Social Justice

Increasing Social Awareness Through Storytelling Work
Bluemont Room, 2:00-2:40pm (Session Period 1)

The target audience will be faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community members interested in the concepts of social justice and how storytelling can be used as a pedagogical tool in discussing social challenges. The workshop will discuss two different story types taken from Lee Anne Bell's (2010) storytelling model including stock stories (stories that are told by the dominant group, passed on through history and celebrated through public rituals, law, the arts, education and media) and concealed stories (stories often told by people of marginalized communities that are often invisible in mainstream culture and that highlight how dominance and privilege work). Participants will also engage in hands-on, interactive storytelling exercises in order to better understand these concepts.

Presenters

Dr. Lorenza Lockett
Assistant Professor of Social Work, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work

Dr. Lorenza Lockett is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Kansas State University within the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work (SASW) in the College of Arts and Sciences, a position help since 2015. Dr. Lockett began his teaching career as an Instructor at Kansas State University in 2008. He holds a BSW in Social Work from Kansas State University (1999); MSW in Social Work from Arizona State University (2006), and a PhD in Family Studies from Kansas State University (2015). He also has ten years of direct social work practice in Kansas, Arizona, and Georgia.

Tess Hobson
PhD Student in Student Affairs and Higher Education

Tess Hobson received an M.S. in College Student Development from K-State in 2015 and a graduate certificate in Social Justice Education in 2019. She spent six years working with the Developing Scholars Program, an undergraduate research program for first-generation students and students from underrepresented backgrounds, and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Student Affairs and Higher Education at K-State with a focus in Social Justice Education.

Aliah Mestrovich Seay
Instructor, 4-H Youth Development

Aliah Mestrovich Seay is a board certified Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist and Intercultural Development Inventory Qualified Administrator. She works for the Department of 4-H Youth Development as a 4-H Youth Development State Specialist. Mestrovich Seay holds a B.S. degree in Clinical Psychology in French from the Université de Caen, Basse-Normandie, France and a M.A. Degree in Counseling Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University in Orange County, California. She is currently a doctoral student in the K-State Staley School of Leadership Studies. With over 20 years of cumulative experience in K-12, higher education, and the not-for-profit sectors, Aliah’s professional and research interests involve intercultural coaching and training techniques that focus on cultural identity development, mindfulness, and finding innovative ways to engage with difference differently.

Onyedikachi (Kachi) Ekwerike
PhD Student in Leadership Communication

Kachi is a doctoral student in the Leadership Communication PhD program. He has a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and he’s the founder of Postpartum Support Network Africa, a leading maternal mental health nonprofit in Nigeria.

Melitza Ramirez
Master's Student in Public Health

I am Melitza Ramirez from Dodge City, Kansas.

I just graduated with my bachelor's in Kinesiology from K State and will be continuing my education by pursuing a Master in Public Health Degree with a focus on physical activity. My future career goal is to become a health communications specialist. I love to run and workout!