Tulalip Tribal member and visiting professor Stephanie Fryberg delivered a Diversity Research Institute-sponsored Brown Bag Lecture on Nov. 13, at Parrington Hall.
Fryberg’s talk titled “Culturally Grounded Interventions to Enhance Academic Performance” addressed how today’s typical teaching model doesn’t necessarily match the understanding of “self” held by many students, including Native Americans and first-generation students.
According to Fryberg, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, the dominant educational culture is largely influenced by the independent model of self, but Native American and first-generation students are more likely to be influenced by the interdependent model of self.
In her talk, Fryberg outlined two different sets of studies. The first examined the sources and consequences of student success associated with this cultural match or mismatch between the students’ model of self. The second examined how culturally grounded interventions that reframed the dominant educational culture had a positive influence on student motivation and performance.
In addition to her appointment in psychology, Fryberg is an affiliate faculty member in American Indian Studies at Arizona. Her primary research interests focus on how social representation of race, culture and social class influence the development of self, psychological well-being, physical health and educational attainment.
Fryberg is also the director of Cultural Competency, Learning Improvement and Tulalip Community Development for the Marysville School District in Marysville, Wash. She received her master’s and doctorate degrees in social psychology from Stanford University, where she was recently inducted into its Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame.
The Diversity Research Institute (DRI) was developed in 2004 by the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. It focuses on generating new interdisciplinary knowledge about diversity, social justice and institutional transformation. The DRI is under the leadership of Dr. Luis Fraga, UW associate vice provost for faculty advancement.
The Diversity Research Institute’s Brown Bag Lecture series features talks from faculty who are leaders in their fields on a variety of diversity-related topics. Attendees are encouraged to bring their lunch for the noon-time lectures.