College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Resilience Initiatives
Mitra Emad, Associate Dean | College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences | University of Minnesota Duluth
Resilience Pedagogies
Student whole being wellbeing is central to the current context for a surge in the rates students fail a course, receive a letter grade of "D," or withdraw from a course (these three phenomena together are known as DFW and as such can be viewed as indicators of retention). CAHSS's 2022–23 "Resilience Pedagogies" initiative (funded through the EVCAA's one-time student retention investment) created Journal Clubs, student pop-up celebrations, and other events to foster Community and Belonging (a key MPACT 2025 commitment).
The goal of this work is to hold space for reflection and engagement so that we can bring more intentionality and fresh energy to our work in support of students.
Friday mornings at 9 AM on Zoom (cameras off)
45 minutes of guided somatic practice, meditation, and yoga open to all!
Feel free to drop in––no participation in previous sessions is required.
As associate dean of CAHSS, I'm interested in supporting and engaging responsive, connected, and current pedagogy, as well as leveraging my training and skills in yoga therapy and cultural anthropology to advocate for and revise how we understand resilience in our collegiate community.
From the blog: While we often associate the concept of resilience with being tough or toughing something out, I hope you'll join me in returning to resilience as a softening, a process of reflection that renews our creativity and well-being. Let's take time to integrate our experiences - bad ones, good ones, noticing which is which. Let's engage what we notice to build a more intentional workplace and to shape change in our college and in higher education.