S4 E20 | Braving the Waters: Charting a Course between Scylla of Victimhood and Charybdis of DEI

The Dissidents

In this week's episode Steven James Lawrence joins Elizabeth for a discussion of critical theory, teaching in K-12 and college, as well as what he calls an organic perspective on diversity, equity and inclusion. We talk about the healing value of stories and the potentially destructive nature of community prescribed victim narratives. Stephen describes his success in inviting colleagues on an inclusiveness-focused journey, an alternative to often resented and ineffectual top-down methods of DEI enforcement.

Podcast Notes

Steven James Lawrence has served as chair of the Faculty Development Committee at the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, a Federally-designated Minority Serving Institution (MSI), where he promoted "invitational" approaches to DEI that were non-ideological.

Steven's substack

Steven's Organic DEI substack postSteven's personal reflections on contemporary social theories and how they disconnect us from ourselves and one another

Pasupathi, M., Fivush, R., & Hernandez-Martinez, M. (2016). Talking about it: Stories as paths to healing after violence. Psychology of Violence, 6(1), 49-56.