WebinAAR | Non-Profit Spotlight: Institute for Diversity and Civic Life

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This webinAAR will explore what it’s like to be a scholar doing community-based work in a non-profit with a spotlight on the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life (IDCL), a Texas-based nonprofit that works to build more democratic public spaces through storytelling, research, and education.

Founder and Executive Director Tiffany Puett will share how IDCL came to be, how they have evolved over the past ten years, and what their work looks like in this current moment. IDCL Public Engagement Director Elizabeth Melton will highlight their key programs and share a sample of their online certificate programs “Oral History for Social Change” and “Community-based Scholarship.”

Speaker Bios

Tiffany Puett, PhD | Puett is a scholar of American religions, a community educator, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life, a non-profit based in Austin, TX. At IDCL, she leads community-based research and public scholarship that explore the religious and cultural diversity of Texas as well as issues of identity, equity, belonging, and democracy-building. She also teaches classes on religious diversity and politics in the Department of Religious Studies and the Honors Program at St. Edward’s University. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo and a master’s degree in Ethics from Boston University.

Elizabeth Melton, PhD | Melton serves as the Public Engagement Director for the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life and teaches in the Communication Department at Appalachian State University. She is a scholar and playwright whose work is dedicated to understanding race and identity in Texas. She combines critical ethnography with performance methods to reach audiences that would not typically encounter academic research. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in Performance Studies from Texas A&M University.

Rev. Audrey Price, PhD | Price is the deputy director of the Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute where she utilizes her 30 years of experience as project manager, religious leader, and scholar. She leads major initiatives within the Religion & Society Program including the Racial Justice & Religion initiative and the Religion & Philanthropy initiative. She is ordained in the United Church of Christ.