Information for Speakers

As you may know, the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) is an internationally renowned research center in alcohol research. The mission is twofold: to conduct collaborative research that will lead to more effective treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and to create a nationwide program in substance abuse, education and training for psychologists, physicians, medical students, and health care professionals.

CAAS Rounds is a weekly science lecture series designed to engage the School of Public Health in a variety of relevant research and community health topics. We are always looking for speaker suggestions. If you have a suggestion or are interested in being a speaker, please contact Chair Lauren Micalizzi ([email protected]). See below for more details about being a speaker.

CAAS Rounds Format

To facilitate getting to know one another, and to add a level of personal interest to each presentation, we ask all presenters to begin with a 3-5 minute discussion of something personally meaningful. Who are you? Where are you coming from? What is your training background? This could include something not directly related to your work, such as a significant hobby, where you grew up, where you went to school, different places you've lived, or what you like to do outside of work. We request that presentations last no more than 35-40 minutes to leave sufficient time for Q&A. The format and level of formality can vary based on the presenter’s preference.  Co-presenters are welcome.

Location:  CAAS Rounds is held each Friday from 12 noon to 12:55pm at 121 South Main Street, Providence RI, room 245.

Further Reading and Resources

Cathey, C., & Ross, A. S. (2011). Teaching about diversity: Activities that promote student engagement (PDF, 213KB). In R. L. Miller, E. Baketis, S. R. Burns, D. B. Daniel, B. K. Saville, & W. D. Woody (Eds.), Promoting Student Engagement: Vol. 2. Activities, exercises and demonstrations for psychology courses. Society for the Teaching of Psychology Division 2, American Psychological Association.

Dogra, N., Reitmanova, S., Carter-Pokras, O. Twelve tips for teaching diversity and embedding it in the medical curriculum. Medical teacher. 2009;31(11):990-993.

Green, A. R., Betancourt, J. R., & Carrillo, J. E. (2002). Integrating Social Factors into Cross‐cultural Medical Education. Academic Medicine, 77(3), 193-197.

Jeffreys, M. R. (2015). Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care: Inquiry, action, and innovation. Springer Publishing Company.

Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage publications.

Pérez, M. A., & Luquis, R. R. (2013). Cultural competence in health education and health promotion. John Wiley & Sons.

Sue, D. W., Rivera, D. P., Watkins, N. L., Kim, R. H., Kim, S., & Wiliams, C. D. (2011). Racial dialogues: Challenges faculty of color face in the classroom. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17, 331-340.

Sue, D. W., Torino, G. C., Capodilupo, C. M., Rivera, D. P., & Lin, A. I. (2009). How White faculty perceive and react to difficult dialogues on race: Implications for education and training. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 109

The Diversity Committee welcomes the opportunity to discuss these tips further, address any questions, and provide any additional support. For example, with 1-2 weeks notice, they can provide feedback on your draft presentation. Feel free to email Committee Chairs, Ernestine Jennings ([email protected]) and  Jacob van den Berg ([email protected]).

Tips for Integrating Diversity into Seminar Topics

The following tips are intended to help presenters integrate diversity issues into intern and post-doctoral seminars.  Diversity within the Training Consortium is defined broadly to include age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, and socio-economic background.

  • Identify prevalence of problem/issue.  Are there differential impacts across subgroups?
  • Identify research that has been conducted with diverse groups, as well as limitations from existing research related to diversity.
  • Are there differences in response to treatments by diverse subgroups?
  • Consider how our cultural biases may influence the treatment and evaluation process for this problem or approach.
  • How do you recruit people for research or treatment on this problem to include people across diverse backgrounds?  What accommodations may be needed to recruit, consent, or treat?
  • Are there other methodological issues/barriers that limit research with diverse groups?
  • Recognize that cultural groups are themselves very diverse; be aware of stereotyping any one group.  Consider confounding factors when comparing data across subgroups. 
  • Cultures change over time, influenced by acculturation, modernization, policies, media, and historical events.
  • Key readings ahead may stimulate discussion on these topics. Consider also whether seminar handouts include information and resources related to diversity for learners’ use after the presentation, e.g. in PowerPoint slides, references.
  • Career path topics can offer suggestions for people of diverse backgrounds and/or those interested in working with diverse communities, e.g. how to get appropriate mentoring, grant/funding options, access to key communities, dealing with discrimination in the workplace.
  • Consider cultural competency as a life-long process and not a destination. We are always learning about our own and other cultures and how we interact across cultures.
  • Consider cultural-related processes related to research or clinical topic (e.g., rather than focus on ethnic/racial differences in disease course and outcomes, explore potential cultural-related processes that may be more salient to specific group, such as specific cultural beliefs, values, strengths, risks, and behaviors).

Evaluations

All CAAS Rounds presentations are evaluated by CAAS trainees via brief surveys, with the purpose of continually improving our series. Speakers will also receive a compilation of survey responses to use as they wish, e.g., teaching evaluations or indices of academic service.

Request for Presenters

So that we can publicize your presentation and if you have not already done so, please send us a title and brief description at your earliest convenience.

Release form

Please download, print, complete, and return the release form for presenters:

Release form

Recordings

Speakers have the option to allow their talks to be recorded. Recording is optional, and the presenter's preference will not influence the committee's selection of speakers. Presenters may choose to a) not have their talks recorded, b) have their talks recorded and available only to the Brown community, or c) have their talks recorded and available publicly. Speakers will receive an email with a form to record their choice.