The CFI is pleased to announce that Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital, Ph. D. will be returning to facilitate "Critically Informed BIPOC Faculty Mentoring: Advocates, Networks, and Communities of Support" as part of January Institute 2021.
Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital, Ph. D. is a diversity, inclusion, and racial equity (D.I.R.E ©) scholar-educator. She is currently an associate professor of psychology and the coordinator of the African and African American Studies program at Elon University. Longmire-Avital received her PhD in applied developmental psychology from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Her research interests focus on how psychosocial factors and systemic injustices contribute to health inequities that impact racial and sexual minorities. Through a critical community health frame, she explores how the adoption of high impact coping responses (e.g., strong Black woman, and hyper vigilance) in response to chronic minority status stressors (e.g., daily encounters with discrimination, microaggressions, and racism) play a part in the development of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors (e.g., high risk sexual encounters and emotional eating) and mental health outcomes for young collegiate adults. Longmire-Avital has published numerous articles; serves on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals; has been recognized for her excellence in mentorship as well as leadership service for the Elon College of Arts and Sciences; and is a former recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health, Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities. In 2016, she served as a guest editor for Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring Journal for an issue on working with historically underrepresented students in undergraduate research. Longmire-Avital continued this work as the Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) Scholar at Elon University from 2018 – 2020 and as a current CEL seminar leader. Her blogs on how to generate and sustain critically conscious, equitable approaches that support underserved and often invisible student engagement in High Impact Practices remain some of the most highly accessed content from the Center for Engaged Learning’s website.
