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Description : Stacey Springs, PhD, a research faculty member in the Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health at Brown University, will provide an interactive session titled “Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Community Engaged Research— Lessons Learned Working Within and Across Disciplinary Boundaries.” Dr. Springs encourages UNO faculty members and students who attend to share their research efforts and goals, particularly as they related to medical and health humanities. This presentation will focus on the approaches and lessons learned from our experience collaborating across departments, universities, and sectors in shared efforts to promote arts-based health interventions within population health planning. For all attendees at this interactive presentation, particularly colleagues who work in the humanities, arts, social sciences, public health, and elsewhere; the main question and concern is, How does the work (and the research) I am doing or considering doing relate to and fit into medical and health humanities? The presentation is on Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 4 P.M. - 5 P.M. at the CEC, room 230. The presentation is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences. Co-sponsors are the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media and UNO Medical Humanities. Snacks and beverages will be provided. 27 parking stalls have been assigned in Lot E for guests that do not have UNO permits.

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Description : "My Life with the Castros: One Scholar’s Unlikely Journey." Jonathan Benjamin Alvarado, Ph.D., is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at the University of Nebraska Omaha. As the chief student affairs officer, he oversees diversity, inclusion, and equity issues on campus. This includes the divisions of Veterans and Military Affairs, Multicultural Affairs, Academic and Career Development, and Gender and Sexuality Resources. He has been instrumental in the creation of scholarship and pathway programs at UNO serving first-generation college students and other under-represented groups. He is also a Professor of Political Science, with an emphasis on U.S. Foreign Policy, International Development and National Security. For the past 30 years, Benjamin-Alvarado has conducted research related to Cuba’s attempts to address energy development issues, including it nuclear energy program. This has taken him to the island over 30 times, where he has engaged and worked with the entirety of Cuba’s leadership including former President Fidel Castro and other members of the ruling family.

Topics: Inclusion, Diversity & Equity, Literacy

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Description : OPL Outreach staff attended four classes to discuss The Hate U Give and how to translate the theme(s) into facilitated discussions with UNO students in class with UNO faculty Dr. Panos. The entire class attended the Omaha Reads event with Inclusive Communities at the CEC and eagerly participated in the break-out groups. The event, also an Omaha Table Talk, discusses the parallels between the novel "The Hate U Give" and the realities of today's world and was co-hosted by Inclusive Communities. Each year, Omaha Public Library (OPL) invites the community to vote for and read one book as a way to promote literacy and inspire discussion among Omaha and Douglas County residents.

Topics: Develop./Physical Disability

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Description : The Weitz Family Foundation in partnership with Stanford University present "Pivotal Response Training" (PRT), group parent education workshops. The four day courses will take place August 13 - 16, 2019. The workshops are designed for parents of young children ages 2 - 10 years old with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Each child will receive a 2-hour "hands on" session on days 2 or 3. The following areas will be addressed: How to implement the PRT motivational components Expanding the functions of communication through question-asking Understanding Fidelity of Implementation Improving socialization in children with ASD Procedures for decreasing disruptive or problem behaviors. Events are offered in coordination with UNO’s Speech-Language Clinic.

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Description : Coalition Rx partnered with the first CEC Faculty Fellow, Dr. Tara Bryan from the UNO School of Public Administration. We worked with Dr. Bryan to educate our board of directors and advise our executive director on best practices of nonprofit management and board governance. We plan on continuing to work with Dr. Bryan to improve our board and coalition structure.

Topics: Human Rights & Trafficking

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Description : The Nebraska Prison Post-Secondary Education Project (NPPSEP) is hosting a series of panels and a keynote speaker related to their purpose and work they've done in partnership with the Omaha Correctional Center. This event will take place Wednesday, April 17 from 10 A.M. - 1 P.M. inside the Community Engagement Center, rooms 201/205/209. A pizza lunch will also be provided during this time. Let’s overcrowd the prison with our favorite books! Please bring your favorite book to the symposium to donate to the Omaha Correctional Center. They need copies of fiction, poetry, and some nonfiction for their library. Panel 1: Writing Corrections Nicholas Bell and Tyrone Harper III of Writer’s Block, Carmala Aderman of Hero’s Journey, and Steve Langan and Alana Alexander of Programming Life 101 will discuss the creative writing that occurs within and beyond spaces of confinement. Panel 2: Education and Re-entry Diane Good-Collins and formerly incarcerated individuals who are transitioning from correctional facilities will discuss some of the educational opportunities offered by the Metropolitan Community College’s 180 Re-Entry program. Keynote Speaker: Dominique Morgan Dominique Morgan is the national director of Black and Pink, the largest prison abolitionist organization in the United States. Partnering his lived experience of incarceration as a youth (which included 18 months in solitary confinement), and a decade of change making advocacy and background in public health, Dominique continues to work in spaces of sex education, radical self-care, and youth development with intentions of dismantling the prison industrial complex and the impact it has on our community. The Nebraska Prison Post-Secondary Education Project was created with the belief that education is one solution to America's prison problem. This program was developed in Fall 2017 through private funding to create a partnership between the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) and the Omaha Correctional Center (OCC). The primary purpose of this project is to offer UNO courses, taught by UNO professors, lecturers and instructors, within OCC.

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Description : Semester presentations by the Down Syndrome Alliance of the Midlands for the Interactions Courses taught by Dr. Elizabeth Leader-Janssen. The presentations focused on communication skills with professionals and families.