Navarro Professor to Speak at San Antonio Event for Educators, Students, and Community

By John F. Kaiser III – Navarro County Gazette

The STORIES OF TRUTH AND TRANSFORMATION: Compassion, Civic Engagement, Teaching Social Justice, is a three day online event starting 9 a.m. Aug. 4, and running through 5 p.m. Aug. 6. Over fifty speakers will be hosting talks about exploring how educators can recognize their individual stories, engaging in educational practices that will help students realize their own human dignity, help them listen to the stories of others, and compassionately embrace civic engagement for equity and justice.

Laura Briseno, art professor and department chair for Navarro College, is currently attaining her Ph.D. in “Organizational Leadership and Evaluation” at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Briseno was approached by her professor, Dr. Sandra Guzman Foster, to speak at this event.

Briseno’s talk, “Compassion: Why We Need To Take A Breath”, runs from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 4. You can register to listen to her discussion on Zoom here:

Other topics and speakers include: Lionel Sosa discussing his paintings and documentary, “Living in My Skin,” stories of Black men, “Transforming Moral Injury into Communal Healing” shared by Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D., Co-leading the Morning Process of Transformation and sharing “Stories of La Llorona (the Woman Weeping) and the Truth about Race” Dr. Arturo Chavez, “Stories through Arts Inviting Community, Compassion, and Justice” a conversation with Margarita Cabrera, Kathy Vargas, and Margaret Mitchell, “Listen to Stories from the South. Learn to Listen More Deeply” shared by Dr. Larry Hufford and Dr. Gabriel Saxton-Ruiz, and many others. To see the full list of speakers and their topics click on the following link: https://sites.google.com/view/stories-truth-transformation/speakers?authuser=0

Online seats are limited for some of the speakers, so be sure to register to secure your spot. Click here for the full list of events: https://uiw.givepulse.com/event/237719-STORIES-OF-TRUTH-AND-TRANSFORMATION-Compassion-Civic-Engagement-Teaching-Social-Justice