School of Leadership Studies Agenda

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Hermeneutics as Ways of Listening [SLS-SEMD-2]

with Miguel Guilarte

Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation of the meaning of “texts”. Over the last century, the concept of “text” has broadened from literature, religious and legal texts, to encompass historical narratives, events, visual media, body language, art, and dreams. In this workshop we examine distinct approaches to interpretation which may be categorized as A) Romantic or appreciative hermeneutics, and B) Critical hermeneutics or the hermeneutics of suspicion (after Paul Ricoeur’s analysis of “masters of suspicion”). We will examine how these represent different stances of the self in general and of a researcher in particular. These interpretive stances represent different approaches to listening or attending to life, the world, and ourselves, and also as different approaches to the analysis of systems and research data collected from participants in different scholarly and organizational contexts. We will consider how different hermeneutics represent different ontologies, value frameworks, and politics.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Navigating Polarities and Paradoxes [SLS-SEMD-3]

with Abigail Lynam, Fred Steier

In this interactive seminar, we will introduce the concepts of paradox and polarities and the role they can play in group dynamics (including teams, social and political polarization, organizations, communities), as well as everyday life. We will explore how learning to recognize and work with polarities and paradoxes can support navigating conflict in group life, while also potentially opening up space for creativity and innovative approaches for navigating complex and dynamic challenges. As we bring together theory and practice, this interactive and experiential session will support facilitation, decision making, team development, leadership development, and personal development, as well as ways of working with polarized social and political dynamics.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Baldrige Framework [SLS-SEMD-4]

with Bruce Leslie

Description TBA.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Dissertation Process and Were Afraid to Ask [SLS-SEMD-5]

with Jenny Edwards

Participants will:

Gain an overview of the dissertation process
Learn what to expect
Learn strategies for being successful

12:00-1:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Community Meeting: Update from University and School Leadership [SLS-COMM-6]

with Barbara Mink

Hear from leadership about all the things that are happening within the University and within the School of Leadership Studies.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Grounded Theory [SLS-SEMR-7]

with Frank Barrett

An introduction to grounded theory as an approach to qualitative research.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Anti-Racism Conversations [SLS-SEMD-8]

with Annabelle Nelson, Lenneal Henderson, Nicola Smith

An appreciative space for conversation during the current atmosphere of Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, transphobia, genocide in Myanmar and racism emerging in places never thought of before. This atmosphere is super charged by happening in the middle of a pandemic. The issues are multi-layered by privilege, class, colorism and intersectionality in general settings and in specific ones like at Fielding. We invite participants to show up as whole people with all their resources that have shaped their anti-racist journey including humor, tragedies, celebrations and info from inspirational scholars and activists. The goal of the session will be to create conversations with mutual, reciprocal exchange of information, experiences and insights which motivates and uplifts towards forward direction. There will sharing by the facilitators, generation of questions by the participants and break out groups to first share experiences, information and insights about racism, and secondly answer the question, “How we move forward to become anti-racist as individuals, as professionals, family and community members and as part of the Fielding culture?” We hope to plan a follow up session to articulate how we can engage as social activists to catalyze anti-racism.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Dissertation Research Concept and Design Round Robin [SLS-SEMR-9]

with Abigail Lynam, Keith Melville, Miguel Guilarte, Valerie Bentz, Dorothy Agger-Gupta, Rich Appelbaum, David Blake Willis, Fred Steier, Nicola Smith, Mike Manning, Four Arrows, Patrice Rosenthal, Jenny Edwards, Steve Schapiro

Join us for this high-paced and experiential research concept and design round robin. Students from past sessions have shared that this is a highly valuable experience. You will have a chance to share your research ideas one on one with several different SLS faculty (15 minutes a round). This is a great opportunity to practice talking about your research concepts and possible design, to meet faculty (and prospective committee members), and to receive feedback on your ideas. Students in all stages of the program are welcome to participate, and particularly students writing their concept paper and/or forming their committees. Prior to the session, please create one sentence answers to the following 5 questions:

What problem in the world do you wish to address?
What overarching research question, if answered, would offer a positive contribution to the problem or topic?
How might this question address a gap in the literature or make a unique contribution?
What would be a way to go about answering your research question?
What is a title you might use for a book based on your dissertation?

Being supported to practice your responses to these questions and receive feedback is a helpful way to clarify and deepen your considerations.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Dissertations that Matter: The Many Paths to design and complete research that matters [SLS-SEMR-10]

with Dorothy Agger-Gupta, Lenneal Henderson

This workshop is designed for all SLS students who would like to learn more about the many design and development paths that lead to dissertations that matter to them, to academia and practice, to communities and organizations, and to regional and global societies. Whether you are just beginning your doctoral studies, are preparing for your dissertation, or are in the final stages of trying to complete your dissertation, your experiences and questions matter. Lenneal and Dorothy will share some Fielding examples of students who have taken very different paths and have reached their final goal – Becoming an EdD or a PhD with dissertations that mattered, that changed their own lives as well as those of others. Please join us and bring in your own questions, ideas, and examples.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Mapping Gendered Ecologies [SLS-SEMR-11]

with Melchor Hall, Gwyn Kirk, Margo-Okazawa-Rey

In this workshop, co-editors K. Melchor Hall and Gwyn Kirk will talk about their recent book anthology, Mapping Gendered Ecologies: Engaging with and beyond Ecowomanism and Ecofeminism. They will be joined by contributor and former HOD faculty member Margo Okazawa-Rey, who will moderate the discussion and engage audience members in a conversation about how we understand our relationships to other (human and non-human) beings and our natural environment.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Faculty Panel: Scholar-Practitioner v. Scholar-Activist [SLS-SEMP-12]

with Rich Appelbaum, Four Arrows 

Join faculty members from across the School of Leadership Studies as the discuss and debate the viewpoints around what it is to be a scholar-practitoner v. a scholar-activist.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Library Research [SLS-SEMR-13]

with Lulu Coffey, Abby Rae

Advanced library research tips and tools will be covered in this interactive, workshop-style seminar.

12:00-1:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Creative Group Activity [SLS-COMM-14]

with Lugene Kennebrew (alum)

Step away from your studies for a moment and connect with your fellow Fielding colleagues in a collaborative, creative group activity. More details and specifics forthcoming.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Transformative Learning [SLS-SEMD-15]

with Steve Schapiro, team of students (TBA)

We will explore the concepts and practices underlying the primary approaches to transformative learning, their connection to other forms of transformation, and their potential application in a variety of contexts, as presented by a panel of students involved in last term’s KA on this topic.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Jam Session on Research Design [SLS-SEMR-16]

with Patrice Rosenthal

In this jam session, students will ‘workshop’ a research study together, bringing different perspectives on an initial idea shared by the facilitator. The idea will connect professional identity with organizational presence and absence. A piece of pre-reading will provide the basic theme. In the session, the facilitator will present the research idea and an argument for why it is interesting. Together we will workshop the idea, moving through the different phases of research design. Students will share ideas about the possible significance, audiences, and boundaries of the project. We will move through the dimensions of research design, including participants and data collection. In this way, the session will track the process that individual students will pursue in creating their own dissertation research. The jam session will offer a chance to engage with the development of a research idea in a challenging and fun way – that then can be a resource for the creation of beautiful individual dissertation studies.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

The Future of Work post-Covid [SLS-SEMP-17]

with Rich Appelbaum, Fred Steier, Deb Bucci (student)

The pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend – remote work. This seminar will examine the latest research on this, examining the impact on work in different economic sectors. Other technological changes, including artificial intelligence (AI), will also be considered – as will global trends such as the impact of Covid (and the conflict with China) on offshoring production.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Higher Education Leadership [SLS-SEMP-18]

with Ivan Harrell

Description TBA.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Writers’ Clinic [SLS-SEMD-19]

with Nicola Smith, Kathryn Kleypas

This offering is a writers’ workshop where individuals can come with specific pieces of writing, or particular problems in writing and receive faculty feedback and support.

Those interested may sign up and receive an appointment to confer with a workshop faculty member during the hours of the workshop. Enrollees are invited to submit a writing or writings totaling no more than 10 double spaced pages to the presenters before the Session. Such writings should be received by the workshop host no later than June 30th. It may be already graded work or work you are preparing in satisfaction of a course requirement. It can not be a Comprehensive essay or a portion of a Comprehensive submission. Workshop time will then be used for the faculty member and students to review previously received submissions or, if attendees do not choose to submit an advance writing, to discuss specific problems in written doctoral communication. It is the intent of the workshop that each attendee will receive the individual attention of one or more faculty members.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Becoming a Self: Avoidance & Fear [SLS-SEMD-20]

with Miguel Guilarte

With the increasing demands in our personal lives and the social fragmentation of our culture, there are forces that entice adults to avoid the challenges of becoming a Self. Often this avoidance is part of mental health management and self-care. Selfhood and wholeness can become a burden rather than a value. Self-awareness can result in emotional upheaval and discomfort, that some prefer to avoid. With available pathways of escape, like alcohol, drugs, social media, Netflix, entertainment, and even some forms of spirituality, many adults prefer the easier path, rather than the “road less traveled” of personal search, exploration, renewal, and new forms of agency in becoming a Self. In this workshop we explore why adults in modern culture often fail to mature, how systems and institutions, including education, we may need to change, and the implications for our civic culture and politics of how we move forward. A practical question behind this workshop is how higher education specifically, and organizations more broadly, may need to change to enhance the meaningful development of adults in our time.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Communication, Covid and Climate Crisis, Creative Responses [SLS-SEMD-21]

with Valerie Bentz, Connie Corley, Barton Buechner (alum), Jim Marlatt (alum)

At the systems level, Climate change and COVID-19 are sending a message that has a distinct pattern, but is being interpreted in ways that are neither coherent nor coordinated. We will use communications theory of social drama, (Burke, Duncan, Goffman, Bateson) to envision new ways to have conversations about these things that include both science AND “wisdom” (indigenous or otherwise) that contextualize human participation in broader systems in a meaningful way. We will use techniques from phenomenology, such as “bracketing” and “imaginative variations” to bring forward creative responses.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Dissertation Advice [SLS-SEMR-22]

with Kitty Kelly Epstein, Four Arrows

If you’re thinking about a dissertation with a social, racial, or ecological justice theme, we’ll help you figure out research questions, pertinent theories, and possible methods.

12:00-1:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Community Meeting: Student Led Conversations [SLS-COMM-23]

with Barbara Mink, students (TBA)

HOD and Education students will host a forum and discussion around important topics and issues happening in the School of Leadership Studies.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Bias In, Bias Out – World Views, Ethics, and the Design and Use of A.I. [SLS-SEMP-24]

with Dorothy Agger-Gupta, Fred Steier

This workshop is for everyone who would like to know more about the hidden biases and often invisible power embedded in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that have become essential to our lives today. We will explore the roots, recent developments, and potential futures of tools that feature logics of algorithms and explore distinctions between algorithms and heuristics. This workshop is not technical but is rooted in exploring the philosophical and social assumptions behind how our systems are created, and their effect on our everyday lives.

Our session will be highly interactive and make use of examples – so come join the learning exploration into the invisible power of AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and associated technologies permeate our lives, organizations, education, governments, and regional as well as global societies. Yet, only recently has serious attention been paid to the biases embedded within any algorithm creating process. Our AI systems and the devices, tools, and toys that they run, reflect the deep biases of those who design and create the algorithms. These biases are often embedded in tacit knowledge bases that remain unexplored and unchallenged. While there are some attempts to diversify the teams that develop the AI software, there is much yet to be accomplished. The biases in AI impact the results and impact of facial recognition and surveillance systems, social media networks, and platforms with “friendly” names such as Google, Twitter, Siri, and Alexa. One resource we recommend is Brian Christian’s The Most Human Human.

We promise that the session will allow for improvisation and human learning as we probe into machine learning!

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

A Seminar on Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing [SLS-SEMD-25]

with Keith Melville, David Blake Willis, Rich Appelbaum

Our seminar on critical thinking, reading, and writing will be aimed at student work, particularly the comprehensive essay, the proposal, analyses of dissertation findings, and possible publishing being considered. We will address broader questions on critique, such as those framed in a workshop several years ago on deception detection and the social psychology of why people make errors in their thinking and writing. Scholarly argument will be a key focus of the seminar, as well as discussions of Feedback, Critiques of Concepts, and Competing Theoretical Frameworks. The first half of our time together will be a roundtable of the facilitators sharing their perspectives on critique in thinking, reading, and writing. The second half of our seminar will be an interactive session with the facilitators, who will draw on student work submitted before the July SLS Virtual Global Session. Recommended readings and texts will be shared with participants a few weeks before the seminar.

4:00-5:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Intro to Zotero [PSY-COMM-38]

with Abby Rae, Lulu Coffey

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Organization renewal after the Covid-19 disruption: Small and medium-sized enterprises in the international arena [SLS-SEMP-26]

with Jose DelaCerda

This seminar is intended to review selected cases and literature on how SMEs of different countries have faced the Covid- 19 disruption. The goal of this seminar is to draw insights, and if possible, make sense of the profound impacts of unexpected (or undetected) environmental upheavals on organizations with limited resources such as small family businesses. The seminar s interactive activities might help participants to question or reinforce some previous assumptions about strategic organizational adaptation

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Transformative Phenomenology [SLS-SEMD-27]

with Valerie Bentz, Jim Marlatt, Ann Alexander (alum), Jennifer Decker (alum), Joao Noronha (alum)

We review the principles of phenomenological research and practice and the ten qualities that develop in the learners in the process. We will cover techniques of thinking, writing and talking phenomenology (as in coaching) based on the fundamental texts of Schutz, VanManen, Rhehorick and Bentz, Husserl, Heidegger and others. We will discuss avenues to professional presentation, research, practice and publication and possible connections to course credit.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Poster Session [SLS-SEMP-28]

with Katie McGraw

See live presentations of each poster submitted to the poster session and take the opportunity to discuss the research with the poster authors.  Dr. McGraw will also provide some tips and resources for preparing posters for future conference (or Fielding) poster sessions.  Dr. Patrice Rosenthal will discuss the Research Hub, another research resource for the School of Leadership Studies.

Research posters submitted by students in doctoral programs will be available to view on the Virtual Poster Session Moodle site https://learning.fielding.edu/course/view.php?id=4518. At this site you can view the abstract, poster authors, poster PDF, and PowerPoint presentation for each research project.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Mathematics Modeling & Measuring Inequality [SLS-SEMR-29]

with Melchor Hall, Maria Hernandez

Maria Hernandez is a retired mathematics teacher and has been a mentor to HOD faculty K. Melchor Hall. Having retired from the renowned North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Hernandez was awarded the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching and was runner-up for the prestigious Rosenthal Prize for Innovation and Inspiration in Math Teaching in 2016, awarded by the National Museum of Mathematics. She has taught a wide range of mathematical topics, including mathematical modeling and complex systems. In this workshop, she will talk students through a hands-on exercise in measuring inequality and discuss what mathematics modeling has to offer social scientists.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

The Cutting Edge of Change: What do we know works when attempting to change a human system? [SLS-SEMP-30]

with Mike Manning, Jose DelaCerda

Why do we do what we do as change agents when we attempt to improve a human system? How effective are the interventions we conduct? As a change agent are you aware of the assumptions you make about what works and why when you intervene? Change assumptions may be implicit normative thoughts about how change evolves or they may be based on theories of organization supported by empirical research. The intent of this session is to explore these questions in order to gain greater clarity on not only our own change assumptions but also on what the change research says about what is effective. The workshop will be structured around two readings. The first is the classic Academy of Management Review paper by Quy Huy (2001) that lays out the terrain of planned organizational interventions and temporal issues. The second is the journal article by Stouten, Rousseau, and de Cremer (2018) that reviews the literature on successful organizational change by integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. The session will be conducted in a seminar fashion and highly interactive. You will be asked to prepare by reading the two readings prior to the session. We’ll send these readings to you after the sign-up period ends and in plenty of time for you to prepare.

12:00-1:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Community Meeting with President Rogers, Inclusion Council, and Introducing the Chief Diversity Officer [SLS-COMM-31]

Join President Katrina Rogers and members of Fielding’s Inclusion Council as they introduce the new Chief Diversity Officer.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Dissertation Research Question Bootcamp [SLS-SEMR-32]

with Annabelle Nelson

Bootcamp is designed to get the skills, strength and stamina to complete the mission. The mission in this case is the dissertation proposal. The research question (RQ) is the linchpin for the research logic of the dissertation. Upon it rests, the methodology, the search for locating the conceptual focus of the research, the selection criteria for participants, and the data collection methods. Come learn Annabelle’s hack for the RQ, the who, what and how. Work your research question with peers and set the stage for completing the concept paper. Come prepared to become a research consultant to your peers to help them get the RQ that has the ring of authenticity.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Appreciative Inquiry [SLS-SEMP-33]

with Frank Barrett

An introduction to appreciative inquiry, a strength based approach to social-organizational change.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Narrative Research: Identifying the Best Approach [SLS-SEMR-34]

with Connie Corley, David Blake Willis

Narrative research encompasses a variety of approaches/frameworks and examples of research from our own community will be explored. Integration of thematic analysis will be addressed, as well as how narratives can be situated in case study research. There will be an opportunity to discuss the most appropriate approach for your research.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Studying, Writing, and Acting on Racial Justice Issues [SLS-SEMP-35]

with Kitty Kelly Epstein

Participants will examine a specific case of taking action to change a racial justice issue while studying and writing about it as well. Then participants will consider how to combine action, study and writing on particular racial justice issues important to them.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Ten pitfalls in the dissertation process, and how to avoid them [SLS-SEMR-36]

with Keith Melville

There is a predictable list of mistakes, misunderstandings, and oversights that delay or derail students as they move through the dissertation process. In this seminar, we will examine each of them, and offer advice about how to complete a high-quality dissertation in a reasonably short period of time.

7:00-9:00 am

(Pacific Time)

Goal Conflict & Ultimate Concern [SLS-SEMD-37]

with Miguel Guilarte

We will explore goal and value conflict and goal striving in an age of personal and social fragmentation, and how this impact our ultimate concerns as expressed in spirituality. We consider how conflicting goals result in ambivalence and paralysis that impacts agency and striving and how these are linked to our spirituality. We also explore the concept of Spiritual Intelligence.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Institute for Social Innovation – Fellows Seminar [SLS-COMM-38]

with Charles McClintock

Join presentations from Fielding alumni who are ISI Fellows and continue their work as scholar-practitioners.

9:30-11:30 am

(Pacific Time)

Qualitative Data Analysis [SLS-SEMR-39]

with Annabelle Nelson, Patrice Rosenthal

Join Patrice and Annabelle to explore qualitative data analysis in dissertation research. Both will share some of their research and examples of analysis approaches. Join in on dialogues of thematic analysis and content analysis open coding. You will engage in some hands-on coding. We will explore how to convey critical information about data analysis approach in the methods chapter.

12:00-1:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Trivia Contest [SLS-COMM-40]

with Diane Phan

Flex your general knowledge trivia against your Fielding colleagues for bragging rights and more!

Details and format is forthcoming, depending on the number of participants.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Life with a Doctorate [SLS-SEMP-41]

with Kitty Kelly Epstein, Lenneal Henderson

Seminar discusses preparing for and living with a doctorate, including what sort of job, how to obtain that job, being of service, creating a network, joining associations, getting published and so on. Seminar includes examples from the experiences of various Fielding grads.

1:30-3:30 pm

(Pacific Time)

Inclusive Leadership for Social Justice [SLS-SEMD-42]

with Steve Schapiro, team of students (TBA)

We will explore key principles underlying the practice of inclusive leadership for social justice and discuss their application in a variety of contexts, as presented by a panel of students involved in last term’s KA on Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Self and Systems.

4:00-6:00 pm

(Pacific Time)

Somatics, Music, and Ritual, Embodied Ways of Reconnecting to Ourselves, Earth and Spirit [SLS-SEMD-43]

with Valerie Bentz, Connie Corley, Four Arrows, Frank Barrett, Evi Beck (alum), Francesca Bolognini (guest)

We will explore the ways music and ritual can reestablish our connections to ourselves and each other.