Event Phone: 715-733-0265

Tashel Bordere, Ph.D., CT is a certified Thanatologist (Death, Dying, and Grief), author, researcher, and educator. She is a New York Life Foundation Grief Reach Grantee and conducts research and programming through the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri. She currently serves as Board Member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, Board Member of the National Alliance for Grieving Children, and Advisory Council Member of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).

She has served as Editor of the ADEC Forum publication. Dr. Bordere’s research program assumes a contextual approach focusing on trauma, loss (homicide loss, assaultive violence – sexual assault), suffocated grief and Black youth and family bereavement. She studies cultural practices that promote healing and survival. Dr. Bordere has done numerous workshops, consultations, keynotes, and published research relating to social inequities and culturally responsive practices in loss including her co-edited/co-authored book, Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge). She recently completed a Forward Promise Fellowship through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focusing on the promotion of healing, growth and thriving among boys and young men of color. Dr. Bordere has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Ronald K. Barrett Award (2018) from the Association of Death Education and Counseling for research on Black adolescent and young adult grief, 2022 Excellence in Engagement in Outreach Award at the University of Missouri, and the CASE Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentorship to underrepresented college students.

About the Program

This conference will address patterns of loss, disenfranchisement, and suffocated grief of marginalized youth and families and ways in which grief has been further complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and on-going systemic inequities. Social media and national movements have been pivotal in bringing widespread attention to the trauma and loss experiences of youth populations, families, and communities representing marginalized identities and backgrounds (e.g., Black female, LGBTQZ, single parent household, intellectual disability). This presentation is designed to contextualize the multidimensional components that characterize loss and grief for youth and families from marginalized backgrounds. Research, theory, and recent events will be integrated as we examine loss and coping, systemic impediments to coping, and some practices that are essential to diversity, equity, and inclusion in service provision and support. We will examine socially just practices that contribute to effective outreach, cross-cultural communication, and grief enfranchisement of bereaved youth.

Objectives

At the conclusion of the program, attendees/participants will be able to:

• Describe social justice concepts in relation to loss and bereavement.
• Delineate multidimensional components that characterize loss and suffocated grief for youth and families existing in contexts of systemic inequities.
• Explicate culturally responsive practices that contribute to grief enfranchisement.

CONFERENCE TOPIC

From Cultural Considerations to Socially Just Practice: Disrupting Patterns of Suffocated Grief

Agenda/Schedule