UCCS Diversity Summit 2013 Featured Presentations

Brenda J. Allen

Communicating Difference Matters at UCCS

Brenda J. Allen (Ph.D., Howard University) is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion and a Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. Her research and teaching areas are organizational communication, diversity, and critical pedagogy. Among her numerous publications on these topics is a groundbreaking book entitled Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity (2nd. ed., 2011). In addition to performing her duties at the university, she presents keynote speeches and conducts workshops and consultations on a range of topics, including self-empowerment, diversity, leadership, inclusion, strategic planning, mentoring, and teamwork.
Dr. Allen has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Francine Merritt Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Lives of Women in Communication from the National Communication Association, the first Annual Ally of the Year Award from the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Alliance (University of Colorado Boulder), the first Annual Award for Outstanding Achievement for Commitment to Diversity at CU Denver, the first Annual Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring from CU Denver, the Paul H. Boase Prize for (communication) Scholarship from Ohio University, and the Feminist Teacher-Mentor Award from the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender.
In 2011, she was the Carroll C. Arnold Distinguished Lecturer at the National Communication Association’s annual convention.

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

Out and About in Sphere of Learning:
How Disability Integration Transforms Public Spaces

Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (Ph.D., Brandeis) is Professor of Women's Studies at Emory University, where her fields of study are feminist theory, American literature, and disability studies. Her work develops the field of disability studies in the humanities and women's and gender studies and seeks to bring an understanding of disability issues and identities to communities within and outside of the academy She is author of Staring: How We Look and Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Literature and Culture; co-editor of Re-Presenting Disability: Museums and the Politics of Display and Disability Studies: Enabling the Humanities; and editor of Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body. Her current book project, Habitable Worlds: Eugenic Space and Inclusive Space, places materialist analysis of the built environment in conversation with eugenic practices and thought.

CU Regent
Irene Griego

Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning Multicultural Society

CU Regent Irene Griego (Ph.D. CU Boulder) has 38 years of experience in education from the pre-school level to the university level. As a highly qualified educator she has demonstrated a life-long commitment to Education. Griego has earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from CU at Boulder, a Master of Arts Degree in Education from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley and a Doctorate in School Administration from CU at Denver. Regent Griego was raised in Adams County where she attended Bertha Heid Elementary, York Junior High School and graduated from Mapleton High School. After graduation from CU Boulder, Regent Griego began her teaching career with the Denver Public Schools, served as an elementary school principal in the Alum Rock School District, San Jose, California and then returned as an elementary school principal in the Jefferson County Public Schools. Regent Griego spent 10 years as principal, Stein Elementary School and then went on to serve for nearly eleven years as a community superintendent with oversight responsibilities for 38 K-12 schools. She also found time to co-author Today's Students, Tomorrow's Teachers, to serve as an adjunct professor in Administrative Leadership Training at CU Denver and, to coordinate the Office of Diversity and Inclusion after retirement for Jeffco Schools. Regent Griego is the recipient of numerous school and community awards. She was appointed to the CU Board of Regents on November 20, 2011 by Governor John Hickenlooper.
Regent Griego is proud of serving CU. She was re-elected to a six year term in November 2012.

Angelique Acevedo-Barrón

Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning Multicultural Society

Angelique Acevedo-Barrón (Ph.D., U. of Denver) is a dedicated results-driven educator with over thirty years in public education and a history of demonstrated success in challenging and competitive academic arenas. Her global perspective, extensive classroom experience and curriculum development expertise in culturally responsive instruction have made her the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, the Disney American Teacher of the Year Award, the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award for Colorado and Colorado Art Educator of the Year. Dr. Acevedo-Barrón received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Denver and works as Assistant Director for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in Jefferson County Public Schools in Golden, Colorado.