Originally published by: Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University
Original author: Lindsay Hargrave
Originally published on: January 18, 2022

Klein College of Media and Communication's Office of Research and Graduate Studies is taking a new approach to its signature Graduate Speaker Series this semester. While continuing to bring the best and brightest minds in media and communication to the Klein College community, the speaker events and panels this spring have been carefully curated around the core themes of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Focusing on themes such as community, immigration and pedagogy, these events seek to explore some of the deeper themes that both affect our academic community as well as the work being done by Klein College faculty, as well as a diverse roster of academics from various areas of the media and communication disciplines.

One piece of this approach is a new panel miniseries within the office's calendar of events. This miniseries, titled "Dialogues in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion," is aimed internally toward the Klein educational community. This means that while these three sessions will not be accessible to the general academic public (as the rest of the Graduate Speaker Series generally is), but will be directly focused on our own faculty, students and staff. This will give us an opportunity to share openly and hear from diverse voices within our own college.

These three internal diversity panels include:

• "Institutional Offices and Initiatives," Friday, January 21, 10 - 10:50 a.m.

  • Panelists: Senior Associate Dean Deb Cai, Diversity Advisor to the Office of the Dean David Brown, ACCORD Director Professor Karen Turner and Media and Communication PhD Program Director Professor Brian Creech

• "​​Teaching/Classroom Culture," Friday, February 11, 10 - 10:50 a.m.

  • Panelists: Professors Karen Turner, David Mindich, Nancy Morris and Meghnaa Tallapragada

• "From Doctoral Student to Assistant Professor: Perspectives from M&C Alumni," Friday, March 25, 10 - 10:50 a.m.

  • Panelists: Wesley Stevens; Dr. Tracy Tinga, KLN '19; Dr. Jade Kim, KLN '16; Dr. Kun Xu, KLN '18; and Dr. Diantha Vliet, KLN '20.

These panels are in addition to the usual calendar of speaker series events from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Still, the common threads of diversity, equity and inclusion are clearly woven throughout the upcoming events' themes, from the implications of new technologies to cultural studies.

"Klein College has been recognized within the field of media and communication for its leadership on DEI issues and initiatives, and the Speaker Series has a rich history of featuring a diverse range of cutting edge research," said Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Studies

Dr. Patrick Murphy. "This spring semester we are showcasing this commitment with an exceptional line up of book talks, panel discussions and workshops featuring invited scholars as well as our own world-class faculty."