Dean's Dialogue - The Relationship Crisis: Connection, Interrupted

School of Education and Human Development

Dean's Dialogue Series - The Relationship Crisis: Connection, Interrupted

 

Are We Losing the Capacity to Build, Sustain, and Repair the Relationships That Matter Most?

 

6 p.m. Doors Open / Resources Fair
6:30 p.m. Panel Presentation

This event is an FYE Health and Wellness Event for first year students.

 

What is happening to the relationships that are supposed to sustain us? Join Dean Bilias-Lolis as she leads an interdisciplinary panel to discuss relationships across the lifespan, from childhood and family, to friendship and intimacy. Panelists will explore relationship themse including belonging, conflict, rupture, and repair. While the dialogue will address contemporary relationship culture, the conversation will center on something more fundamental: Are we adequately cultivating the human capacities that meaningful relationships require?

 

Host:
Dean Evelyn Bilias Lolis, PhD, Educational Psychologist | Author | Researcher | Blogger | Child Wellness Advocate

 

Panelists:

• Gisselle Acevedo, JD, MA, MFT'16 — President & CEO of The Child and Family Guidance Center, and a Family Therapist. 

• Katherine Bakes, Esq. — Founder and Attorney of Bakes Law, LLC. practicing family and divorce law.

• Rev. Kevin O'Brien, S.J. — Vice Provost and Executive Director, Bellarmine Campus, Fairfield University. Author of The Ignatian Adventure, Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life (2018).

• Michele Parker, PhD — Associate Professor, Marriage & Family Therapy, Fairfield University. MFT scholar with a research focus on the well-being of families and couples affected by complex medical conditions, such as autism.

• Don C. Sawyer III, PhD — Vice President, Access, Belonging, & Community Engagement, Fairfield University. A sociology scholar with research interests that blend critical race theory with the education of marginalized groups, prisoner reentry, hip-hop culture, international program development, and youth literacy. 

 

This signature event is ideal for first year students new to Fairfield, all undergraduate and graduate students, K–12 educators and mental health providers, parents, and community members. Light refreshments will be served.