34:26.886
something that's completely
new which would've

742
00:34:26.886 --> 00:34:31.349
taken a lot more time and effort.

743
00:34:31.349 --> 00:34:32.829
This was very important

744
00:34:32.829 --> 00:34:34.776
that we collaborated with Deborah,

745
00:34:34.776 --> 00:34:36.675
and the other important
thing is that Jil and I,

746
00:34:36.675 --> 00:34:38.581
we really collaborated very well together.

747
00:34:38.581 --> 00:34:41.669
We met every other week for five weeks,

748
00:34:41.669 --> 00:34:43.453
on our non-working hours.

749
00:34:43.453 --> 00:34:46.862
We went to each other's
house and we talked

750
00:34:48.416 --> 00:34:51.619
in a relaxed environment,
and that really helped

751
00:34:51.619 --> 00:34:53.883
to get some of the ideas going,

752
00:34:53.883 --> 00:34:56.503
and sit down and maybe have some coffee

753
00:34:56.503 --> 00:34:58.171
or have some meal together.

754
00:34:58.171 --> 00:35:00.934
That really helped for me, I think.

755
00:35:00.934 --> 00:35:04.531
And obviously, Carolyn
du Bois was our FFA,

756
00:35:04.531 --> 00:35:07.005
and in connecting with her and getting

757
00:35:07.005 --> 00:35:09.592
to tell her about our presentation,

758
00:35:09.592 --> 00:35:12.685
about our ideas, and
getting her support, too,

759
00:35:12.685 --> 00:35:14.174
I think that was very important.

760
00:35:14.174 --> 00:35:17.978
Whoever your FFA is, connect
with that person, too,

761
00:35:17.978 --> 00:35:21.612
to get the (mumbles), I
think is very important.

762
00:35:21.612 --> 00:35:23.831
So that's the first thing, collaboration.

763
00:35:23.831 --> 00:35:25.511
The next thing is the topic itself.

764
00:35:25.511 --> 00:35:29.458
We used a YouTube video clip that was

765
00:35:29.458 --> 00:35:32.099
actually pretty old, back in the 1990s.

766
00:35:32.099 --> 00:35:36.116
But, but, the topic of
our presentation was

767
00:35:36.116 --> 00:35:37.970
Does racism still exist today?

768
00:35:37.970 --> 00:35:40.888
and we used that to say,
even though the video is old,

769
00:35:40.888 --> 00:35:44.743
we wanna still contrast that
to today and ask people,

770
00:35:44.743 --> 00:35:47.289
"What do you think? Does the kind of stuff

771
00:35:47.289 --> 00:35:50.107
"that shows in the video
still exist today?"

772
00:35:50.107 --> 00:35:53.540
So it was a good contrast.

773
00:35:53.540 --> 00:35:55.434
The topic was very much needed because

774
00:35:55.434 --> 00:35:57.295
Deborah told me, in her 25 years working

775
00:35:57.295 --> 00:35:59.779
at the VA, there was no specific topic

776
00:35:59.779 --> 00:36:03.022
that was specifically
addressing anti-racism.

777
00:36:03.022 --> 00:36:07.484
It was cultural diversity,
diversity, awareness,

778
00:36:07.484 --> 00:36:10.015
but nothing anti-racism focused.

779
00:36:10.015 --> 00:36:13.637
So that was very needed, she said.

780
00:36:13.637 --> 00:36:16.918
Also, what is it that your agency needs,

781
00:36:16.918 --> 00:36:19.375
that wasn't there already, but you can fit

782
00:36:19.375 --> 00:36:22.390
into the existing structure of the agency.

783
00:36:22.390 --> 00:36:24.875
The PowerPoint, itself,
was very interactive.

784
00:36:24.875 --> 00:36:27.498
It was a video but it was simple.

785
00:36:27.498 --> 00:36:29.511
We had few slides up.

786
00:36:29.511 --> 00:36:32.069
We didn't really talk too
much based on the slides.

787
00:36:32.069 --> 00:36:35.246
Jil and I prepared, I say something,

788
00:36:35.246 --> 00:36:37.282
she says something, we watch the video,

789
00:36:37.282 --> 00:36:39.882
I say something, and a lot of times

790
00:36:39.882 --> 00:36:42.398
the audience was asking questions,

791
00:36:42.398 --> 00:36:44.493
talking about their own experiences.

792
00:36:44.493 --> 00:36:46.176
I think that was very important, too,

793
00:36:46.176 --> 00:36:49.960
to get the audience, to connect with them.

794
00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.074
But one of the things that we didn't know,

795
00:36:52.074 --> 00:36:53.448
going into the presentations,

796
00:36:53.448 --> 00:36:55.136
how the audience will respond.

797
00:36:55.136 --> 00:36:59.625
That was a big uncertainty
and nervousness.

798
00:37:00.426 --> 00:37:02.334
But I think the fact that Jil and I,

799
00:37:02.334 --> 00:37:04.042
we collaborated well together,

800
00:37:04.042 --> 00:37:05.481
that we worked well with Deborah,

801
00:37:05.481 --> 00:37:07.677
that we worked well Carolyn,
and at the same time,

802
00:37:07.677 --> 00:37:10.958
we were able to plan together pretty well,

803
00:37:10.958 --> 00:37:13.800
we'd meet five times, I
think that really made

804
00:37:13.800 --> 00:37:16.934
a difference going in
to prepare ourselves.

805
00:37:16.934 --> 00:37:20.309
I think the video spoke for
itself in some ways, too,

806
00:37:20.309 --> 00:37:22.822
and the audience was
able to pick up on that,

807
00:37:22.822 --> 00:37:26.150
and to be emotionally

808
00:37:27.535 --> 00:37:28.799
stimulated.

809
00:37:28.799 --> 00:37:32.514
A lot of people brought
in their own experiences

810
00:37:32.514 --> 00:37:35.395
about what they felt,

811
00:37:35.395 --> 00:37:37.652
and it was a very powerful event.

812
00:37:37.652 --> 00:37:40.623
Jil's gonna talk a little bit
more about her experience.

813
00:37:42.009 --> 00:37:43.363
- Hi, I'm Jil.

814
00:37:43.363 --> 00:37:45.124
I think a lot of what I'm
going to say is gonna echo

815
00:37:45.124 --> 00:37:47.840
what Todd said, but I think
one of the major pieces

816
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:50.278
that assisted us in
navigating the implementation

817
00:37:50.278 --> 00:37:53.134
of this project was that we
didn't enter this endeavor

818
00:37:53.134 --> 00:37:55.828
solely focused on our
own prescribed agenda.

819
00:37:55.828 --> 00:37:58.405
We really attempted to be
mindful of what would be

820
00:37:58.405 --> 00:38:02.004
most beneficial and supportive
of the organization.

821
00:38:02.004 --> 00:38:04.233
So we took an approach that was sensitive

822
00:38:04.233 --> 00:38:06.355
to not stepping on
anyone's toes, so to speak,

823
00:38:06.355 --> 00:38:09.505
and I think holding this
sensitivity and awareness

824
00:38:09.505 --> 00:38:11.555
was important, especially
being placed in such

825
00:38:11.555 --> 00:38:14.989
a large and, really honestly,
bureaucratic agency.

826
00:38:14.989 --> 00:38:19.094
Todd spoke to this also, but
I think one of the pieces

827
00:38:19.094 --> 00:38:21.067
that really helped in
launching our project

828
00:38:21.067 --> 00:38:22.863
was that we were able to partner with,

829
00:38:22.863 --> 00:38:24.624
and work collaboratively with someone

830
00:38:24.624 --> 00:38:27.179
who held similar values as we did,

831
00:38:27.179 --> 00:38:28.966
and who also held the drive to address

832
00:38:28.966 --> 00:38:31.544
issues related to racism.

833
00:38:31.544 --> 00:38:33.842
So in partnering with the Equal Employment

834
00:38:33.842 --> 00:38:36.462
Opportunity program
director, we were afforded

835
00:38:36.462 --> 00:38:38.343
the opportunity to align
ourselves with someone

836
00:38:38.343 --> 00:38:40.990
within the organization,
and this, in turn,

837
00:38:40.990 --> 00:38:44.612
assisted in accomplishing
the logistics of the project,

838
00:38:44.612 --> 00:38:47.863
such as raising awareness
within the agency,

839
00:38:47.863 --> 00:38:50.100
and as well as simple things
as where we were gonna

840
00:38:50.100 --> 00:38:52.688
hold the presentation and securing that.

841
00:38:54.013 --> 00:38:55.681
So I'll talk a little bit about

842
00:38:55.681 --> 00:38:58.320
the actual day of the presentation.

843
00:38:58.320 --> 00:38:59.923
Speaking personally, I'm not someone

844
00:38:59.923 --> 00:39:01.966
who's very good at speaking publicly,

845
00:39:01.966 --> 00:39:03.758
so it's ironic right now.

846
00:39:03.758 --> 00:39:05.378
(laughter)

847
00:39:05.378 --> 00:39:09.744
(laughs) The project,
honestly, was nerve-racking

848
00:39:09.744 --> 00:39:12.477
and an out-of-body experience for me.

849
00:39:12.477 --> 00:39:16.976
But I did value the purpose
and intent of the project.

850
00:39:17.968 --> 00:39:20.144
We couldn't predict how
audience members would

851
00:39:20.144 --> 00:39:22.677
react to the content of the presentation,

852
00:39:22.677 --> 00:39:25.092
and we didn't know how
we would be perceived,

853
00:39:25.092 --> 00:39:27.327
so we really attempted
to frame our presentation

854
00:39:27.327 --> 00:39:29.055
with the understanding that we were,

855
00:39:29.055 --> 00:39:31.470
in no way, claiming to
be sources of authority

856
00:39:31.470 --> 00:39:35.023
or experts on anti-racism work.

857
00:39:35.023 --> 00:39:37.449
Fortunately, we had a
turnout of about 40 to 45

858
00:39:37.449 --> 00:39:42.100
individuals from varying
departments of the agency.

859
00:39:42.100 --> 00:39:44.071
It's also interesting to know the energy

860
00:39:44.071 --> 00:39:47.375
that was in the room
after showing the video.

861
00:39:47.375 --> 00:39:50.114
Once we opened the floor for discussion,

862
00:39:50.114 --> 00:39:52.285
it was that brief moment
after the video ended,

863
00:39:52.285 --> 00:39:54.560
when we stepped out onto a ledge

864
00:39:54.560 --> 00:39:56.673
and asked for people's
reactions, not knowing

865
00:39:56.673 --> 00:39:59.806
what responses we would receive, if any.

866
00:39:59.806 --> 00:40:02.426
I think we both breathed
that sigh of relief

867
00:40:02.426 --> 00:40:04.701
when people bravely began to share

868
00:40:04.701 --> 00:40:07.940
their own experiences and
reactions to the video.

869
00:40:09.152 --> 00:40:11.212
As the discussion grew and developed,

870
00:40:11.212 --> 00:40:13.580
people shared formable sides of themselves

871
00:40:13.580 --> 00:40:15.111
by sharing their own experiences

872
00:40:15.111 --> 00:40:17.605
of racial discrimination,
and you could really feel

873
00:40:17.605 --> 00:40:19.370
the passion that people held for

874
00:40:19.370 --> 00:40:22.644
the acknowledgement of such experiences.

875
00:40:22.644 --> 00:40:24.916
All in all, I believe
this project's outcome

876
00:40:24.916 --> 00:40:27.330
firstly served to provide
a space for individuals

877
00:40:27.330 --> 00:40:29.606
to acknowledge and receive validation

878
00:40:29.606 --> 00:40:33.224
for their own experiences
of racial discrimination,

879
00:40:33.224 --> 00:40:35.710
and also to raise awareness
of the importance of

880
00:40:35.710 --> 00:40:39.484
discussing the reality that
racism does, in fact, exist.

881
00:40:40.998 --> 00:40:43.042
Secondly, I also believe
that this project serves

882
00:40:43.042 --> 00:40:45.662
as a stepping stone for
future presentations

883
00:40:45.662 --> 00:40:49.145
or workshops to be held within the agency,

884
00:40:49.145 --> 00:40:51.904
because after we finished
the presentation,

885
00:40:51.904 --> 00:40:54.853
we did have several
people coming up to us,

886
00:40:54.853 --> 00:40:57.918
expressing the desire for more discussions

887
00:40:57.918 --> 00:41:00.882
about race and racism.

888
00:41:00.882 --> 00:41:02.620
Just to conclude my own reflection,

889
00:41:02.620 --> 00:41:05.174
although this was nerve-racking
for me, it was also

890
00:41:05.174 --> 00:41:09.135
a very rewarding and inspiring experience.

891
00:41:13.193 --> 00:41:14.589
- Hi, I'm Jamie.

892
00:41:15.975 --> 00:41:17.437
I was placed--

893
00:41:19.177 --> 00:41:20.663
Can you hear me? Wow!

894
00:41:21.539 --> 00:41:23.603
This year, I was placed
at the Center for Women

895
00:41:23.603 --> 00:41:26.545
and Community, which is a
college counseling center

896
00:41:26.545 --> 00:41:29.838
located on the University
of Massachusetts campus.

897
00:41:29.838 --> 00:41:32.421
I have to tell you a
little bit about the agency

898
00:41:32.421 --> 00:41:35.741
'cause I think it was
influential in terms of what

899
00:41:35.741 --> 00:41:39.940
we were gonna do there for
an anti-racism project.

900
00:41:39.940 --> 00:41:42.324
The CWC offers short-term counseling

901
00:41:42.324 --> 00:41:44.460
to mostly women, and the focus is really

902
00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:46.655
around women's issues.

903
00:41:48.421 --> 00:41:50.415
I say that in quotes.

904
00:41:50.415 --> 00:41:53.940
It's, in my opinion, really a hidden gem.

905
00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:56.907
It's an agency that has a real

906
00:41:56.907 --> 00:41:59.311
social justice lens, I think.

907
00:42:00.465 --> 00:42:02.211
It's actually housed in

908
00:42:02.211 --> 00:42:04.928
the New Africa House on the UMass campus.

909
00:42:04.928 --> 00:42:08.005
For those of you who are
unfamiliar, in the 1960s,

910
00:42:08.005 --> 00:42:10.142
the New Africa House was really taken over

911
00:42:10.142 --> 00:42:14.321
by black students, and
then it was designated

912
00:42:14.321 --> 00:42:18.558
the home of African-American
Studies on campus.

913
00:42:19.650 --> 00:42:21.690
The CWC is on the second floor of

914
00:42:21.690 --> 00:42:23.929
the New Africa House, and
on the first floor of that

915
00:42:23.929 --> 00:42:26.785
building is the Center
for Women and Community.

916
00:42:26.785 --> 00:42:29.044
The CWC, the Center for,

917
00:42:32.080 --> 00:42:34.229
on the first floor is

918
00:42:34.229 --> 00:42:36.640
the Women of Color Leadership Network,

919
00:42:36.640 --> 00:42:40.685
and this is one of the CWC's
collaborating agencies.

920
00:42:46.577 --> 00:42:49.145
When we were thinking about
what we're going to do

921
00:42:49.145 --> 00:42:52.721
in terms of an anti-racism
assignment, we were like,

922
00:42:52.721 --> 00:42:56.343
"What do we do in an agency
that really does it right?

923
00:42:56.343 --> 00:42:58.321
"What do we do in an agency that has

924
00:42:58.321 --> 00:43:00.802
"an expressed commitment
to anti-racism work?"

925
00:43:00.802 --> 00:43:04.726
And in all the things they
do, in sitting with clients,

926
00:43:04.726 --> 00:43:07.342
they're really thinking about the impact

927
00:43:07.342 --> 00:43:10.465
that race and racism has on clients

928
00:43:10.465 --> 00:43:13.096
in terms of symtomatology.

929
00:43:13.096 --> 00:43:15.522
They draw on an empowerment model

930
00:43:15.522 --> 00:43:17.515
and I think

931
00:43:20.741 --> 00:43:24.498
the belief is that
symptomatology is rooted

932
00:43:24.498 --> 00:43:28.880
in oppression, and of course, racism.

933
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.443
So we're like, and I
say we, because this was

934
00:43:31.443 --> 00:43:34.926
a collaboration between
myself and other interns,

935
00:43:34.926 --> 00:43:37.147
"What are we gonna do with this agency?"

936
00:43:37.147 --> 00:43:40.119
I mean there is literature
available about,

937
00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:44.039
anti-racism literature is
available to every client

938
00:43:44.039 --> 00:43:46.988
and they're doing things all the time

939
00:43:46.988 --> 00:43:49.612
in collaboration with
other campus constituencies

940
00:43:49.612 --> 00:43:52.236
around this sort of work.

941
00:43:52.236 --> 00:43:56.136
And what we found was that the answer

942
00:43:56.136 --> 00:43:58.990
really lied in the
question we were asking.

943
00:43:58.990 --> 00:44:01.966
What do you do when you're doing

944
00:44:01.966 --> 00:44:04.604
lots of things right clinically?

945
00:44:07.579 --> 00:44:09.631
We realized that it wasn't our job

946
00:44:09.631 --> 00:44:11.503
to figure out what to do,

947
00:44:12.749 --> 00:44:15.460
but it was our job to invite our team

948
00:44:15.460 --> 00:44:17.844
and the other members and staff of CWC

949
00:44:17.844 --> 00:44:20.511
into that conversation.

950
00:44:20.511 --> 00:44:23.367
We ended up hosting a film screening

951
00:44:23.367 --> 00:44:26.757
and a discussion about
what is the responsibility

952
00:44:26.757 --> 00:44:29.566
of social workers beyond
the clinical setting,

953
00:44:29.566 --> 00:44:32.380
when you're doing lots of things right.

954
00:44:33.433 --> 00:44:34.799
I wanna tell you a little bit

955
00:44:34.799 --> 00:44:36.267
about the film that we showed.

956
00:44:36.267 --> 00:44:37.920
It's called Unnatural Causes,

957
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:39.880
and it's a documentary film that explores

958
00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:42.480
the social determinants of
health and mental health,

959
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:44.941
really on a population level.

960
00:44:44.941 --> 00:44:48.333
We showed a segment of
the film that's titled

961
00:44:48.333 --> 00:44:51.120
When the Bell Breaks,
which looks specifically

962
00:44:51.120 --> 00:44:55.346
at the impact of racism on
the health of black women,

963
00:44:55.346 --> 00:44:59.943
using infant mortality and low birth rate

964
00:44:59.943 --> 00:45:02.915
as a measure of optimal health.

965
00:45:02.915 --> 00:45:06.537
I think the key point of this segment

966
00:45:06.537 --> 00:45:09.134
for guiding our discussion was that

967
00:45:09.134 --> 00:45:12.710
social class is a
significant factor in health,

968
00:45:12.710 --> 00:45:15.160
and infant mortality and health.

969
00:45:19.330 --> 00:45:22.211
But what's really
important is to understand

970
00:45:22.211 --> 00:45:26.507
that African-American
women, even when they are

971
00:45:26.507 --> 00:45:29.690
upper middle-class women, they give birth

972
00:45:29.690 --> 00:45:33.569
at lower birth rates
than lower white women.

973
00:45:36.750 --> 00:45:39.318
It's also important to
note that this indicator

974
00:45:39.318 --> 00:45:43.126
is not present in black
women, in African women,

975
00:45:43.126 --> 00:45:45.723
so this is not a biological experience.

976
00:45:45.723 --> 00:45:48.277
It requires that African women who migrate

977
00:45:48.277 --> 00:45:51.643
to the United States are
here for one generation

978
00:45:51.643 --> 00:45:53.781
before their birth
outcome starts to reflect

979
00:45:53.781 --> 00:45:56.113
those of African-American women.

980
00:45:57.514 --> 00:46:00.122
Another thing that the
film told us was that

981
00:46:00.122 --> 00:46:03.721
there was a time in our
history where this gap,

982
00:46:03.721 --> 00:46:06.484
in terms of birth
outcomes and mental health

983
00:46:06.484 --> 00:46:10.548
measures and health measures, was shrunk,

984
00:46:10.548 --> 00:46:12.791
and that was right after
the Civil Rights Movement.

985
00:46:12.791 --> 00:46:15.857
So what was happening during that period

986
00:46:15.857 --> 00:46:17.933
doesn't really reflect what we're doing

987
00:46:17.933 --> 00:46:20.869
in the clinical space,
and even what we're doing

988
00:46:20.869 --> 00:46:23.795
in the CWC, what we were doing clinically.

989
00:46:23.795 --> 00:46:26.952
The gap began to widen when government

990
00:46:26.952 --> 00:46:29.458
pulled back in terms of cutbacks,

991
00:46:29.458 --> 00:46:31.174
so what was happening was that

992
00:46:31.174 --> 00:46:35.516
there were policy interventions
that were shrinking

993
00:46:35.516 --> 00:46:37.680
the gap between blacks and whites,

994
00:46:37.680 --> 00:46:41.836
and with respect to
women, infant mortality.

995
00:46:41.836 --> 00:46:45.338
So the conversation that
we attempted to have is

996
00:46:45.338 --> 00:46:47.776
what do we do as
clinicians, and what is our

997
00:46:47.776 --> 00:46:50.584
responsibility as social
workers in terms of

998
00:46:50.584 --> 00:46:53.825
engaging policy, really, on a macro level?

999
00:46:55.195 --> 00:46:57.738
I think that, I wanna say one point,

1000
00:46:57.738 --> 00:47:00.292
we hosted this film screening
during the lunch hour,

1001
00:47:00.292 --> 00:47:03.613
and if you want to get people together

1002
00:47:03.613 --> 00:47:05.788
all at the same time in the same space,

1003
00:47:05.788 --> 00:47:07.556
you offer them food.

1004
00:47:07.556 --> 00:47:08.687
(laughter)

1005
00:47:08.687 --> 00:47:12.491
This has been my experience
getting people together

1006
00:47:12.491 --> 00:47:16.221
for a host of reasons for
years and years years.

1007
00:47:16.221 --> 00:47:18.334
We offered pizza, we brought everyone in,

1008
00:47:18.334 --> 00:47:19.700
we watched this film.

1009
00:47:19.700 --> 00:47:21.442
It's a really powerful film.

1010
00:47:21.442 --> 00:47:24.503
I suggest everyone
watch it if you haven't.

1011
00:47:24.503 --> 00:47:26.845
What we heard from people, the clinicians

1012
00:47:26.845 --> 00:47:29.329
and social workers at the
CWC after watching it,

1013
00:47:29.329 --> 00:47:33.156
was that we tend to lose
sight of our responsibility,

1014
00:47:33.156 --> 00:47:37.568
our social work responsibility
in the clinical space.

1015
00:47:37.568 --> 00:47:40.842
We're working with clients,
and even when we have

1016
00:47:40.842 --> 00:47:43.466
a social justice lens,
even when we're sitting

1017
00:47:43.466 --> 00:47:45.904
with people and we're acknowledging

1018
00:47:45.904 --> 00:47:47.877
the chronic stress that they experience

1019
00:47:47.877 --> 00:47:51.682
because of something like racism,

1020
00:47:51.682 --> 00:47:54.329
we forget that it is
also our responsibility

1021
00:47:54.329 --> 00:47:57.672
to engage in public policy endeavors

1022
00:47:57.672 --> 00:48:01.388
and things that shrink the gap between

1023
00:48:01.388 --> 00:48:04.282
whites and blacks in the United States.

1024
00:48:04.282 --> 00:48:06.725
And people were really grateful to us.

1025
00:48:06.725 --> 00:48:10.710
They said, "I'm often thinking
about things like this

1026
00:48:10.710 --> 00:48:12.866
"through an individual
lens, and I recognize

1027
00:48:12.866 --> 00:48:15.181
"that it's important for
me to really step back

1028
00:48:15.181 --> 00:48:18.571
"and look at issues like
racism at a macro level,

1029
00:48:18.571 --> 00:48:22.495
"and what is required of
us as social workers."

1030
00:48:22.495 --> 00:48:25.250
I think that what I took away from it was

1031
00:48:25.250 --> 00:48:28.338
that there's not just a clinical response

1032
00:48:28.338 --> 00:48:30.657
or a clinical intervention to anti-racism.

1033
00:48:30.657 --> 00:48:33.864
There really is a social work response.

1034
00:48:35.157 --> 00:48:36.257
Thanks.

1035
00:48:36.257 --> 00:48:38.138
- I'm gonna use the projector so you guys

1036
00:48:38.138 --> 00:48:39.694
might wanna scoot around

1037
00:48:39.694 --> 00:48:41.537
and come back for the discussion.

1038
00:48:41.537 --> 00:48:43.009
- Ok.
- Thank you.

1039
00:48:55.991 --> 00:48:57.515
Ok, can you all hear me?

1040
00:48:59.070 --> 00:49:03.073
Thanks Dina for bringing
everybody down closer.

1041
00:49:05.900 --> 00:49:07.576
Also, thank you everybody for being here

1042
00:49:07.576 --> 00:49:10.954
on a Saturday morning, thank you.

1043
00:49:10.954 --> 00:49:14.871
It's, just wanna acknowledge

1044
00:49:14.871 --> 00:49:17.652
how that can be a bit of a challenge.

1045
00:49:18.977 --> 00:49:20.953
My project was about race, racism

1046
00:49:20.953 --> 00:49:23.443
and schizophrenia in Vermont, so I worked

1047
00:49:23.443 --> 00:49:25.561
at the Counseling Service
of Addison County.

1048
00:49:25.561 --> 00:49:28.084
That was where my placement was,

1049
00:49:28.084 --> 00:49:31.447
which is a community mental health agency,

1050
00:49:31.447 --> 00:49:34.071
but the first year of my placement,

1051
00:49:34.071 --> 00:49:37.368
I was in a hospital setting
in Burlington, Vermont.

1052
00:49:37.368 --> 00:49:39.620
And there are two units in that hospital.

1053
00:49:39.620 --> 00:49:41.663
There's the mood disorder clinic

1054
00:49:41.663 --> 00:49:44.382
or the effective disorder clinic, I mean,

1055
00:49:44.382 --> 00:49:48.747
the mood disorder unit, the
suicide unit, essentially.

1056
00:49:48.747 --> 00:49:51.445
People who had attempted
suicide, depression.

1057
00:49:51.445 --> 00:49:55.226
And there was another unit
called the psychosis unit.

1058
00:49:55.226 --> 00:49:56.960
In your monthly narratives,
you might remember

1059
00:49:56.960 --> 00:50:00.253
where you track the caseload

1060
00:50:00.253 --> 00:50:03.168
and who's on your caseload,
and I really was noticing

1061
00:50:03.168 --> 00:50:05.726
there's a lot more
people of color upstairs

1062
00:50:05.726 --> 00:50:09.471
on the psychosis unit,
that is a locked unit.

1063
00:50:09.471 --> 00:50:11.746
People are there involuntarily.

1064
00:50:11.746 --> 00:50:14.788
There are no interview rooms on that unit.

1065
00:50:14.788 --> 00:50:17.435
They opted, when they built
it, to have more rooms

1066
00:50:17.435 --> 00:50:21.545
for patients but not
rooms for family meetings.

1067
00:50:21.545 --> 00:50:24.835
So I was really aware
that that was going on,

1068
00:50:24.835 --> 00:50:27.707
and that that was going on in looking at

1069
00:50:27.707 --> 00:50:30.095
how people with mental
illness were being treated

1070
00:50:30.095 --> 00:50:32.225
in the state by looking
at those two units.

1071
00:50:32.225 --> 00:50:34.756
That was my first year placement.

1072
00:50:34.756 --> 00:50:37.658
Originally, my proposal
was to use this book called

1073
00:50:37.658 --> 00:50:39.841
The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia

1074
00:50:39.841 --> 00:50:41.452
Became a Black Disease.

1075
00:50:41.452 --> 00:50:42.675
That's the cover of the book,

1076
00:50:42.675 --> 00:50:45.000
and it's written by a
man who's a psychiatrist

1077
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:47.801
and an American Studies professor.

1078
00:50:47.801 --> 00:50:50.256
The premise of the book
is that schizophrenia

1079
00:50:50.256 --> 00:50:54.203
exists equally across all racial groups.

1080
00:50:54.203 --> 00:50:57.800
Historically, starting in
the 1960s, African-Americans,

1081
00:50:57.800 --> 00:51:00.340
particularly African-American men,

1082
00:51:00.340 --> 00:51:03.428
are diagnosed four to seven times higher.

1083
00:51:03.428 --> 00:51:05.194
So biologically schizophrenia should

1084
00:51:05.194 --> 00:51:07.252
exist equally across all racial groups,

1085
00:51:07.252 --> 00:51:09.868
but in terms of what's diagnosed,

1086
00:51:09.868 --> 00:51:11.912
for people who saw Mary
Olsen's presentation

1087
00:51:11.912 --> 00:51:13.920
yesterday, we talked about
diagnosis and medications

1088
00:51:13.920 --> 00:51:18.704
as being pretty profoundly
disparate in terms of race,

1089
00:51:18.704 --> 00:51:20.650
and that when you have that diagnosis,

1090
00:51:20.650 --> 00:51:23.274
you are locked up, you can't get out,

1091
00:51:23.274 --> 00:51:26.618
you are force-medicated,
and the expectation

1092
00:51:26.618 --> 00:51:29.079
is for long-term disability and removal

1093
00:51:29.079 --> 00:51:31.850
from your community, so
it's a lot of ramifications.

1094
00:51:31.850 --> 00:51:34.188
I was just gonna use the
book and I didn't know

1095
00:51:34.188 --> 00:51:36.858
exactly what I was going to do with it.

1096
00:51:36.858 --> 00:51:40.884
Actually, another thing about the book,

1097
00:51:40.884 --> 00:51:43.162
in talking about the
racialization of diagnosis and

1098
00:51:43.162 --> 00:51:45.712
prescription, one of the
reasons I used a PowerPoint

1099
00:51:45.712 --> 00:51:49.258
presentation today was
to show you this ad.

1100
00:51:49.258 --> 00:51:51.689
If you can see on the left,

1101
00:51:51.689 --> 00:51:52.908
Assaultive and belligerent!

1102
00:51:52.908 --> 00:51:55.388
Cooperation begins with Haldol.

1103
00:51:56.465 --> 00:51:59.147
This was an advertisement from the 1970s

1104
00:51:59.147 --> 00:52:02.193
in psychiatric journals, and that's,

1105
00:52:02.193 --> 00:52:04.196
again, what that book is talking about.

1106
00:52:04.196 --> 00:52:06.757
So I really recommend
checking out that book.

1107
00:52:06.757 --> 00:52:10.177
And this is just really
frightening, obviously,

1108
00:52:10.177 --> 00:52:13.852
and Haldol, I looked it up,
and Haldol also was used

1109
00:52:13.852 --> 00:52:16.950
in the Soviet Union with
political prisoners.

1110
00:52:16.950 --> 00:52:21.188
It's a pretty intense, suppressing drug.

1111
00:52:24.496 --> 00:52:26.712
What I wanted to do was find out,

1112
00:52:26.712 --> 00:52:28.802
look at the disparities in Vermont.

1113
00:52:28.802 --> 00:52:31.604
Part of my placement was
in something called the

1114
00:52:31.604 --> 00:52:34.059
Community Rehabilitation
and Treatment Program.

1115
00:52:34.059 --> 00:52:35.942
That's the name for the
severe and persistent

1116
00:52:35.942 --> 00:52:38.404
mental illness program in the state.

1117
00:52:38.404 --> 00:52:39.704
There are nine agencies

1118
00:52:39.704 --> 00:52:41.256
that serve people in that program.

1119
00:52:41.256 --> 00:52:43.392
My agency was one of them.

1120
00:52:43.392 --> 00:52:45.853
And I had gotten a document from

1121
00:52:45.853 --> 00:52:47.664
the State Department of Mental Health.

1122
00:52:47.664 --> 00:52:49.521
They're called PIPs,

1123
00:52:51.461 --> 00:52:54.903
Performance Information Project.

1124
00:52:54.903 --> 00:52:57.307
Basically, it's analysis
from the Department

1125
00:52:57.307 --> 00:52:59.327
of Mental Health about indicators.

1126
00:52:59.327 --> 00:53:02.301
Performance Indicator Project.

1127
00:53:02.301 --> 00:53:03.691
They were things about how many people

1128
00:53:03.691 --> 00:53:06.174
in the CRT program were working,

1129
00:53:06.174 --> 00:53:08.117
different things about
people in the program.

1130
00:53:08.117 --> 00:53:09.480
I contacted them and I said,

1131
00:53:09.480 --> 00:53:11.784
"Have you ever looked
at race and diagnosis?

1132
00:53:11.784 --> 00:53:14.651
"Have you looked at who's
diagnosed with what,

1133
00:53:14.651 --> 00:53:17.569
"and what race they are?"

1134
00:53:17.569 --> 00:53:19.980
We had to go back and
forth a lot of times 'cause

1135
00:53:19.980 --> 00:53:23.304
she didn't really understand
what I was looking for.

1136
00:53:23.304 --> 00:53:25.767
Again, these Performance
Indicator Project things

1137
00:53:25.767 --> 00:53:27.780
came out, and it said,
"Get in touch with somebody

1138
00:53:27.780 --> 00:53:29.818
"if you had more questions," and I did.

1139
00:53:29.818 --> 00:53:32.155
One of the things is to
let you know that the

1140
00:53:32.155 --> 00:53:35.197
Department of Public Health
has people who do this.

1141
00:53:35.197 --> 00:53:38.169
They collect data, all the
stuff, they get that data

1142
00:53:38.169 --> 00:53:40.375
from hospitals, they get
that data that you're using.

1143
00:53:40.375 --> 00:53:42.140
You can contact them
and ask them questions

1144
00:53:42.140 --> 00:53:44.485
about the data, and
you can ask them to run

1145
00:53:44.485 --> 00:53:46.992
a specific analysis of data.

1146
00:53:46.992 --> 00:53:48.703
That's something that
we can do in any state,

1147
00:53:48.703 --> 00:53:50.655
not just a small state like Vermont.

1148
00:53:50.655 --> 00:53:53.486
I knew that because I had actually worked

1149
00:53:53.486 --> 00:53:55.190
for the Department of Health years ago,

1150
00:53:55.190 --> 00:53:57.601
and I knew that was
something that was available.

1151
00:53:57.601 --> 00:53:59.293
You could really find some amazing stuff.

1152
00:53:59.293 --> 00:54:01.564
They had never looked at that.

1153
00:54:02.532 --> 00:54:03.822
What did we find out in looking

1154
00:54:03.822 --> 00:54:05.281
at the diagnosis, mood disorders?

1155
00:54:05.281 --> 00:54:07.394
In the CRT program the mood disorders,

1156
00:54:07.394 --> 00:54:09.251
people with bipolar
disorder, major depressive

1157
00:54:09.251 --> 00:54:12.495
disorder, and people with
psychosis or schizophrenia.

1158
00:54:12.495 --> 00:54:15.346
Those were a lot of the
people in the CRT program.

1159
00:54:16.256 --> 00:54:17.327
Here's what we found out.

1160
00:54:17.327 --> 00:54:18.296
If you can see this graph,

1161
00:54:18.296 --> 00:54:20.736
this is why I wanted to show it (mumbles).

1162
00:54:24.181 --> 00:54:26.905
For all of the entire program CRT,

1163
00:54:26.905 --> 00:54:28.132
we've got the gray boxes.

1164
00:54:28.132 --> 00:54:31.453
41% of the entire program
have mood disorders,

1165
00:54:31.453 --> 00:54:33.230
are diagnosed with mood disorders,

1166
00:54:33.230 --> 00:54:35.100
and 50% diagnosed with schizophrenia.

1167
00:54:35.100 --> 00:54:36.821
So that's the whole program.

1168
00:54:36.821 --> 00:54:38.141
Among white people in the program,

1169
00:54:38.141 --> 00:54:39.276
it matched it, completely.

1170
00:54:39.276 --> 00:54:43.973
41% mood disorders and 50% schizophrenia.

1171
00:54:43.973 --> 00:54:46.003
Look at African-Americans.

1172
00:54:46.987 --> 00:54:49.309
67% to 29%.

1173
00:54:49.309 --> 00:54:52.066
Not four to seven amount,
that's a difference of

1174
00:54:55.176 --> 00:54:58.216
40%, 60%, it's pretty significant here.

1175
00:54:58.216 --> 00:55:02.804
So this is what I did with my talk

1176
00:55:05.465 --> 00:55:06.595
in our clinician's meeting.

1177
00:55:06.595 --> 00:55:07.888
We had weekly clinician's meetings.

1178
00:55:07.888 --> 00:55:09.735
I had planned it to have a talk.

1179
00:55:09.735 --> 00:55:11.399
It was about 20 minutes.

1180
00:55:11.399 --> 00:55:13.601
I presented all of this
information, we talked about it,

1181
00:55:13.601 --> 00:55:15.711
I asked a couple of different questions.

1182
00:55:15.711 --> 00:55:18.056
I had a handout that had those images,

1183
00:55:18.056 --> 00:55:20.050
the image of the ad, and then,

1184
00:55:20.050 --> 00:55:21.806
"What do you think it is like here?"

1185
00:55:21.806 --> 00:55:24.335
and people were really struck by it.

1186
00:55:24.335 --> 00:55:26.299
They said things like,"It's
eyeopening and scary,

1187
00:55:26.299 --> 00:55:28.376
"and even here, that it exists."

1188
00:55:28.376 --> 00:55:29.996
Another thing, an outcome of that,

1189
00:55:29.996 --> 00:55:31.827
in addition to the discussion was that

1190
00:55:31.827 --> 00:55:34.864
that Performance Indicator
Project report is now

1191
00:55:34.864 --> 00:55:37.302
on their website, and it
does say it was requested

1192
00:55:37.302 --> 00:55:40.368
by a Smith College School
for Social Work intern.

1193
00:55:41.521 --> 00:55:43.449
I really want people to
know that this is stuff that

1194
00:55:43.449 --> 00:55:47.489
you can do and people were
really appreciative of it.

1195
00:55:47.489 --> 00:55:49.200
The discussion was pretty intense

1196
00:55:49.200 --> 00:55:50.872
because they would not have said,

1197
00:55:50.872 --> 00:55:52.335
"Here in our white state of Vermont,

1198
00:55:52.335 --> 00:55:54.931
"that we have these
discrepancies, too," and we do.

1199
00:55:54.931 --> 00:55:58.827
Just enclosing, I have this quote.

1200
00:55:59.471 --> 00:56:00.907
I'm actually working on bringing

1201
00:56:00.907 --> 00:56:03.020
a presenter from the Ecorys project,

1202
00:56:03.020 --> 00:56:05.779
which is a radical mental
health organization.

1203
00:56:05.779 --> 00:56:08.566
It's coming here to Smith on July 29th

1204
00:56:08.566 --> 00:56:10.227
from seven to nine pm.

1205
00:56:10.227 --> 00:56:12.928
Sasha DeBrule, and he has
this line on his signature

1206
00:56:12.928 --> 00:56:14.692
and his email, we've been doing that.

1207
00:56:14.692 --> 00:56:18.040
It's "Justice is what love
looks like in public."

1208
00:56:18.040 --> 00:56:20.045
What Jamie was saying in terms of

1209
00:56:20.045 --> 00:56:23.679
where's the clinical
work, compassionate work,

1210
00:56:23.679 --> 00:56:27.228
political work, and micro-level
and macro-level meet.

1211
00:56:27.228 --> 00:56:28.501
And it's here.

1212
00:56:28.501 --> 00:56:30.750
When we think about justice and love,

1213
00:56:30.750 --> 00:56:33.025
and the work that we do, these are places

1214
00:56:33.025 --> 00:56:34.743
in pointing out some of these issues

1215
00:56:34.743 --> 00:56:37.994
and talking about these
issues is where they meet.

1216
00:56:37.994 --> 00:56:39.685
Thanks, I look forward to
talking to you about it.

1217
00:56:39.685 --> 00:56:42.600
These slides are up online, apparently.

1218
00:56:42.600 --> 00:56:45.068
I can't wait to talk
about all of our projects.

1219
00:56:45.068 --> 00:56:46.132
Thank you.

1220
00:56:46.132 --> 00:56:50.124
(applause)

1221
00:56:57.200 --> 00:56:59.333
- Thank you very much,
truly, for being here

1222
00:56:59.333 --> 00:57:02.058
this morning and for sharing
all of your projects,

1223
00:57:02.058 --> 00:57:03.776
and for giving us a really good sense

1224
00:57:03.776 --> 00:57:07.135
of the various ways in
which we can address

1225
00:57:07.135 --> 00:57:09.895
anti-racism work, at the micro,

1226
00:57:09.895 --> 00:57:12.259
the meso, and the macro level.

1227
00:57:12.259 --> 00:57:16.298
Again, this is really for you, so please,

1228
00:57:16.298 --> 00:57:18.460
any questions that you
have where our panel is,

1229
00:57:18.460 --> 00:57:20.878
if you can feel free.

1230
00:57:23.969 --> 00:57:25.123
- Not all at once.

1231
00:57:25.123 --> 00:57:26.391
(laughter)

1232
00:57:29.192 --> 00:57:31.560
- Daniel, I'm interested in the response

1233
00:57:31.560 --> 00:57:33.870
that you got in your presentation.

1234
00:57:33.870 --> 00:57:36.285
From what I heard it
sounds like you did this

1235
00:57:36.285 --> 00:57:39.026
on your own and brought
the information forth,

1236
00:57:39.026 --> 00:57:40.377
and (mumbles) what I found.

1237
00:57:40.377 --> 00:57:42.224
I'm wondering if you had any

1238
00:57:42.224 --> 00:57:44.046
negative responses or
people who were like,

1239
00:57:44.046 --> 00:57:46.264
"Why are you digging into this?"

1240
00:57:46.264 --> 00:57:48.029
- I didn't get about why
was I digging into it,

1241
00:57:48.029 --> 00:57:51.329
but there was somebody who was,

1242
00:57:51.329 --> 00:57:55.346
and I also wanna say, with
this project, keep it small.

1243
00:57:55.346 --> 00:57:58.653
It was 20 minutes'
presentation but I had been

1244
00:57:58.653 --> 00:58:00.434
contacting the person to
collect the information.

1245
00:58:00.434 --> 00:58:02.197
I didn't know how and was like,

1246
00:58:02.197 --> 00:58:04.634
"How do I even begin to present this?"

1247
00:58:04.634 --> 00:58:06.327
Somebody was,

1248
00:58:07.791 --> 00:58:09.761
the people did say that it was eyeopening

1249
00:58:09.761 --> 00:58:12.263
and important to see, my
supervisor was really into it,

1250
00:58:12.263 --> 00:58:15.787
the director of CRT was really into it.

1251
00:58:15.787 --> 00:58:19.336
One of the clinicians had
this pushback analysis

1252
00:58:19.336 --> 00:58:21.263
that was kind of disturbing to me,

1253
00:58:21.263 --> 00:58:22.866
which I didn't quite know what to do with.

1254
00:58:22.866 --> 00:58:24.092
We didn't have enough time.

1255
00:58:24.092 --> 00:58:25.362
He said something to the effect of,

1256
00:58:25.362 --> 00:58:27.206
and this is a clinician
who's worked in that program

1257
00:58:27.206 --> 00:58:30.737
for a long time, "Well,
you also can think about

1258
00:58:30.737 --> 00:58:32.406
"what are the causes of schizophrenia,

1259
00:58:32.406 --> 00:58:33.841
"like broken families and the fact that

1260
00:58:33.841 --> 00:58:36.430
"in African-American
families, there's no father.

1261
00:58:36.430 --> 00:58:39.207
"The fathers are absent" or something like

1262
00:58:39.207 --> 00:58:42.047
this comment that I just
didn't know what to do.

1263
00:58:42.047 --> 00:58:44.262
That would have been, I needed more time,

1264
00:58:44.262 --> 00:58:47.233
and again, that was where
I felt I'm the intern.

1265
00:58:47.233 --> 00:58:49.142
My jaw dropped to the floor.

1266
00:58:49.142 --> 00:58:50.523
I didn't quite know what to do.

1267
00:58:50.523 --> 00:58:53.166
I knew that I struggled with
this particular clinician

1268
00:58:53.166 --> 00:58:55.070
and it wasn't a surprise
to me that he would say

1269
00:58:55.070 --> 00:58:58.971
something in the meeting
that I was flabbergasted by,

1270
00:58:58.971 --> 00:59:01.916
but that was, I waited
until later and talked

1271
00:59:01.916 --> 00:59:04.420
to my supervisor about
what to do and had to

1272
00:59:04.420 --> 00:59:07.668
manage that 'cause we didn't
quite have enough time.

1273
00:59:07.668 --> 00:59:09.219
We did talk about it and some other people

1274
00:59:09.219 --> 00:59:10.542
stepped in to talk about it,

1275
00:59:10.542 --> 00:59:12.383
but I was really struck by that.

1276
00:59:12.383 --> 00:59:13.650
Also, something else had happened

1277
00:59:13.650 --> 00:59:15.368
in another clinical meeting,

1278
00:59:15.368 --> 00:59:17.965
where he made a joke that
I had to challenge him.

1279
00:59:17.965 --> 00:59:19.169
So there were a couple of things

1280
00:59:19.169 --> 00:59:21.096
that were interpersonal that came up.

1281
00:59:21.096 --> 00:59:22.508
But otherwise, people just appreciated it

1282
00:59:22.508 --> 00:59:24.691
and talked about, we
were able to talk about

1283
00:59:24.691 --> 00:59:27.077
what they experienced at other agencies.

1284
00:59:32.523 --> 00:59:34.410
- It's actually going back to (mumbles)

1285
00:59:34.410 --> 00:59:36.919
about the interpersonal
potential conflict.

1286
00:59:36.919 --> 00:59:39.614
I want to know (mumbles) color whether

1287
00:59:39.614 --> 00:59:42.748
any of that (mumbles)
and if it did, either as

1288
00:59:42.748 --> 00:59:45.971
an obvious statement or more of (mumbles)

1289
00:59:45.971 --> 00:59:48.738
and how you dealt with it (mumbles).

1290
00:59:55.172 --> 00:59:57.838
- The CWC is an amazing agency

1291
00:59:57.838 --> 01:00:00.756
and they're really, really
focused on these issues.

1292
01:00:00.756 --> 01:00:03.589
But lo and behold, there
was certainly a white woman

1293
01:00:03.589 --> 01:00:06.375
in the room who was made
to feel very uncomfortable

1294
01:00:06.375 --> 01:00:08.210
by these kinds of conversations.

1295
01:00:08.210 --> 01:00:10.412
Because often people are
triggered and they're like,

1296
01:00:10.412 --> 01:00:12.896
"Oh, you're pointing
out what I'm not doing."

1297
01:00:12.896 --> 01:00:16.079
And I actually think, and
this is just a thought,

1298
01:00:16.079 --> 01:00:17.688
but because of it, she stopped

1299
01:00:17.688 --> 01:00:20.699
speaking to me for a period of time.

1300
01:00:20.699 --> 01:00:23.113
I then talked to my supervisor
about it and I said,

1301
01:00:23.113 --> 01:00:25.737
"I really feel like this triggered her

1302
01:00:25.737 --> 01:00:28.642
"and now it's become an
interpersonal conflict."

1303
01:00:28.642 --> 01:00:32.218
And she said to me, "You should ask her."

1304
01:00:32.218 --> 01:00:33.213
So I did.

1305
01:00:33.213 --> 01:00:35.790
I said to her, "I feel
like this was a really hard

1306
01:00:35.790 --> 01:00:37.926
"conversation that we all had together,

1307
01:00:37.926 --> 01:00:41.332
"and something's changed
for us interpersonally."

1308
01:00:42.686 --> 01:00:44.467
I wasn't surprised by her response.

1309
01:00:44.467 --> 01:00:47.154
It was, "Oh, absolutely not."

1310
01:00:47.154 --> 01:00:49.285
But it was reparative,
and it was a moment for

1311
01:00:49.285 --> 01:00:52.977
the two of us to say, "If this
is the case, it's not cool.

1312
01:00:52.977 --> 01:00:56.878
"And if it isn't, we
should be friends anyway

1313
01:00:56.878 --> 01:00:58.654
"or whatever."

1314
01:00:58.654 --> 01:01:01.253
(laughter)

1315
01:01:01.253 --> 01:01:04.579
I think these are really
hard conversations to have,

1316
01:01:04.579 --> 01:01:08.678
and sometimes it requires repair attempts.

1317
01:01:08.678 --> 01:01:10.786
It's unfortunate that
I was the one who was

1318
01:01:10.786 --> 01:01:13.317
responsible for doing that,
but I think I got the support

1319
01:01:13.317 --> 01:01:16.689
of my supervisor, and it went ok.

1320
01:01:19.462 --> 01:01:21.182
- My turn.
- Your turn?

1321
01:01:22.427 --> 01:01:26.213
- So far, with our assignment,

1322
01:01:26.213 --> 01:01:28.624
I think because we reached out

1323
01:01:28.624 --> 01:01:31.649
to very important people like Deborah,

1324
01:01:33.505 --> 01:01:34.976
and Jil and I, we collaborated well,

1325
01:01:34.976 --> 01:01:36.451
I didn't feel there were too many

1326
01:01:36.451 --> 01:01:38.355
interpersonal conflicts.

1327
01:01:38.355 --> 01:01:41.253
I don't think there was
any interpersonal conflict

1328
01:01:41.253 --> 01:01:44.701
in this particular assignment.

1329
01:01:46.499 --> 01:01:49.080
This topic, the presentation, itself,

1330
01:01:49.080 --> 01:01:52.473
the video invoked a lot of reactions

1331
01:01:52.473 --> 01:01:54.253
and a lot of different people,

1332
01:01:54.253 --> 01:01:56.552
a lot of diverse group of people

1333
01:01:56.552 --> 01:01:59.454
that came to our meetings.

1334
01:01:59.454 --> 01:02:02.856
The sheer sense of this universal aspect

1335
01:02:02.856 --> 01:02:04.812
that we all can identify with,

1336
01:02:04.812 --> 01:02:07.988
made it very collaborative.

1337
01:02:07.988 --> 01:02:10.608
I didn't really feel like
there was a lot of resistance.

1338
01:02:10.608 --> 01:02:13.719
Deborah, like I said earlier,

1339
01:02:13.719 --> 01:02:16.028
provided this support,

1340
01:02:16.028 --> 01:02:17.720
and she's always willing to meet with us

1341
01:02:17.720 --> 01:02:19.806
when we wanted to talk about it.

1342
01:02:19.806 --> 01:02:23.053
That was very important for us.

1343
01:02:23.053 --> 01:02:27.632
So I didn't feel like I met
any resistance in moving

1344
01:02:27.632 --> 01:02:31.635
this presentation forward
at the Bedford VA.

1345
01:02:35.364 --> 01:02:37.783
- I'm amazed by how

1346
01:02:37.783 --> 01:02:41.164
thorough and thoughtful
all of your projects are,

1347
01:02:41.164 --> 01:02:44.253
and I'm just wondering

1348
01:02:44.253 --> 01:02:46.673
how did you accomplish this during thesis

1349
01:02:46.673 --> 01:02:48.801
and what advice can you give us?

1350
01:02:48.801 --> 01:02:52.856
'Cause your projects seem so fleshed out.

1351
01:02:55.795 --> 01:02:57.699
- I think Samuel said it earlier.

1352
01:02:57.699 --> 01:02:59.394
He said, "Keep it simple".

1353
01:03:02.544 --> 01:03:04.871
We're also in a panel right now.

1354
01:03:04.871 --> 01:03:08.165
So it sounds like, we're
putting our best foot forward.

1355
01:03:08.165 --> 01:03:09.843
(laughter)
Right?

1356
01:03:13.268 --> 01:03:15.467
And it is an assignment.

1357
01:03:15.467 --> 01:03:17.634
I think the language changed last year

1358
01:03:17.634 --> 01:03:20.025
and I had to work really
hard to hear that.

1359
01:03:20.025 --> 01:03:21.860
It's an assignment.

1360
01:03:21.860 --> 01:03:24.526
It's good enough, right?

1361
01:03:24.526 --> 01:03:27.378
This is a hard topic
to do good enough with,

1362
01:03:27.378 --> 01:03:30.675
so there's a lot of emotional work

1363
01:03:30.675 --> 01:03:33.392
that also happens, which is hard.

1364
01:03:33.392 --> 01:03:34.748
But that's my two cents.

1365
01:03:34.748 --> 01:03:37.173
Other people might have
different perspectives.

1366
01:03:37.173 --> 01:03:40.879
- Also, collaborate, like
everybody else has said.

1367
01:03:45.381 --> 01:03:47.480
- We are talking about
it after the fact, right?

1368
01:03:47.480 --> 01:03:48.750
So the thing's been written,

1369
01:03:48.750 --> 01:03:51.053
and we're able to put it
into a nice neat package.

1370
01:03:51.053 --> 01:03:52.356
But I didn't know.

1371
01:03:52.356 --> 01:03:53.683
The proposal I had originally written

1372
01:03:53.683 --> 01:03:55.003
was just till I could use that book.

1373
01:03:55.003 --> 01:03:56.740
I didn't know what was
gonna be beyond that,

1374
01:03:56.740 --> 01:03:59.175
and that might've been enough.

1375
01:03:59.175 --> 01:04:01.172
Partially, because you
have to write that proposal

1376
01:04:01.172 --> 01:04:03.170
earlier in the year,
I don't remember when.

1377
01:04:03.170 --> 01:04:04.021
When is it?
- December.

1378
01:04:04.021 --> 01:04:04.848
- December.

1379
01:04:04.848 --> 01:04:06.645
So you write that
proposal but I didn't give

1380
01:04:06.645 --> 01:04:09.246
this presentation until the end of March.

1381
01:04:10.801 --> 01:04:14.351
And a lot of classmates
didn't do it until March,

1382
01:04:14.351 --> 01:04:15.737
the presentation part.

1383
01:04:15.737 --> 01:04:17.946
So it is just one thing
that's on the back burner,

1384
01:04:17.946 --> 01:04:19.548
maybe collect some
information, think about it,

1385
01:04:19.548 --> 01:04:21.220
but you do write that
proposal that's a little bit

1386
01:04:21.220 --> 01:04:23.468
the skeleton of the plan
of what you're going to do,

1387
01:04:23.468 --> 01:04:25.564
and then it fleshes itself out.

1388
01:04:26.858 --> 01:04:28.241
- Obviously.

1389
01:04:28.241 --> 01:04:31.057
- One thing for me, too,
like I said earlier,

1390
01:04:31.057 --> 01:04:34.676
Jil and I, we took the time off to meet,

1391
01:04:34.676 --> 01:04:36.394
have that relaxing time together

1392
01:04:36.394 --> 01:04:38.375
and work in a comfortable environment.

1393
01:04:38.375 --> 01:04:39.595
For me, I think that's very important

1394
01:04:39.595 --> 01:04:42.266
to de-stress away from
the work environment.

1395
01:04:42.266 --> 01:04:44.618
If you have the opportunity
to work with somebody,

1396
01:04:44.618 --> 01:04:49.187
do it outside and use
that time to do the work.

1397
01:04:50.698 --> 01:04:54.147
- I'm wondering, for collaborating
for the actual pieces

1398
01:04:54.147 --> 01:04:57.212
of the assignment, is everything shared

1399
01:04:57.212 --> 01:04:59.580
or is it assigned, is everything completed

1400
01:04:59.580 --> 01:05:04.225
as a group or (mumbles).

1401
01:05:04.757 --> 01:05:07.803
- I think all except for
the final paper, which is

1402
01:05:07.803 --> 01:05:11.731
really your personal
reflection on the assignment.

1403
01:05:11.731 --> 01:05:12.673
But everything else--

1404
01:05:12.673 --> 01:05:14.600
- The goal and everything
is handed in together.

1405
01:05:14.600 --> 01:05:15.939
- That's right.

1406
01:05:15.939 --> 01:05:16.965
It can be.

1407
01:05:16.965 --> 01:05:18.778
- You could (mumbles) with students across

1408
01:05:18.778 --> 01:05:23.246
different agencies, too. (mumbles).

1409
01:05:23.246 --> 01:05:24.413
Most of the people do it.

1410
01:05:24.413 --> 01:05:27.368
You don't have to do it
collaboratively (mumbles)

1411
01:05:27.368 --> 01:05:30.759
but you can hear how helpful that can be.

1412
01:05:32.119 --> 01:05:33.973
- Is it possible to
collaborate with people

1413
01:05:33.973 --> 01:05:35.734
who are not in the same stage as you?

1414
01:05:35.734 --> 01:05:38.706
Because I'm pretty sure I'm
the only one in my stage,

1415
01:05:38.706 --> 01:05:41.698
and this sounds overwhelming
to do this by myself.

1416
01:05:41.698 --> 01:05:43.161
So I don't know if you know anybody

1417
01:05:43.161 --> 01:05:44.829
in class who's done it cross-stage

1418
01:05:44.829 --> 01:05:48.937
or you guys went separate (mumbles).

1419
01:05:51.188 --> 01:05:54.100
- I would think it would
be possible, right?

1420
01:05:55.186 --> 01:05:58.251
- The issue is you need
to do something in your

1421
01:05:58.251 --> 01:06:01.177
agency or the community
in which you're serving.

1422
01:06:01.177 --> 01:06:05.607
(mumbles) this is the
anti-racism (mumbles).

1423
01:06:05.607 --> 01:06:08.756
You may have ideas about things

1424
01:06:08.756 --> 01:06:10.591
that would be of service to the community

1425
01:06:10.591 --> 01:06:12.240
that you could do.

1426
01:06:12.240 --> 01:06:15.310
Probably most of (mumbles) the project.

1427
01:06:15.310 --> 01:06:17.639
(mumbles) like match up with students

1428
01:06:17.639 --> 01:06:21.441
in another setting (mumbles)

1429
01:06:21.441 --> 01:06:26.026
- Carolyn, if (mumbles)
I think that (mumbles)

1430
01:06:26.026 --> 01:06:27.900
that it's mostly, for example, I have

1431
01:06:27.900 --> 01:06:31.357
a particular diagnosis when we (mumbles)

1432
01:06:31.357 --> 01:06:34.289
particular community, it could
be interesting, actually.

1433
01:06:34.289 --> 01:06:34.932
- Yeah.

1434
01:06:34.932 --> 01:06:36.982
- Two people are located in even different

1435
01:06:36.982 --> 01:06:39.527
geographical areas, so it really depends.

1436
01:06:39.527 --> 01:06:41.654
Are you looking at
something that is much more

1437
01:06:41.654 --> 01:06:44.205
a macro-level, and compare and contrast,

1438
01:06:44.205 --> 01:06:46.452
or are you looking at
something that is really

1439
01:06:46.452 --> 01:06:49.271
very specific to that community.

1440
01:06:49.271 --> 01:06:51.506
You have been trying to ask a question,

1441
01:06:51.506 --> 01:06:52.902
I think, about seven times.

1442
01:06:52.902 --> 01:06:55.102
(laughter)

1443
01:06:57.786 --> 01:07:01.719
- Thank you guys for coming,
it's really (mumbles).

1444
01:07:01.719 --> 01:07:04.432
I understand you mentioned
that you made your

1445
01:07:04.432 --> 01:07:08.255
presentation (mumbles)
clinicians on a weekly basis.

1446
01:07:08.255 --> 01:07:11.618
For those of you that
had to recruit and entice

1447
01:07:11.618 --> 01:07:15.513
people with pizza, I'm curious about how

1448
01:07:15.513 --> 01:07:18.566
you went about recruiting
clinical staff members

1449
01:07:18.566 --> 01:07:20.960
to attend your discussion.

1450
01:07:22.978 --> 01:07:24.415
- We had popcorn

1451
01:07:24.415 --> 01:07:25.981
(laughter)

1452
01:07:25.981 --> 01:07:29.267
and coffee and doughnuts
and I think candy.

1453
01:07:29.267 --> 01:07:30.001
(laughter)

1454
01:07:30.001 --> 01:07:31.568
- Tea.
- And tea.

1455
01:07:32.646 --> 01:07:34.672
We both sent out emails

1456
01:07:34.672 --> 01:07:37.390
to the whole clinical
staff and other stuff--

1457
01:07:37.390 --> 01:07:41.908
- And we sent out very
attractive-looking emails.

1458
01:07:41.908 --> 01:07:42.955
(laughter)

1459
01:07:42.955 --> 01:07:44.887
- And we also all worked in separate teams

1460
01:07:44.887 --> 01:07:47.069
and I think we were enticing people

1461
01:07:47.069 --> 01:07:49.221
in our own team meetings,

1462
01:07:49.221 --> 01:07:52.195
to extort them to come,

1463
01:07:52.195 --> 01:07:55.028
so we did a lot of food
work to actually get people,

1464
01:07:55.028 --> 01:07:57.860
and get your supervisors
to come, at least.

1465
01:07:57.860 --> 01:08:00.516
- And that was where we
had two different sessions.

1466
01:08:00.516 --> 01:08:02.025
We had them on different days of the week

1467
01:08:02.025 --> 01:08:04.456
at different times so that we could try

1468
01:08:04.456 --> 01:08:06.799
to get some people, 'cause
everyone is really busy--

1469
01:08:06.799 --> 01:08:09.470
- Lunchtime and afternoon tea.

1470
01:08:11.721 --> 01:08:14.201
- That's a good point
about the very attractive

1471
01:08:14.201 --> 01:08:15.873
email blurbs, we did the same thing,

1472
01:08:15.873 --> 01:08:18.242
and I think that a headline of ours was,

1473
01:08:18.242 --> 01:08:21.260
"For those committed to
anti-racism work." (laughs)

1474
01:08:21.260 --> 01:08:25.351
(laughter)

1475
01:08:25.351 --> 01:08:28.135
"Please RSVP." (laughs)
(laughter)

1476
01:08:29.595 --> 01:08:31.808
- For anyone in the panel, I'm wondering

1477
01:08:31.808 --> 01:08:34.441
if you employed

1478
01:08:35.894 --> 01:08:39.552
identified allies within the agency

1479
01:08:39.552 --> 01:08:44.188
that maybe would promote your project

1480
01:08:44.188 --> 01:08:48.197
or assignment, and talking to the people

1481
01:08:48.197 --> 01:08:50.367
that they already know,
people (mumbles) say,

1482
01:08:50.367 --> 01:08:52.753
"Hey, I think it was pretty cool.

1483
01:08:52.753 --> 01:08:55.094
"Can we drum up some interest in this?"

1484
01:08:55.094 --> 01:08:57.842
I don't know, I'm trying to
look at angles (mumbles).

1485
01:08:58.910 --> 01:09:03.761
- So Deborah was our point
person that we talked to.

1486
01:09:04.561 --> 01:09:07.108
She invited,

1487
01:09:07.108 --> 01:09:10.332
because she is already
well-known in the hospital,

1488
01:09:10.332 --> 01:09:12.570
she was able to get the flyers out,

1489
01:09:12.570 --> 01:09:14.762
put our pictures on the computer screen,

1490
01:09:14.762 --> 01:09:17.572
on our screen savers,

1491
01:09:17.572 --> 01:09:22.084
have Subs, wraps, chips, sodas, drinks,

1492
01:09:22.978 --> 01:09:25.027
all under the EEO office.

1493
01:09:25.027 --> 01:09:26.857
So we didn't have to pay anything.

1494
01:09:26.857 --> 01:09:29.965
It was lunchtime, people wanted to eat.

1495
01:09:29.965 --> 01:09:32.530
So that was everything under one roof.

1496
01:09:33.917 --> 01:09:35.910
- But it also was their programming

1497
01:09:35.910 --> 01:09:37.883
for African-American History Month.

1498
01:09:37.883 --> 01:09:38.552
- That's right.

1499
01:09:38.552 --> 01:09:42.470
- So if you can figure out what happens

1500
01:09:42.470 --> 01:09:44.490
at your agency, how do they do training,

1501
01:09:44.490 --> 01:09:46.161
how do they do discussions,

1502
01:09:46.161 --> 01:09:49.412
what are events that they
wanna celebrate and honor,

1503
01:09:49.412 --> 01:09:51.643
and plug into it, don't
make that up yourself.

1504
01:09:51.643 --> 01:09:53.869
Find a way to plug into
what already exists.

1505
01:09:53.869 --> 01:09:56.140
- I just wanna emphasize this point.

1506
01:09:56.140 --> 01:09:58.417
This is why it's important to understand

1507
01:09:58.417 --> 01:10:01.436
where your organization is.

1508
01:10:01.436 --> 01:10:03.161
We didn't have funding.

1509
01:10:03.161 --> 01:10:06.644
People don't necessarily
take lunch at our agency.

1510
01:10:06.644 --> 01:10:10.146
There were a lot of things
to have to consider,

1511
01:10:10.146 --> 01:10:13.490
in terms of where they
were in their openness

1512
01:10:13.490 --> 01:10:16.854
and willing to support
these kinds of issues.

1513
01:10:16.854 --> 01:10:19.825
Understanding that is
really important, I think.

1514
01:10:20.763 --> 01:10:23.110
- We have time for one
final question and then

1515
01:10:23.110 --> 01:10:26.430
(mumbles).

1516
01:10:26.430 --> 01:10:28.436
- If someone else hasn't gone first.

1517
01:10:28.436 --> 01:10:29.175
(laughter)

1518
01:10:29.175 --> 01:10:30.584
- How will you assess that?

1519
01:10:30.584 --> 01:10:31.528
Come on!
(laughter)

1520
01:10:31.528 --> 01:10:33.576
- They're such nice social workers.

1521
01:10:34.420 --> 01:10:37.096
- I was wondering if any
of you know of any students

1522
01:10:37.096 --> 01:10:39.580
who talked about, or two questions.

1523
01:10:39.580 --> 01:10:41.461
If you know of any
students who talked about

1524
01:10:41.461 --> 01:10:43.611
power and privilege exclusively,

1525
01:10:43.611 --> 01:10:46.713
and the other part I was thinking of was

1526
01:10:48.522 --> 01:10:51.888
not remaining in the vine
area, like black and white,

1527
01:10:51.888 --> 01:10:55.531
and so talking about intersectionality.

1528
01:10:55.531 --> 01:11:00.026
If you can make any ideas
that you forgot or know of.

1529
01:11:02.873 --> 01:11:06.260
- I would, because Maria and
I read them all (laughs).

1530
01:11:06.260 --> 01:11:07.641
We read them all.

1531
01:11:07.641 --> 01:11:09.402
Students have lots of
different kind of things.

1532
01:11:09.402 --> 01:11:12.235
Students have looked at
issues of intersectionality.

1533
01:11:12.235 --> 01:11:16.136
We had students in college
health settings looking at

1534
01:11:17.305 --> 01:11:20.103
who's accessing college
mental health services,

1535
01:11:20.103 --> 01:11:23.117
across issues of intersectionality,

1536
01:11:23.117 --> 01:11:25.370
what is it like for gay
people of color to come

1537
01:11:25.370 --> 01:11:29.108
to this particular college
counseling service,

1538
01:11:29.108 --> 01:11:31.360
who's getting served, who's not.

1539
01:11:31.360 --> 01:11:34.515
I think the interface around

1540
01:11:34.515 --> 01:11:38.923
religion, race, gender orientation,

1541
01:11:38.923 --> 01:11:42.893
sexual orientation, class.

1542
01:11:42.893 --> 01:11:45.209
So many students have really looked

1543
01:11:45.209 --> 01:11:49.786
at a range of variables and
factors that are impacting

1544
01:11:49.786 --> 01:11:52.886
clients and impacting access to care.

1545
01:11:52.886 --> 01:11:56.148
Does that fit with some of
what you're thinking about?

1546
01:11:56.148 --> 01:11:57.636
Yeah, absolutely.

1547
01:11:59.943 --> 01:12:01.529
We've had some students looking

1548
01:12:01.529 --> 01:12:04.581
at Jewish identity and race issues.

1549
01:12:04.581 --> 01:12:06.551
How do you put those things together

1550
01:12:06.551 --> 01:12:09.241
and pull the things apart?

1551
01:12:09.241 --> 01:12:11.932
So, absolutely, think beyond the binary.

1552
01:12:11.932 --> 01:12:15.310
People don't come in boxes, as they say.

1553
01:12:15.310 --> 01:12:18.421
- I can also offer that our conversations

1554
01:12:18.421 --> 01:12:21.138
often went to intersectionality.

1555
01:12:21.138 --> 01:12:22.345
I don't know if that was true

1556
01:12:22.345 --> 01:12:24.106
for other people's projects,

1557
01:12:24.106 --> 01:12:27.071
but I think you can just expect it

1558
01:12:27.071 --> 01:12:29.644
to happen in the conversation.

1559
01:12:29.644 --> 01:12:33.406
- I think that my project
or assignment focused

1560
01:12:33.406 --> 01:12:35.984
really specifically on
women, and a particular issue

1561
01:12:35.984 --> 01:12:39.114
related to giving birth, and infants.

1562
01:12:39.114 --> 01:12:43.193
So while I think it can be
broadly expanded to think

1563
01:12:43.193 --> 01:12:47.673
about all people of color,
that really was a niche.

1564
01:12:49.521 --> 01:12:52.404
- We're very close to needing to wrap up.

1565
01:12:52.404 --> 01:12:54.072
I think that I would just pick up on that

1566
01:12:54.072 --> 01:12:55.945
one piece around assessment.

1567
01:12:55.945 --> 01:12:58.058
If there's anything
that tends to be missing

1568
01:12:58.058 --> 01:13:00.705
out of these assignments, it's assessment.

1569
01:13:00.705 --> 01:13:02.980
Sometimes students come
out of the second summer

1570
01:13:02.980 --> 01:13:05.036
with a lot of ideas
about what they wanna do

1571
01:13:05.036 --> 01:13:06.317
when they go to the agency,

1572
01:13:06.317 --> 01:13:08.683
and want to apply that idea to the agency,

1573
01:13:08.683 --> 01:13:11.149
but make sure you take
a little bit of time

1574
01:13:11.149 --> 01:13:13.194
in the fall to get yourselves located.

1575
01:13:13.194 --> 01:13:16.184
Find out who the allies and resources are.

1576
01:13:16.184 --> 01:13:18.344
Read the abstracts of
what your colleagues have

1577
01:13:18.344 --> 01:13:20.472
done before, so your'e
not reinventing the wheel.

1578
01:13:20.472 --> 01:13:23.650
Sometimes a great project
is to do a follow-up

1579
01:13:23.650 --> 01:13:26.101
to what the folks, the year before, did

1580
01:13:26.101 --> 01:13:28.429
and that deepens the
conversation with people.

1581
01:13:28.429 --> 01:13:31.517
But do some assessment
about what will be useful

1582
01:13:31.517 --> 01:13:34.513
to your agency and in
service of the clients

1583
01:13:34.513 --> 01:13:36.993
that you're working with.

1584
01:13:36.993 --> 01:13:38.851
- The last thing that I
would wanna say is that

1585
01:13:38.851 --> 01:13:42.376
we're using Moodle as
a platform to continue

1586
01:13:42.376 --> 01:13:46.045
to upload information that
may be helpful to you,

1587
01:13:46.045 --> 01:13:47.903
and likewise, if you find something

1588
01:13:47.903 --> 01:13:51.246
that you think will be good to post there,

1589
01:13:51.246 --> 01:13:54.193
I really welcome your
thoughts, your ideas,

1590
01:13:54.193 --> 01:13:56.691
and whatever you can offer
so that we can continue

1591
01:13:56.691 --> 01:13:59.246
to engage in this very important work.

1592
01:13:59.246 --> 01:14:01.215
Thank you so much for being here.

1593
01:14:01.215 --> 01:14:05.180
(applause)

1594
01:14:11.727 --> 01:14:13.901
- Also, feel free to
ask us other questions.

1595
01:14:13.901 --> 01:14:15.261
We'll be around or you'll know us,

1596
01:14:15.261 --> 01:14:16.974
see us on campus at the lunch today.

1597
01:14:16.974 --> 01:14:18.008
Just feel free to ask us

1598
01:14:18.008 --> 01:14:19.421
if you have some other questions.

1599
01:14:19.421 --> 01:14:20.834
- I wanna thank the panel.

1600
01:14:20.834 --> 01:14:22.316
I thank all of you guys for being here

1601
01:14:22.316 --> 01:14:23.380
on a Saturday morning.

1602
01:14:23.380 --> 01:14:25.838
I'm incredibly touched by the work

1603
01:14:25.838 --> 01:14:27.510
that you do with clients.

1604
01:14:27.510 --> 01:14:29.971
I read a lot of your clinical material.

1605
01:14:29.971 --> 01:14:32.498
Very touched by the work that you do.

1606
01:14:32.498 --> 01:14:34.584
On behalf of clients
who are in great need,

1607
01:14:34.584 --> 01:14:37.138
I'm very proud of the work you do.

1608
01:14:37.138 --> 01:14:38.342
You guys have done a great job.

1609
01:14:38.342 --> 01:14:39.894
Thank you.

1610
01:14:39.894 --> 01:14:43.835
(applause)