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AddRan College of Liberal Arts
Department of Women & Gender Studies
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Training & Workshops

Bystander Intervention Training

In 1996, Jane Tompkins called for a more comprehensive view of education saying, “We are educators of whole human beings.” Given the rise of campus sexual assault and national legislation about sexual violence prevention and intervention on college campuses, her statement has never been more true. TCU faculty members interact with students on a daily (even hourly!) basis, and as a result are in a position to recognize, discourage, and prevent a culture that enables sexual violence. In this session led by Social Work faculty member, Nada Elias-Lambert, faculty will learn the concept of bystander interventions to prevent sexual violence, learn about TCU’s campus-wide sexual violence prevention initiatives, and discuss and practice bystander intervention skills that can be especially helpful when interacting with students in the classroom and beyond. Please visit https://cte.tcu.edu/events/bystander-intervention-training102716/ for more details.

Safe Zone Training

Safe Zone training is routinely provided for TCU Allies through the office of Inclusiveness and Intercultural Services. This training is not required in order to identify and be listed as a TCU Ally, but it is strongly encouraged. Safe Zone training is offered once a semester and is open to all TCU faculty, staff, and students.
The goals of Safe Zone training are:

  • To increase the overall campus community’s understanding and awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer, and asexual or ally (LGBTQIA) issues
  • To provide a greater sense of safety for the LGBTQIA student community
  • To offer information to straight allies who may be in frequent contact with people who identify as LGBTQIA
  • To act as a resource of information regarding homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia and other LGBTQIA issues on the TCU campus.

For more information or to sign up for Safe Zone Training, contact Leah Carnahan at l.carnahan@tcu.edu.

Additional training for TCU Allies is available through various entities on campus, including Student Development Services, the Counseling Center, Religious and Spiritual Life, and Inclusiveness and Intercultural Services. If you are interested in more information about training opportunities, contact Chuck Dunning at c.dunning@tcu.edu.

While no specific training is required in order to identify as a TCU Ally, to be listed in the directory of TCU Allies it is necessary to commit to the TCU Ally Pledge. If you are a TCU faculty or staff member and hold convictions that align with these statements, we invite you to join us and be listed! Click here to learn more.

Intentional Dialogue Training

The mission of Intentional Dialogue Training is to facilitate opportunities for meaningful dialogue among diverse members of the TCU campus in order to support a more inclusive, connected, and vibrant community. Our goal is that all participants will leave training having learned the following skills:

  • Ability to list and enact the five affirmations of dialogue: Love, Humility, Hope, Critical Thinking, Trust
  • Ability to demonstrate the self-awareness and empathy needed to effectively communicate personal ideologies and viewpoints during conflict.
  • Ability to demonstrate effective communication skills through participation in a sponsored dialogue.

Intentional Dialogue Training is led by a skilled team of facilitators. The training can be hosted by request for any group of faculty, staff, or students, or any combination of the three. We require a minimum of 8 participants to host a training and will limit all trainings to no more than 40 total participants. Occasionally, trainings are hosted for the community at large. Registrations for these “open sessions” will be shared via various TCU communications to the appropriate groups.

All questions regarding Intentional Dialogue Training should be sent to Ebony Rose.
Phone: (817) 257-7855
Email: e.rose@tcu.edu 

Pronoun Fluency Workshop: Creating Safer Spaces through Inclusive Language

Our Pedagogy in Practice workshop was designed to give faculty an opportunity to develop familiarity with pronoun usage and strategies of address to ensure that our classrooms can be equitable and affirming spaces for all of our students. It is not uncommon for those who don’t believe themselves to be pronoun fluent or proficient to speak about or with trans and non-binary people less often, for fear of mis-pronouning them. Imagine the disparities in education, healthcare, and social life that accompany this kind of erasure from conversation. Instead of succumbing to fears that we won’t “get it right,” we encourage faculty to take ownership over their own pronoun fluency.

This workshop was led by Lindsay Knight, Director of First Year Experience, and Nino Testa, Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies. They wrote the article for the Fall 2019 Issue of Insights. Please visit https://cte.tcu.edu/services/insights-magazine/insights-magazine-2019-fall-issue/pronoun-fluency-and-inclusive-teaching-creating-more-equitable-and-affirming-learning-environments-for-trans-students/ for the full article, workshop video, and links to more resources.