Intercultural & Multifaith Learning

H.E.R. Lab marks research-heavy, successful first year

The Health, Equity and Racism Lab — or H.E.R. Lab — celebrated an eventful first year in spring 2022. Founded by Associate Professor of Public Health Studies Stephanie Baker and Assistant Professor of Public Health Studies Yanica Faustin, the lab exists to transform health care and remove racial and socioeconomic barriers to care through research and community education.

In the lab’s first year, Baker and Faustin mentored seven undergraduate research projects related to maternal, child and minority health. Two lab members — Queen Assata Stephens ’22 and Deena Elrefai ’22 — presented at the UNC Minority Health Conference. Baker, Faustin and a team of nine undergraduates worked to educate about the lab’s work and recruit new members. Baker and Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Wall produced the documentary dance film “Reclaiming Power: The Black Maternal Health Crisis,” which merged analysis of Black mothers’ death rates during childbirth and the benefits of out-of-hospital births with interpretive dance performances.

New professional ensemble amplifies minority composers, modern issues

The Elon Contemporary Chamber Ensemble formed and performed three concerts in 2021-22. The ensemble was founded to meet several needs, said Director of Bands Jonathan Poquette, who also serves as the ensemble’s artistic director. It brings innovative and underexposed chamber music to Elon and Central North Carolina audiences, performs and commissions works by underrepresented composers, and collaborates with academic programs and the larger community to educate about social and political themes in music during pre-concert panel discussions.

ECCE was awarded an Elon College Fund for Excellence grant to commission a new work by an underrepresented composer in the 2022-23 academic year.

‘Border Walls and Butterflies’ documents life, student experiences at U.S.-Mexico border

Students who participated in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands: Culture, Environment and Immigration course displayed photographs, artwork and souvenirs in a spring 2022 exhibit.

Undergraduates’ work was accompanied by photographs from the Sierra Club’s traveling “Life on the Border” exhibit. The Winter Term course is led by Assistant Professor of Geography Sandy Marshall and Lecturer in History and Geography Shayna Mehas and gives access to communities and organizations near the border where life is shaped and influenced by U.S. immigration policies.

Art Through an Inclusive Lens

The Department of Performing Arts led six Art Through an Inclusive Lens panels in 2021-22, with faculty, students and guest artists discussing themes of inclusivity and diversity in theater, dance, dramaturgy and playwrighting.

Events included:

• A panel discussion preceding the dance program’s annual Dancing in the Landscape performance;
• A series of discussions with guest artists around queer themes in performing arts, moderated by Jack Morrill ’22;
• A panel discussion about the Black History Month Dance Concert led by Assistant Professor of Dance Keshia Wall; and
• Two contemporary play readings accompanied by dialogue about the subject of human difference within the works.

The department began hosting the discussions in 2019, often preceding the openings of programs, concerts and plays.

College awards Fund for Excellence in the Arts & Sciences grants

The college’s Fund for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences grants are bestowed each year to projects and events that deepen the values, intellectual community, research, teaching and habits of thinking that are characteristic of the liberal arts and sciences. Proposals originate from individual or groups of faculty, staff and students and are funded up to $7,000 over one or two academic years.

These 10 programs will enhance current areas of study, support research, promote deeper understanding of issues and events, and expand academic outreach.

Bringing the Reservation to Elon: Residents of Pine Ridge share their perspectives on issues facing the Lakota Sioux

Elon will host a panel of three Pine Ridge Reservation residents working in nonprofit agencies to increase understanding of the historical and modern-day injustices that Native populations in the U.S. face and deepen understanding of current conditions that exist on the reservation.

Roundtable Discussion on Disability: Activism, Equity, and Art

Offered by the American Studies program and Elon’s Disabilities Resources, this event will broaden understanding of equity and what disability studies bring to understanding American history, culture and society.

Discover Dance with Elon

Broadening in its second year, this one-day event hosted by the arts administration and dance programs invites high school students — especially from underserved communities — to explore higher education in dance studies and dance science. Elon dance majors will host a workshop for high school students, who will then attend the Fall Dance Concert. Arts administration seniors will plan, publicize and coordinate the event.

Reading and Writing the Body

The English department will invite authors Molly Cullen Brown and Dan Roche to read from and discuss the craft of interpreting the body in narrative forms. Brown has written about living with cerebral palsy, while some of Roche’s nonfiction addresses his partial loss of sight.

“I and Thou: Creating a 21st Century Jewish Sexual Ethic”

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, a prominent scholar of Jewish sexual ethics, will visit Elon for a lecture around sexual morality, consent, objectification and what comprises an ethical sexual encounter from a feminist point of view.

Elon Contemporary Chamber Ensemble Commissioning Project

Elon’s Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, comprised of faculty and professional musicians, will commission a new work by a composer from a marginalized or underrepresented group and host the composer in masterclasses for students. ECCE will premiere the commissioned work and host a pre-concert discussion for audiences.

Ending the Legacy of Racism in Medicine

The Periclean Scholars Class of 2024 will invite Dorothy Roberts to Elon University to present on systemic racism in the health care system. The event will teach about the historical presence of racism in health care that is still evident today.

The Loy Farm “Green” Maker Hub

This project would establish a green maker hub at Loy Farm with accompanying workshops, expert speakers and events to encourage innovation, independent and class-based learning using living plant materials. The center will also support propagation of native plants and education around their cultural and regional importance.

Inspiring Inclusive and Equitable Elon Experiences

A series of half-day workshops for each of the five Elon Experiences will be designed by students, faculty, staff and external facilitators to broaden experiences and result in shared ideas and actions.

(Im)migrations: Border and Language Crossings in the Americas

The French and Spanish programs of the Department of World Languages and Cultures will invite two Québécois authors of Spanish-American descent for class visits in French and Spanish courses as well as a public lecture/reading in French and Spanish. Lula Carballo and Caroline Dawson are critically acclaimed authors of books in French that narrate their South American childhoods, the trauma of escaping persecution, and the difficulties of learning a new language and immersing oneself in a new culture.