Abigail J. Stewart is the Sandra Schwartz Tangri Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at UM. She directed the UM ADVANCE Program from 2001-2016. UM ADVANCE is a national science foundation funded program to get more women into the STEM fields. Her research focuses on academic and life experiences related to race, class, and gender.
Sara Armstrong, Ph.D. has been the director of the CRLT Theatre Program since 2012. The CRLT players is a program to train students and other actors to portray situations in which there may be unconscious biases or other modes of discrimination including gender discrimination. She has over twenty-five years of experience in acting and education in many organizations. In her role at CRLT, she develops scripts, Players sessions, and incorporates theatre into professional development programs at UM.

We will briefly describe the overall goals and programs involved in the UM ADVANCE Program’s efforts to improve gender equity and inclusion in the faculty, but will focus particularly on ADVANCE’s collaboration with the CRLT Theater Program. We will describe and illustrate both how exposure to theater sketches can raise important issues, and how facilitated discussion can help faculty gain increased understanding of issues and their potential role in addressing them.

This is the last in a six-lecture series. The subject is Changing Gender Roles. The next series will start June 13, 2019. The topic is A Celebration of Local Authors.