The Department of Psychology is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2023 Psychology Diversity Awards. Congratulations to Briana Scott, Victoria Vezaldenos, Shayan Asadi, and Nicole Gardner-Neblett!
Each year, the awards are given in the categories of Student Service, Student Teaching, Student Research, and Faculty Research. We thank the Rackham Graduate School who make these awards possible with a Faculty Allies for Diversity grant awarded to our department. Many thanks also to the members of the Psychology Diversity Committee who reviewed the applications, and to all students and faculty who submitted applications. We appreciate your contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our department! Read on to learn more about each recipient's work.
Diversity Student Teaching Award
Recognizes GSIs whose teaching makes an important contribution to deepening their students’ understanding of issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
Briana Scott: Incorporated DEI in her teaching in several ways, including inviting previously incarcerated individuals who were comfortable sharing and speaking about their experience being incarcerated. Scott also worked with a community partner, Citizen for Prison Reform, to put on a solitary confinement exhibit on campus. She has performed significant undergraduate mentoring experiences incorporating DEI through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, the Summer Research Opportunity Program, the Michigan Association of Psychological Scholars, and the Students Tackling Advanced Research programs.
Diversity Student Service Award
Recognizes students demonstrating outstanding commitment and leadership in work that actively seeks to increase equity, inclusion, and justice.
Victoria Vezaldenos: Co-founded Puentes, the first Latinx graduate student organization at UM. Puentes creates culturally-affirming spaces that facilitate interdisciplinary connections between Latinx scholars at U-M. The organization includes over 400 graduate students. Under the leadership of Vezaldenos, Puentes developed an annual Latinx Research Week conference, which is a ground-breaking event resulting in the visibility of Latinx students, staff, and faculty. To date, Puentes has received over $47,000 in university grants to support their programming.
Diversity Research Awards
Recognize the first authors of outstanding publications advancing knowledge about the diversity of human experience. Awards are granted in graduate student and faculty categories.
Award for Student Research:
Shayan Asadi: Asadi, S., Cunningham, T. J, Morgan, T. A., Zimmerman, M., Rodriguez-Seijas, C.
Examining measurement invariance in the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Brief Form across sexual and gender minority status. Assessment.
Award for Faculty Research:
Nicole Gardner-Neblett: Gardner-Neblett, N., De Marco, A. & Ebright, B. D.
Do Katie and Connor tell better stories than Aaliyah and Jamaal? Teachers’ perceptions of children’s oral narratives as a function of race and narrative quality. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 62, 115-128.
