Dena Samuels |
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Dena Samuels is a sociologist specializing in race, gender, sexuality and curriculum development. She is a Senior Instructor in the Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies programs at University of Colorado - Colorado Springs (UCCS), and won the university’s 2006 Outstanding Instructor Award. Her research has primarily revolved around the concept of inequality in society, specifically privilege and oppression. She co-edited The Matrix Reader: Examining the Dynamics of Oppression and Privilege (McGraw-Hill, 2008), a volume intended for use in classes on race, gender, class, and sexuality. She is author of the accompanying Instructor Manual for this anthology, which focuses on strategies for teaching diversity issues in the classroom as well as how to manage emotions and resistance that often occurs when teaching these volatile topics. In addition, she was recently published in several resource guides for the American Sociological Association, including: Teaching About Ethnoviolence and Hate Crimes and Race, Gender, and Class in Sociology: Toward an Inclusive Curriculum. Samuels has led diversity training workshops both on campus and off, including at the University of Maryland, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and The Citadel Military Institute of South Carolina. She has served as the Assistant Director for UCCS’ Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and Inclusion, and was instrumental in bringing in and organizing the award-winning national White Privilege Conference to UCCS in April, 2007. Samuels co-directs the national multicultural workshop, the Knapsack Institute: Curriculum Transformation Workshop, and collaborates with the Building Inclusiveness Group to co-facilitate campus-wide diversity workshops at UCCS for administration, faculty, staff, and students. Samuels has been interviewed by local news stations on issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Samuels holds an M.A. in Sociology from UCCS, a B.A. in Politics from Brandeis University, and is currently working on her doctorate in Educational Leadership, Research and Policy in the College of Education at UCCS. She can be reached at: dsamuels@uccs.edu. |