With the help of the CEDI Action Team charged with developing an approach to antiraicism training for faculty and staff, and a subsequent Antiracism Training Task Force, we have identified external trainers Dr. Bryana French and Dr. Stephen Brookfield, from the Minnesota-based team antiracisttraining.org, to offer such training. Dr. Brookfield and Dr. French bring extensive experience with higher education communities to a series of sessions that they have created specifically with Carleton’s objectives, as articulated in the CEDI Action Team report, in mind.
Dr. Stephen Brookfield
Stephen Brookfield, Ph.D. has worked in England, Canada, and the United States, teaching in a variety of adult, community, organizational and higher education settings and consulting with colleges and universities, school systems, the military, Occupy, hospitals, arts organizations, banks, churches, IT companies, television and oil companies. His overall project is to help people learn to think critically about how they’ve internalized the ideology of white supremacy and how that ideology, and the practices that flow from it, can be challenged. His most recent book is Teaching Race and his new book on Becoming a White Anti-Racist (co-authored with Mary Hess) will be published by Stylus Publishers in Spring, 2021.
He is particularly interested in methodologies of critical thinking, discussion and dialog, critical reflection, leadership, and the exploration of power dynamics, particularly around racial identity and white supremacy. To that end he has written, co-written or edited nineteen books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods, critical theory, leadership and teaching race, six of which have won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education (in 1986, 1989, 1996, 2005, 2011 and 2012).
His academic appointments have included positions at the University of British Columbia; Teachers College, Columbia University (New York); Harvard University; and the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He has consulted with numerous organizations and institutions across the world and delivered multiple workshops and conference keynotes.
He is currently Distinguished Scholar at Antioch University, Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York) and Emeritus Professor at the University of St. Thomas.
Dr. Bryana French
Bryana H. French, Ph.D., L.P., is a tenured professor at St. Thomas University in St. Paul and a licensed psychologist. She has provided racial and gender justice-informed educational and psychological services for 16 years. Her research, teaching, and community engagement focuses on racial and sexual trauma and recovery, specifically among Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Her co-authored 2020 article “Toward Psychological Framework of Radical Healing in Communities Color” is ranked in the top 5% on Altmetrics publication data, with over 8,000 views in the first year. Her research on men’s sexual victimization has been featured in several news outlets including Time, US News, and Huffington Post.
Dr. French’s training interests focus on multicultural counseling development and she provides intersectional education and consultation for universities and nonprofit organizations across the country. Throughout her career, Dr. French has facilitated several courageous conversations around racial justice in community organizations and universities, including holding four different racial healing sessions for BIPOC students following George Floyd’s murder. She contributed content to the widely successful virtual training, Academics for Black Survival and Wellness, attended by over 10,000 people during the summer of 2020.