Poonam Arora, Ph.D. EDUCATION 1991 Ph.D. Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY Areas of expertise: Film Studies, Freshman Writing Pedagogy, Postcolonial Cinema, Literary & Post-Structuralist Theory & Postmodern Fiction Dissertation: “Cinematographic Narrative and Postmodern Fiction” 1986 Diploma in Film Appreciation Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, India 1984 Diploma in American Studies (Graduate level) Smith College, Northampton, MA 1980 Masters in English University of Delhi, India 1978 B.A. (Honors in English) Minors in History & Philosophy St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India EMPLOYMENT 2017 Professor of Humanities (On sabbatical) Grinnell College 2013--16 Associate Dean of the College for Diversity & Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer/ Rosenfield Chair for Diversity and the Liberal Arts, Grinnell College, IA 2009--13 Associate Vice President for Diversity Integration & Global Education, and Professor, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN 2007--09 Associate Dean and Professor, College of Arts and Sciences, Zayed University, UAE (responsible for the administration of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Abu Dhabi campus) On leave from U. of Michigan-Dearborn 2002--07 Chair, Department of Humanities, University of Michigan-Dearborn (The Humanities department at this time was a division of 8 academic disciplines; 50+ full time faculty and as many adjunct faculty 2000--02 Director, Program in Women & Gender Studies, UMD 1998--2009 Associate Professor of English and Film Studies, UMD 1995 Spring Visiting Assistant Professor, Program in Film & Video and Dept. of Women’s Studies, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1991-1998 Assistant Professor of English, UM Dearborn 1990-92 Director, Writing Program, UM-Dearborn 1 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. RECENT INSTITUTIONAL INTIATIVES 2013--15 As Associate Dean of the College, I have worked on the following projects: • Responsible for diversifying, retaining, and recruiting diverse faculty & staff • Diversity Training for New Faculty: Implicit/Unconscious Bias & How it Enters the Learning Environment • Advise all faculty search chairs of strategies for diversifying applicant pools • Organized a day long teach in on MLK Day 2015 with Professor Patricia Williams of Columbia University Law School (Theme: Critical Race theory) • Grinnell is a member of the Consortium for Faculty Diversity; as the college’s CFD liaison I connect all faculty searches to this database of minority faculty and post- docs • Trained as a Title IX investigator and coordinator by ATIXA. I work to align diversity and gender equity within the larger inclusion agenda. Member, Title IX Taskforce on Safety, Responsibility and Prevention • Recently added Disability as a key diversity factor to the Council on Diversity and Inclusion. I work closely with the Office of Disability Services and with researchers on Disability Studies to address dis/ability within the inclusion model, not the deficit model • June 2015--Diversity and Inclusion in the Science Classroom – Best- Practices Conference • Administered the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to members of the Athletics Department, Human Resources, Admissions and Financial Aid, Office of Intercultural Engagement; and Dining Services. Assessment of 100+ staff for IDI. • Institutional coordinator for the Posse Program http://www.possefoundation.org Grinnell recruits Posse scholars from Washington DC and Los Angeles. Next year the college will start recruiting from New Orleans and discontinue the Los Angeles program. • Institutional coordinator for the Mellon Mays University Fellows (MMUF) • Co-Chair of the Council on Diversity & Inclusion at Grinnell College • Higher Education Research Institute (UCLA): Campus participation in HERI Faculty Campus Climate Survey: Will analyze the results to set campus benchmarks and peer school comparisons • Intercultural Development Inventory—IDI—Trained as an IDI administrator and coach. Work with staff units to enhance their intercultural proficiencies • Work with faculty search committees to implement best practices in diversity hiring 2 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. • Campus wide initiative—Higher Education for Higher Consciousness— partnership with Peace and Conflict Studies Program; Wellness Program; Students for a Responsible Drug Policy; Student Health and Counseling • Conduct Diversity Training for New Student Orientation • Peer Connection Pre-Orientation Program: Designed new peer mentoring & diversity orientation for 1st generation and domestic students of color • 4M: Millennials & Mentors Making Meaning: Black Alumni Mentoring Current Students of Color (in partnership with Alumni Relations and Career Planning Office) • Initiated new support program for 1st generation students • Working on a new quantitative and qualitative dashboard to track the achievement & retention of domestic students of color • Grinnell Global Gateway: Increase recruitment of international students from South Asia • “Repurposing the Black Cultural Center”: A proposal for renovations and upgrade of the Kimbo House to create more programmatic uses. Secured $75K funding from alumnae. CURRENT RESEARCH Knowledge Creation in Pluralistic Societies and for a Global Context The manuscript is divided into three sections: • What the millennial generation wants from institutions of higher education • What the 21st century institution needs to facilitate through the curriculum; the co-curricular and other aspects of organizational development • What policy conversations should be taking place to foster culturally specific educational practices across different sectors of higher education (undergraduate; graduate, professional schools) and in different regions of the world “From ‘Separate but Equal’ to ‘Diverse and Equal’--60 years after Brown v. Board of Education: Comparative Analysis of US Supreme Court jurisprudence on affirmative action and diversity best practices at liberal arts institutions.” It is my premise that whereas the Supreme Court has responded to the nation’s mounting “pluralism anxiety,” over the last half century, it is the responsibility of higher education to refine what William Connolly calls “the pluralistic sensibility.” 3 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. PREVIOUS INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES 2009—12 As Associate Vice President for Diversity Integration and Chief Diversity Officer at Hamline University, I worked on the following initiatives: * Served as a member of the Strategic Plan Committee for Academic Affairs * Led a delegation of Hamline administrators to the CIRP Summer Institute at UCLA on how to achieve institutional goals for diversity, global citizenship and civic engagement derived from the analysis of institutional data gathered from the HERI surveys • Coordinated the participation of Hamline faculty in the climate survey administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA • Coordinated the participation of Hamline graduating students in the diversity survey administered by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA • Created an in-house climate survey for staff at Hamline • Created a new center for Multicultural Initiatives and Sexuality with a new Assistant Director for Gender and Sexuality • Chaired a campus wide committee to revise the cultural breadth requirement of the core curriculum to better meet the educational needs of a global workforce (Proposal available upon request) • Recruiting international students from India, China, and other Asian countries • Chair, Diversity Integration Standing Committee, Hamline University, charged with fostering and advancing a strategic and integrated approach to diversity in all aspects of university life • Working with the Deans Council and the President’s University Leadership Team to formulate educational policy and curricular innovation around multicultural competencies • Working with the Office of Multicultural and International Student Affairs on connecting the programming within Student Affairs with the curriculum in the College of Liberal Arts; School of Education; School of Law and School of Business respectively • Moderator for the Community Dialogues series of the Hamline School of Education with partners in K-12 education in the Twin Cities 2009-12 Designed the following workshops for faculty, graduate students & staff: * Diversity Workshop for New Faculty—“Who We Are and How We Engage Inclusive Excellence” * How to Create Inclusive Work Environments: Staff Workshop for Supervisors * Faculty Development Workshops: “Diversity Flashpoints in the Classroom” Using theater workshops based on “Theater of the Oppressed” Freire pedagogy * “Diversity, Campus Policing and Community Building” 4 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. * “Managing Diversity Flashpoints in the Classroom” * “Diversity Training for School of Education staff * “Journalism, Social Responsibility and Diversity” for the staff of the student newspaper—The Oracle 2010--13 The Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs, and the coordinator for Race, Gender and Beyond (the program for faculty development in diversity) report to me. This enabled the Office of Diversity Integration to synergistically connect the curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular diversity initiatives at the institution 2007-09 As Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Zayed University I organized the following initiatives: • Resident dean of the College for the Abu Dhabi campus of ZU (The Dean of the College was based in Dubai 100 km away) • Served as the interim dean for the College of Arts and Sciences for both the Abu Dhabi and the Dubai campuses • Coordinator for Zayed University students’ participation in the premier class of Sheikh Mohamed University Scholars Program with New York University, Abu Dhabi. President John Sexton of NYU taught the course---The US Constitution and Religion--to UAE student scholars • Chaired the international search for the head of the newly constituted merged department of Humanities and Social Sciences • Served as a member of the accreditation team for the Middle States Accreditation in the US • Developed a program for a combined major in Business and Art and Design (in response to the country’s burgeoning art economy and in anticipation of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums setting up off sites in Abu Dhabi) • Designed a new exam system for the multiple section courses in general education Core Curriculum at both campuses • Served on the planning committee for the design of the state of the art, gender integrated campus at the Sweihan site • Worked to establish institutional relationships between ZU and the newly instituted newspaper—The National • Organized Artist in Residence program in cooperation with The Goethe Institute, Gulf Region • Organized “The Word of God: The Quran through the Centuries,” Talk by Nasser Khalili (collector of the largest private collection on Islamic art in the world) DEPARTMENTAL INITIATIVES 2002-07 As Chair of the multi-disciplinary Humanities department at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (comprised of 50+ full time and 45+ 5 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. part time faculty members) I undertook the following major responsibilities: * Hired 16 new faculty in tenure track positions including 2 target of opportunity minority faculty in joint appointments across multiple units * Reviewed 60 full and part time lecturers for long term contracts upon the formation of the Lecturers Educational Organization--LEO * Designed protocol for hiring, renewal and address of grievance with the newly formed lecturers’ union—LEO--working closely with HR. (Humanities dept. had the largest cohort of unionized faculty in the entire University of Michigan system—60+ faculty * Hired 16 tenure track faculty into the Dept. of Humanities including two target of opportunity hires for Arab American and Detroit Studies respectively * Initiated the development of a Minor in Arabic language and culture * Initiated an interdisciplinary Minor in Detroit Metropolitan Studies * Initiated a major revision of the English curriculum in the Humanities department to include literary theory, cultural studies and world literatures in English * Initiated a track--World and Ethnic Literatures & Language (WELL track) within the English major in (response to the School of Education requirements mandated by the State of Michigan’s Department of Education) * Designed a comprehensive campus wide Writing Program (this was previously housed in the Humanities division) and recruited the Director of this program in a national search INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN AS A FACULTY MEMBER • Founded and coordinated The GLARE Project (Global Learning and Responsible Engagement) a series of talks, performances and other events on global learning and diversity at UM-Dearborn. The project was inaugurated by Martha Nussbaum, Professor of Religion and Law at the University of Chicago • Executive Committee member, Center for Arab American Studies at UM-D • Senior member of the delegation from the Center for Arab American Studies to visit 8 Palestinian universities to set up exchange protocols for faculty and students • Organized two Detroit-Jerusalem Institutes (In Dearborn MI and Ramallah, West Bank territory) for young researchers and faculty. These institutes were funded by a grant of 100K from the US State Department • Founding member of the Executive Committee for African and African- American Studies. Major contributor in designing the minor in AAAS; establishing links between AAAS, Women and Gender Studies and Arab American Studies respectively 6 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. • Taskforce of African and African American Studies program that advocated the establishment of the Office of Diversity Affairs (to provide institutional support to minority students, especially after the Supreme Court decision prohibiting affirmative action at the University of Michigan • Conversations on Race, Taskforce of UM-Dearborn and New Detroit (an NGO) for advocacy on issues of race in urban America • Member Planning Committee for Difficult Dialogues—Ford Foundation Grant of $125,000 to initiate institutional forum on race, religion and politics at UM- Dearborn • Institutional member, Taskforce on Creativity, Arts and Cultural Affairs (Constituted by Governor Jennifer Granholm of the State of Michigan to strengthen arts entrepreneurship in Michigan higher education) • Participant in Race Matters: a television show produced by Detroit Public Television (PBS affiliate) • Member, Search Committee to select the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters, UM-Dearborn • Race, Labor and Cinema in Detroit—Won a competitive diversity grant to organize a series of events and to develop a course on the subject • Designed and taught the Film Studies minor in the Dept. of Humanities with courses cross-listed across the College • Developed a course American Cinema/American Industry for UAW workers enrolled at UM-D in collaboration with the Institute for Labor Relations (UM-Ann Arbor) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) OUTREACH & PUBLIC PROGRAMMING 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Teach In: Hosted Professor Patricia Williams, Columbia University Law School to speak on “Critical Race Theory” and Race Relations in America 2010 University Conversations in Diversity and Dialogue Initiated A two day series of events with Valarie Kaur http://valariekaur.blogspot.com/ 2009 Commitment to Community series speaker at Hamline University Keith Boyd (Democratic party strategist) 2008 Worked with the Embassy of India, UAE and the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage (a federal agency) to organize an exhibition of contemporary Indian art in Fall 08 2008 Worked with the Embassy of India, UAE and the School of Oriental and African Studies to organize a festival of Indian cinema in Fall 08 2008 Organized Zayed Univ. partnership with a new UAE newspaper--The National--to encourage readership, faculty publications etc. 2008 Organized 3 exhibitions at ZU of visiting artists to the Middle East 7 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. 2008 Workshop on “Building Diversity in Women’s Leadership” at Women and Global Leadership international conference, Zayed University’s Institute for Women and Leadership 2008 Working with the Indian Embassy in the UAE to organize a festival on Indian cinema (Oct-Nov 2008) 2006 Pfizer Research Laboratories (Ann Arbor, MI) Talk on “New Models of Corporate Social Responsibility” in the series on Pharmaco-diplomacy and Community Leaders 2006 Telugu Association of North America (TANA) Convention. Talk on “Immigrant Experiences and Bi-Racial Marriages” 2005 Tamil Association of North America (TANA) Curated a film screening and panel discussion on inter racial marriages in the South Asian community in North America 2003 Who Are the Midnight’s Children? A Film series and an on-line course in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company and University Musical Society production of Midnight’s Children. Presented the production at a special event sponsored by Pfizer Research Laboratories—the play’s chief corporate sponsor. 2001-02 Bollywood and Beyond: Popular Culture and Cinema in South Asia, Year long film series, symposia and panels, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 1999 The Other Cinema of India: Representations of the Subaltern, Film series, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 1998-00 Jewish Culture and History in Film, Temple Bethel, W. Bloomfield, MI. 1997 Asian Film, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, MI. 1996 Approaching Mental Health Through Film Melodrama, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute, Southfield, MI. 1995 Women and Differences Film Series, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 1995 Cinema in India, U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 2015 Executive Leadership Academy, Center for the Study of Higher Education, UC Berkeley, March 22-27, 2015. Academy theme: Leading in a Multicultural Context 2015 Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High training in effective and high stakes communication https://www.vitalsmarts.com/products-solutions/crucial-conversations/ 2014 Selected for participation in the HERS Summer Institute for Women’s Leadership in Higher Education, Bryn Mawr College 2013 ATIXA: Association of Title IX Administrators: Title IX Coordinator Certification Training 2012 Trained as a grant writer at a 3 day workshop administered by the Grant Training Center, Univ;. Toift lMe iInXn Iensvoetsat igator Certification Training 8 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. 2011 Trained as a qualified administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory and have administered this instrument to 200+ Hamline faculty and staff and 100+ Grinnell staff 2011 Led a delegation of staff and faculty to the CIRP (Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s) Summer Institute at the Higher Education research Institute of UCLA to be trained in the interpretation and analysis of institutional data generated by the CIRP surveys. Will lead the initiative to design policy on diversity and inclusive excellence based on these data 2011 Led a delegation of 14 faculty, staff and students from Hamline U. to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in San Francisco, CA. This will be followed by a year-long series of events emanating from NCORE 2010 Led a delegation of 10 faculty, staff and students from Hamline U. to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in National Harbor, MD 2009 Designed and led a workshop, “The Branding of American Higher Education in the Gulf: US Cultural Influence vs. National Self Determination” at the ACE annual conference 2008 Civic Engagement and Philanthropy in the Arab World, led a student delegation to the conference at American University in Cairo, Oct. 2008 2008 “Building Diversity and Cohesion in Women’s Leadership” workshop at Women as Global Leaders international conference, Zayed University, March 2008 2008 AAC&U conference on General Education and Integrated Learning, Boston, MA February 2007 Participation by invitation at the President’s Symposium (Organized by Academic Search Inc.--head-hunting firm for higher education—for potential college presidents. 2007 Campus Women LEAD: 2 Day Workshop on Developing Inclusive Leadership in Higher Education. Center for the Education of Women, University of Michigan (By invitation) 2005 Women in Leadership conference, Michigan State University 2005 Association of American Colleges and Universities “Pedagogies of Engagement” Washington DC, April 14-16 2005 ACE Regional Leadership Forum for Women in Higher Education, UM-Ann Arbor, MI, Oct. 2-4 (By invitation) 2003 ACE Workshop for Department Chairs and Division Deans, Washington D.C., June 17-20 CONSULTING 2010 University of Southern Maine, Member of the task-force that advised on the revitalization of the Arts and Humanities major at the Lewiston/ Auburn Campus 9 Poonam Arora, Ph.D. U. of Southern Maine: “How Do We Integrate Diversity at all Levels of the University: Opportunities, Challenges & Costs” CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Race, Cinema & the National Imaginary: 100 Years of Race Cinema from Birth of a Nation (1915) to Selma (2014) Taught in Fall 2015 Gender, Power and Peace: a Case Study of Peace Practices Derived from Select Nobel Peace Prize Winners Taught in Fall 2015 Bin-Laden in the Age of Facebook: The Debate on Islam and Modernity in the 21st Century (First year Seminar) Fall 2010 Gender Power and Peace (Graduate level course) Taught this course based on the philosophies and activism of women, Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Masters in Liberal Studies program in Spring 2011 What Does Diversity Mean in the Corporate, Non-profit, Higher Education and Civil Society Sectors? Hamline University School of Business Drama, Performance and Conflict Resolution (200 level) Course designed and taught to Education majors at ZU. Designed to cultivate analysis of conflict in literary texts and how to use the skills toward conflict resolution in social, community and family life Shakespeare on Stage, Page and Screen*# (100 level First Year Seminar) Taught in conjunction with stage productions at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada or the Royal Shakespeare Company residency at the University Musical Society in UM-Ann Arbor. Film and Society* (200 level) Traditional classroom and on-line delivery Introduction to Film* (200 level) Traditional classroom Narratives of Film and Literature* (300 level) Traditional classroom American Silent Cinema* (300 level) Traditional classroom Asian National Cinemas* (300 level) Traditional classroom and on-line delivery Black Cinema* (300 level) Traditional classroom, comparing African and African American film practices 10