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Eastern Washington University

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Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco

Join us for the EWU McNair Alumni Social Justice in Research Panel

05/28/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Social Justice in Research with EWU McNair Alumni. Join us to hear these panelists June 2nd, 9 am.

McNair is a federally funded TRIO program intended to diversify academia by providing support to low income and first-generation students and/or students racially underrepresented in higher education on their path towards attaining a PhD. To date 41 EWU McNair alumni have gone on to earn their PhD and many are currently in graduate school getting closer to that goal. Our scholars are doing incredible work in their communities, both in school and once they've earned their degree. They are also making powerful change in academia. One piece of this is rethinking and implementing research practices that are more liberatory and whose aim is to create a more just world.

 

We are honored to have EWU McNair Alumni Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco, Dr. Frank C. King Jr., Dr. Yvonne Sherwood, and Dr. S. Omar Jobe join us for a panel on "Social Justice in Research" facilitated by EWU McNair Directora Dra. Christina Torres Garcia. This year EWU McNair and CSTEM collaborated to host a research symposium to ensure undergraduate students had the opportunity to present their research. This panel will be the plenary session kicking off the symposium at 9 am on June 2nd.

Click here to register for the free "Social Justice in Research" panel on June 2nd at 9 am!

 

The panelists have a wide range of research, including Afrocentric philosophy, Indigenous Feminism, Mathematics education, and medical devices. We were fortunate enough to talk with panelists in advance of the session where they shared some of their insights on the topic. EWU McNair Alumna Dr. Zamudio-Orozco, who earned her PhD in Mathematics Education and is now an Assistant Professor and the McNair Program Director at Heritage University, says, "I see research as a tool to work with our multiple communities to highlight social injustices and issues that we are facing and also to highlight the strength and knowledge in our communities."

 

Dr. Jobe, Senior Manager in Medical Science Liaison at Edwards Lifesciences, relates what social justice looks like in his field of medical research. "Far too often, gross inequities mean that some groups succumb to disease and death disproportionately, while others’ advantages protect them, due to disparities in health care provision, political persecution, social strife, racial discrimination, and a plethora of other factors.  My company makes medical devices for structural heart diseases and social justice in that sense means I have to do everything in my power to make sure our research and clinical trials represent the make up of the country and our devices are accessible and affordable to all."

 

In addition, panelists were asked about how to be a good mentor and how to take the most advantage of research as a student. Dr. King, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a Program Coordinator for Ethnic Studies, advises "Remember that it is the student's project. We have to find a way to help the student find their voice. We can challenge them. We can maybe even say how difficult or impossible the topic will be. But we have to let them find their way."

 

Dr. Sherwood, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, shares this insight for students involved in research: "Read: Critical Mentoring: A Practical Guide by Torie Weiston-Serdan. Find strength in knowing you (and your community) are not the deficit despite that much of the dominant narrative places us (marginalized and racialized communities) as needing to be "saved" by schooling and mentorship. You are our strength. Trust yourself and trust your network."

 

To hear more from these outstanding and insightful panelists, join us for the panel and click on their name above to read the full pre-panel interview with each candidate. You can register for free to attend this amazing discussion.

Click here to register for the free "Social Justice in Research" panel on June 2nd at 9 am!

Filed Under: 2019-2020 PhDs, 2020-21 Presentations, All Majors, Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, EWU McNair PhD's, News, Research, Scholars Tagged With: Dr. Frank C. King Jr., Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco, Dr. S Omar Jobe, Dr. Yvonne Sherwood, EWU Alum, EWU McNair Program, EWU McNair Scholar, Research, Social Justice

Meet Social Justice in Research Panelist – EWU McNair Alumna Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco

05/14/2021 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

Dr. Laura Zumidio-Orozco Social Justice Panel 2021

We are honored to have EWU McNair Alumna Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco, PhD, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and McNair Program Coordinator at Heritage University, joining us for our "Social Justice in Research" Plenary Session on June 2, at 9 am (register for free here). Dr. Zamudio-Orozco will join 3 other EWU McNair alumni in this panel preceding the EWU Online Symposium, a collaboration between McNair and CSTEM. She earned her PhD in Mathematics Education from Florida International University in the fall of 2019 and worked as an student advisor for EWU McNair in Winter and Spring 2020. Below is an interview with Dr. Zamudio-Orozco about what she's doing now and some of her thoughts on social justice and research.

Our Interview with Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco:

What does “Social Justice in Research” mean to you?

 

For me, social justice in research means that I can bring my experiences as a first-generation Latina and those of my community to investigate unjust issues we have faced and continue to face in education. For so long, I questioned the tracking of students in K-12 education and why so many of my friends were placed in different tracks, which led them to believe they could not succeed in certain classes and often limited their choices after high school. I also questioned why so many students felt disconnected from certain disciplines, especially mathematics, and how that disconnect was part of the teaching and learning practices employed by teachers. My research now is centered on bringing answers to these questions by creating and adopting new pedagogy in the field of mathematics; a pedagogy that attends to student access, achievement, identity, and issues of power that are necessary to empower students to use mathematics as a tool to investigate, understand, and respond to social justice issues in our communities.

 

What do you see as the purpose of academic research in this current moment?

 

This is a hard question because I think back to my understanding of academic research before graduate school, and it was difficult for me to connect theory to my lived experiences. With that being said, in this current moment, I see research as a tool to work with our multiple communities to highlight social injustices and issues that we are facing and also to highlight the strength and knowledge in our communities. This can take many forms; I think back to a recent conversation with a Heritage University McNair Scholar as we questioned the chemical makeup of pesticides invading our communities and how it affects the lives of farmworkers who spend innumerable hours working in the orchards. Now the question becomes, how do we take action as academic researchers to share this information with our communities and to work together to bring solutions to such problems? First, we must do our part to be in proximity to our communities to inform the research questions we ask, the methodologies we utilize, how we analyze data, and most importantly (I think) how we communicate the results to our communities as a means of developing solutions together.

 

How did your undergraduate research experience prepare you for the next steps you have taken?

 

Sometimes I sit in disbelief when I reflect on my graduate school experience and see my diploma because I did not fully understand what graduate school was until I became a McNair Scholar at the end of my sophomore year. I remember sitting in the car with one of my closest friends, Jereny, and talking about wanting to implement pedagogy that reflected students’ lived experiences in the field of mathematics because I was not seeing it my classes at the time. She asked, “Have you ever considered doing a small research study on this pedagogy you talk about and going to graduate school?” The next day I was in a meeting with Dr. Christina Torres García, McNair Director at EWU, and I walked out ready to apply to the McNair Scholars Program. The following summer, I led my own research with the support of mathematics faculty and my McNair family. Working with students at the Martin Luther King Jr. Outreach Center and creating and solving fractions problems was such a beautiful experience. We all felt connected to the teaching and we were having long mathematical discussions about sharing items equally and how that would look based on our individual experiences. Through this experience, I was able to think back to my own K-12 education and reflected on how much more engaged I would have been if I had teachers who used my experiences and identities to enrich the field of mathematics. My reflection then led into my journey as a full-time graduate student; it shaped the research questions I was posing, the methods for my data collection, analysis, and it made my think creatively about how I was going to distribute the knowledge I was gaining in my communities.

 

What advice would you give to an undergraduate researcher?

 

Let your experiences and those of your communities drive your questions, methods, and how you distribute your findings.

 

Talk to others about your experiences with your research mentors. This can be a great strategy to break down what you enjoy about the mentoring relationship and to get support from outside mentors if you are experiencing an unhealthy mentoring relationship. Always advocate for yourself and find mentors who will join you in that journey because it is something that we can always improve as we navigate new spaces.

 

Take advantage of the opportunities presented by mentors at EWU. This is something I wish I would have taken more advantage of as an undergraduate. This does not mean that you have to take all the opportunities because I want you to take care of your overall health, but I do think it is important to listen to those who are advocating for you and listen to their advice when they present you with new opportunities that support your goals.

 

What advice would you give to an undergraduate faculty research mentor?

 

Give students the freedom to share their experiences to enrich the research questions, methods, analyses, and findings when they join a research team and/or when they conduct independent research projects.

 

Provide students with opportunities to ask about your experiences in academia and be open to sharing your journey knowing that everyone has a unique journey.

 

Support students by sharing opportunities, cheering for them during their research presentations, asking about their personal health, and by always advocating for them.

 

Consistently work to understand the power dynamics that exist in your mentor-mentee relationships and strive to reshape that relationship by envisioning students as leaders and knowledgeable research partners. By reshaping our relationships, it allows students to feel more comfortable asking questions and sharing concerns, taking initiative in research projects and conversations, and contributing their experiential knowledge.

Click here to register for the free "Social Justice in Research" panel on June 2nd at 9 am!

Filed Under: 2019-2020 PhDs, Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, EWU McNair PhD's, Mathematics, News, Research, Scholars Tagged With: Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco, EWU Alum, EWU McNair Program, EWU McNair Scholar, Research, Social Justice

EWU McNair alum Dr. Laura Zamudio earns PhD; Serving as Winter/Spring 2020 Eastern McNair Interim Academic Advisor before joining Heritage University as an Assistant Professor of Math and McNair Program Coordinator

12/06/2020 by Dukich, Cynthia Leave a Comment

Dr. Laura Zamudio is an Eastern Washington University TRIO McNair alum who earned her bachelor's degree from Eastern with a major in math education and a minor in Spanish. As an EWU McNair Scholar research intern, she completed two McNair research projects in math education with Dr. Gayle Milsaps in the summers of 2014 and 2015. After graduating from Eastern, she earned a Ph.D. from Florida International University in Math Education: Curriculum and Instruction in December 2019.

 

The EWU McNair Program was grateful when she was able to make a brief stop back in Cheney to join our team in January 2020 as our Interim Academic Advisor. As a recent McNair scholar who successfully made it through the process of earning a Ph.D., she provided instrumental insights to the potential McNair scholars enrolled in the winter McNair Scholarly Identity class. The course guides first-generation, low-income and underrepresented emerging scholars through the process of defining and preparing to achieve their academic goals as they create academic bios, Curriculum Vitas, and LinkedIn profiles to help them start to identify as a scholar. It also provides a hands-on learning opportunity by encouraging scholars to seek out and apply for Summer Research Opportunities, and each year, some are rewarded with fully-funded SROPs. This process has allowed EWU McNair scholars to participate in SROPs at places like MIT and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

 

Dr. Zamudio worked with the McNair Director, Dr. Christina Torres Garcia, and the McNair Graduate Student Assistant Cori Jaeger to assist students in completing and submitting these SROP applications, just as most schools were announcing their summer research programs would be on-line due to the pandemic. Three scholars, Malachi Chukwu, Wendolyn Martinez, and Aulane Mpouli were selected for these opportunities, with Malachi and Wendolyn being able to complete them virtually at the Laney Graduate School Summer Opportunity for Academic Research (LGS-SOAR) Program at Emory University and the Junior Summer Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) at the University of Michigan respectively. Aulane's Ohio State University (OSU) research internship was canceled due to COVID-19; however, she was invited to a summer webinar series by OSU to help prepare her for graduate school, and completed an EWU McNair Summer Research Internship project, working online with Eastern chemistry faculty Dr. Yao Houndonougbo. While assisting students in navigating the challenges of upcoming summer research projects, Dr. Zamudio also provided valuable guidance to the scholars accepted into graduate programs as they prepared to make the transition to graduate school during a pandemic.

 

Her experience in on-line and equitable teaching practices was integral to helping the program develop and provide necessary academic support services when McNair was forced to adjust in a matter of weeks to a completely virtual learning environment. In spring, as Eastern continued to offer all of its services virtually, Dr. Zamudio continued to support students as needed in Dr. Torres Garcia's Spring Research Methods class, frequently meeting in one-on-one Zoom sessions while also working closely with the Assistant Director, Cynthia Dukich, and GSA Jaeger, to provide analytical writing feedback for the weekly McNair spring GRE Analytical Writing Seminars.

 

Basically, Dr. Laura Zamudio is a rock star!

 

She now serves in a joint position at Heritage University as an assistant professor in the math department and the McNair Program coordinator. We're so proud of her and excited for the next step in her journey as she continues to support students through equitable education.

 

Click the link to read Dr. Zamudio's dissertation abstract:

Dominant and Critical Mathematics: A Multi-Case Study Examining Mathematics Teachers’ Equitable Teaching Practices

 

 

Filed Under: 2019-2020 PhDs, Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, EWU McNair PhD's, Mathematics Tagged With: Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco

EWU McNair Alumna Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco Joins EWU McNair Program

01/31/2020 by Jaeger, Corinne Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Alumna Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco

The EWU McNair Program welcomes Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco as our interim Academic Advisor! Dr. Zamudio-Orozco is an alumna of EWU’s McNair Scholar Program. She graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2014 with a BA in Mathematics Education (K-8). She worked as an educator at Adams Elementary in Spokane to get some on the ground experience before becoming a Ronald E. McNair Doctoral Fellow at Florida International University. From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Zamudio-Orozco was a full-time graduate research assistant at Florida International University educating preservice teachers how to teach elementary mathematics, including creating inclusive and culturally responsive curriculum. She attained her PhD in Teaching and Learning – Mathematics Education in December 2019.

 

Recently, EWU McNair’s Academic Advisor Najeda (Jade) Patolo became a part of the career advising team at EWU. We are so excited for Jade’s new role at Eastern! As we go through the formal job search process to find a new Academic Advisor, we are so fortunate to have Dr. Zamudio-Orozco joining us to support students who are working towards growing as scholars and getting accepted into Masters and PhD programs. Having gone through the process herself, we know Dr. Zamudio-Orozco will be an amazing asset to our team.

Filed Under: Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, EWU McNair PhD's Tagged With: Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, Dr. Laura Zamudio-Orozco, Education, EWU McNair Program

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