This semester's Culture Conversations are designed to bring staff and faculty together to reflect, share experiences, and explore how relationships shape campus culture. Through facilitated conversations, this series will create spaces for collective sensemaking around connection, care, and belonging in our everyday work.

Session Descriptions

1. Engaging Digital Spaces: Join us for an interactive, conversation-driven exploration of how digital environments can strengthen community, expand access, and support more affordable and inclusive engagement on campus.

Facilitated by Dr. Olivia M. Copeland

Olivia M. Copeland (she/they) is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Kansas. She has worked across higher education contexts, from residential curriculum to LGBTQ+-centered work. Their scholarship centers on the role of identity, power, privilege, and digital spaces in the lives of undergraduate students, using critical interdisciplinary frameworks. View event details here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149150

2. Sustaining Transformative Relationships: Join us for a facilitated conversation on cultivating relational practices that strengthen connection, reduce harm, and support more sustainable ways of working together.

Facilitated by Janine Silvas

Janine Silvas (they/them/theirs) is imagining what abolitionist praxis looks like in higher education and in daily life. A fat, queer, nonbinary Pilipino American doctoral candidate in Higher Education at the University of Arizona, they write from over a decade in residence life and student affairs, alongside commitments to care, relationality, and justice. Their current work illuminates how student affairs professionals navigate carceral logics and seek more just ways of being with one another. View event details here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149151

Register for sessions here: https://umbc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9YzNS55VsUBvkuG

To request accommodation(s) or to inquire about event accessibility, please get in touch with each program office directly. All sessions are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal or state law and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

This semester's Culture Conversations are designed to bring staff and faculty together to reflect, share experiences, and explore how relationships shape campus culture. Through facilitated conversations, this series will create spaces for collective sensemaking around connection, care, and belonging in our everyday work.

Session Descriptions

1. Engaging Digital Spaces: Join us for an interactive, conversation-driven exploration of how digital environments can strengthen community, expand access, and support more affordable and inclusive engagement on campus.

Facilitated by Dr. Olivia M. Copeland

Olivia M. Copeland (she/they) is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Kansas. She has worked across higher education contexts, from residential curriculum to LGBTQ+-centered work. Their scholarship centers on the role of identity, power, privilege, and digital spaces in the lives of undergraduate students, using critical interdisciplinary frameworks. View event details here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149150

2. Sustaining Transformative Relationships: Join us for a facilitated conversation on cultivating relational practices that strengthen connection, reduce harm, and support more sustainable ways of working together.

Facilitated by Janine Silvas

Janine Silvas (they/them/theirs) is imagining what abolitionist praxis looks like in higher education and in daily life. A fat, queer, nonbinary Pilipino American doctoral candidate in Higher Education at the University of Arizona, they write from over a decade in residence life and student affairs, alongside commitments to care, relationality, and justice. Their current work illuminates how student affairs professionals navigate carceral logics and seek more just ways of being with one another. View event details here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149151

Register for sessions here: https://umbc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9YzNS55VsUBvkuG

To request accommodation(s) or to inquire about event accessibility, please get in touch with each program office directly. All sessions are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal or state law and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

As part of UMBC's ongoing commitment to fostering equitable and inclusive learning and working environments, we're excited to offer departments a meaningful opportunity to strengthen community, repair relationships, and build trust across campus through Restorative Practice sessions. These offerings include multiple circle types, facilitated by partners in the Division of Institutional Equity (DOIE), and tailored to the unique needs of faculty and staff departments.

We invite faculty, staff, supervisors, and department leaders to discover how restorative practices can empower your teams to cultivate cultural competency, equity, accountability, and community care. These collaborative sessions provide a dedicated space to enhance communication, deepen connections, and foster a more inclusive work environment. To learn more or explore how these practices might benefit your department, please reach out to the Community & Culture team at culture@umbc.edu.

 DOIE RESTORATIVE OFFERINGS

Restorative circles, community conversations, and dialogues

Circles provide structured, equitable spaces for dialogue and connection. Whether used proactively to build community or responsively to address harm, circles honor the voices and experiences of all participants through guided conversation. DOIE offers various circle types, including community-building, learning, restorative dialogue, healing, resetting, and re-entry circles to support faculty and staff (individuals, groups, departments).

Reach out for DOIE support when: Your department wants to strengthen culture proactively, address interpersonal tensions or misunderstandings, process the impact of bias incidents or crises, support colleague reintegration after conflict or leave, or explore challenging topics related to equity and inclusion.

Restorative Conferences: Formal Support for Complex Situations

In DOIE, restorative conferences are structured, facilitated meetings designed to address significant harm, policy violations, or formal workplace conflicts, particularly when navigating identity-based issues, community climate, and cultural differences. These conferences bring together affected parties with institutional representatives to repair relationships, establish accountability, and create clear paths forward.

Reach out for DOIE support when: There has been a formal complaint, policy violation, or significant identity-based interpersonal harm; parties are ready to engage voluntarily in structured dialogue; institutional representatives need to be part of the resolution process; or clear, documented agreements and follow-up are essential.

Group Facilitation: Retreats, Listening Sessions & More

DOIE provides customized facilitation for departmental retreats, listening sessions, and other gatherings where skilled, restorative facilitation helps groups navigate complexity and move toward shared goals, particularly when navigating identity-based issues, community climate, and cultural differences.

Reach out for DOIE support when: Your department is planning a retreat and needs skilled facilitation; you want to gather qualitative feedback through listening sessions or town halls; your team is navigating organizational change or climate concerns; or you need support creating inclusive dialogue spaces for sensitive or complex topics.

*Available Facilitators: Jasmine A. Lee, Associate Vice President for Community & Culture/Co-Director of Social Justice Dialogue, and Sy Simms, Learning and Development Specialist, and other trained members of the Community & Culture team and UMBC campus.

Learn More & Get Involved

We encourage all campus partners to take advantage of these opportunities to strengthen our shared culture of equity and belonging.

For questions about requesting restorative practices support, scheduling a circle, or determining the best approach for your department, please visit doie.umbc.edu or contact the Community & Culture team at culture@umbc.edu.

To participate in a Restorative Practices training hosted by Student Conduct and Community Standards, visit https://conduct.umbc.edu/programs/restorative-practices/events-and-workshops-offered/.

The Division of Institutional Equity joins the Mosaic Center and our many campus community members in recognizing and honoring Black History Month. 

Black History Month is celebrated each year in February to honor the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans who have helped shape the nation. The 2026 Black History Month theme is "A Century of Black History Commemorations". This month, the Division of Institutional Equity invites you to engage through our "Read, Watch, Listen, Participate" list to celebrate, connect, and explore.

To request accommodation(s) or to inquire about event accessibility, please get in touch with each program office directly. All sessions are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

Events on campus

Join us at UMBC events throughout the month to connect, celebrate, and learn together

February 2 | 11:30 am - 1:00 pm | The Commons: Mainstreet
Hear Our Stories: Celebrating Black History Month
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/themosaic/events/149873

February 4 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | The Commons: 2B23

Music & The Mosaic (Black History Month x The Grammy Edition!)
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/themosaic/events/149962

February 6 | 10:30 am - 4:00 pm | University Center Ballroom
2026 Black Excellence Summit: Roots of Success: Grounded in Community
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/themosaic/events/148764

February 6 |  7:00 pm  - 10:00 pm | UC Ballroom 
BSU Groove Theory - Black Excellence Summit After Party! 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTn2ExeEaIg/

February 12 | 6:30 pm | Chesapeake Arena 

Divine 9 Greek Night
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUGsLiAD7Cw/

February 16 | 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm | Webex
Beyond the Book: The Gesture That Fit
Exploring Black Masculinity & Sexuality w/ Linton Taylor
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/events/149975

February 18 | 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm | The Commons: 329
Black History Month Discussion Panel "Black History: Under Attack, but yet Unbroken." 
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/womenscenter/events/149976

February 25 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Library Gallery 
Chat n Chew: All about Love
https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/doie/events/149152

Explore

Visit the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture located in downtown Baltimore to learn more and be inspired by the lives of African American Marylanders.

Read

This reading list features powerful stories by Black authors that capture the richness, humor, complexity, and beauty of Black life in the United States.

• Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer
• Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
• Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall
• American Street by Ibi Zoboi
• The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

Watch

This must-watch collection highlights the brilliance, resilience, and lasting contributions of Black individuals who have shaped history, culture, science, law, and sports in the United States. 

• 10 things about Dr. Carter G. Woodson - Father of Black History Month.  Link: https://youtu.be/f2-qjMiTQqw?si=zZHELAzDzSPWL3jU

• Malcom X

• Hidden figures

• Marshall

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

• 42

Listen

Through storytelling, music, culture, and conversation, these podcasts highlight the everyday joy, innovation, and contributions of Black people—past and present.

• The Nod 

• The Read

• Code Switch

• Questlove Supreme

• Oprah's Super Soul

Tanyka M. Barber (she/her)