Self-Expression in Community: Trauma-Informed Care at UCSB with Aili Pettersson Peeker, Julie Carlson, Sowon Park, and Tara Jones

Join UCSB’s Trauma-Informed Pedagogy project and the Coordinator of the African diasporic Cultural Resource Center for an interactive discussion about how we can work towards belonging at UCSB through trauma-informed modes of expression in the classroom, in liberation work, and on our campus. This event will grapple with questions about how persons can express their individuality within diverse groups and communities and will be led by Drs. Julie Carlson, Sowon Park, Tara Jones, and Aili Pettersson Peeker. The event will allow you to learn about somatic experiencing techniques as ways of releasing energy, writing as a tool for expression, and trauma-informed activism with a focus on developing strategies for personally sustainable activism. Food will be provided after the event.

Guest Bios:

Julie Carlson is a Professor of English and Associate Dean and Faculty Equity Advisor in the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts. She is co-PI of the Trauma-Informed Pedagogy project, and her current research project is "Anxious to Read: Trauma-Informed Reflections by a British Romanticist on the Contemporary Literature Classroom.

Tara Jones, a proud UCSB alumna, is the Coordinator of the African diasporic Cultural Resource Center at UCSB and Academic Achievement Counselor for UCSB’s Educational Opportunity Program, supporting first-generation, and income eligible students’ retention and matriculation. She co-facilitates the Sister Circle Black Womxn’s support group at UCSB and is a co-founder of annual UCSB Black Womxn’s Wellness conference. She holds a Ph.D. in Depth Psychology, specializing in Community, Liberation, & Eco-Psychologies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, a Masters in the Science of Teaching from Fordham University, a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Master’s of Arts in Depth Psychology from PGI, and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology and Black Studies from UCSB.

Dr. Sowon Park is Associate Professor of English at UCSB. She specializes in Cognitive Literary Criticism and is Director of the Center for Literature and Mind. Her current research projects include a five-year investigation on ‘Trauma-Informed Pedagogy’ (2021- 2026) and the ongoing neuro-literary research forum on ‘Unconscious Memory’ (https://unconsciousmemory.english.ucsb.edu/)

Aili Pettersson Peeker is a lecturer in the Writing Program at UCSB. She is the Research Coordinator for UCSB’s Trauma-Informed Pedagogy project and holds PhD in English with an emphasis in Cognitive Science. Her current research project brings together cognitive science and literary studies to rethink the relationship between empathy and literature.

Co-Sponsors: UCSB’s Trauma-Informed Pedagogy Project and AdCRC

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