Roundtable Discussion: Emotional Literacy Through Teaching Taboo Topics

Emotional Literacy through Teaching Taboo Topics: How Can We Foreground Mental Health in Academia?

This roundtable aims to generate a conversation on topics that are considered taboo and thus often times overlooked, Such topics as depression, suicide, and other forms of mental health issues interlace the fabric of our daily lives. This roundtable addresses the ways in which faculty and students can openly discuss them in non-judgmental and inclusive ways by utilizing literary, philosophical and artistic works so as to better understand various forms and experiences of vulnerability. A team of MSU psychologists will also provide the audiences with guidelines and resources for handling the situations of emotional distress, as well as for enhancing emotional literacy.

Organized and moderated by Valentina Denzel, this roundtable will feature five experts with multidisciplinary perspectives:

• Dr. Scott Boehm, assistant professor of Spanish, RCS: “Reflections on Researching & Teaching Historical Trauma in the Neoliberal Academy”
• Dr. Ellen Moll, assistant director of CISAH: “Ableism and Media”
• Dr. Jonathan Ritz, master’s intern for Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) and assistant professor of Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures and the advisor and internship coordinator for Professional and Public Writing (P2W): “Teaching and Advising for a Culture of Cate”
• Meg Akehi, senior staff member of CAPS and Jessica Gray, an intern at CAPS: “Adressing Mental Health Concerns”

This event is free and open to the public.

Sponsors: Academic Advancement Network, Asian Studies Center, Center for Gender in Global Contest (GenCen), Citizen Scholars Program, French Program, Japanese Studies Program, Global Studies in Arts and Humanities, College of Arts and Letters, Learning Communities on Identity Formation in Global Context, Linguistics and Languages, Romance and Classical Studies