The WVU Humanities Center and the WVU ADVANCE Center’s signature program, Advocates and Allies, hosted a panel discussion Monday (Feb. 19) on how all faculty, particularly male faculty, can help foster safe and inclusive work environments.
With the emergence of the #MeToo movement along with the nationwide exposure of many prominent sexual harassment cases, much of the public discourse has been centered on how male members of society should be doing more to help prevent the pervasive issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The panel talked through methods on how faculty may adjust to the changing social climate and what steps WVU faculty can take to provide a fair and unbiased workspace for all.
“It is critical that we find ways to help all members of our academic community feel empowered to interrupt potentially harmful situations in order to positively influence the outcome,” said Dr. Melissa Latimer, director of the WVU ADVANCE Center office. “By intentionally bringing together this group of panelists who offer different areas of expertise, we wanted to signal the value of understanding these complex issues from different perspectives. It truly takes all of us to change our campus climate through this collaborative and interdisciplinary approach.”
Panelists for “How Not to Be a Bystander: The Role of Male Faculty Post-#MeToo” included:
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Dr. Cris Mayo is director of the LGBTQ+ Center and professor in women and gender studies.
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Professor Kendra Fershee works on family law and Title IX issues, and is associate dean in the School of Law.
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Dr. Amena Anderson is a visiting assistant professor in leadership studies, whose research has focused on male faculty engagement in gender equity work and social justice activism through advocacy and alliance.
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Dr. Walter DeKeseredy, whose work is focused on violence against women in a range of contexts, is Anna Deane Carlson endowed chair of social sciences, director of the Research Center on Violence, and professor of sociology.
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Sam Wilmoth is the Title IX education specialist in the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
The panel was moderated by Dr. Ryan Claycomb, who is Interim Director of the WVU Humanities Center and a member of WVU ADVANCE Advocates and Allies program.
“One of the great components of being at an all-inclusive university is that we can bring a whole range of experts together to consider important questions beyond the headlines,” said Ryan Claycomb, Ph. D., interim founding director of the WVU Humanities Center. “I am encouraged that we can help apply scholarly insights to our daily lives in ways that our colleagues implement immediately to make our campus fairer and safer.”
The WVU ADVANCE Advocates and Allies program, which was founded in August 2014, is a network of male faculty working with other male faculty to build, promote and sustain an equitable university for people of all genders.
The Humanities Center at West Virginia University cultivates critical humanistic inquiry, fostering innovative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and publicly accessible scholarship and teaching to benefit the common good of the University, the state and the world.
Learn more about the WVU Humanities Center and the ADVANCE Center on the Humanities Center website and the Advance website.