Dasha Carver, a fourth-year doctoral student in Counseling Psychology, has won the Lieber Memorial Associate Instructor Award from IU. This award recognizes young teachers who have not yet achieved faculty rank at IU.

“My advisor Dr. Zoë Peterson and I were in our weekly research meeting when we found out, and I have continued to be both speechless and humbled by this award,” Carver said. “I feel encouraged to continue doing the work that I am doing with my students, and while I was successful in winning this award, I want my students to know I could not have done this without them, their honesty and vulnerability as well as Drs. Peterson, Angela Pyle, Lynn Gilman, and Y. Joel Wong in the Counseling Psychology program.”

This year, Carver has worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society (CRRES). In her role with CRRES, she works with the Undergraduate Research Program which pairs undergraduate students interested in research with faculty mentors by facilitating workshops on conducting qualitative and quantitative research, exploring graduate school options and helping them with writing and presenting their research findings for the CRRES Research Symposium.

Outside her work with CRRES, she has also provided guest lectures in Multicultural Counseling Skills on Intergenerational and Historical Trauma, Identity Development for Black and African Americans and Critical Race and Intersectionality Theory, and is also conducting research in the School of Education. This year, much of her focus has been on experiences of Black women during social movements such as Black Lives Matter and MeToo and Black college students’ experiences. She is also a graduate research assistant in the Center for Sexual Health Promotion examining sexuality experiences in college students.

When it comes to teaching, Carver’s approach is simple: she is an advocate for her students and tries to foster a space that is built on trust, collaboration and community.

“When I can bring my authentic self into the classroom whether it’s through music, personal or professional experiences, I think it encourages my students to do the same. I think it also helps that I always invite my students to provide me with feedback about our class, how things are going with assignments, what topics are they interested in learning not only in our classroom, but also topics that may directly apply to their future careers, and being sure to invite them to have conversations about other courses. Having these conversations reminds me to stay present and to ensure that my students can apply at least some of the knowledge learned to their own lives and future careers,” Carver said.

After graduation, Carver hopes to continue to provide mentorship for high school, college and graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds: “As a first-generation and Black American student it is important for me to carry forward the tools that have helped me get to where I am now. It is also important for me to encourage the next generation of educators, healthcare providers, and activists to embrace their diverse identities and authentic selves while also being able to set boundaries around their own self-care. Finally, I hope to continue doing research on the issues that I’m most passionate about: sexuality, sexual healthcare advocacy, and examining the impact of these topics on Black and African Americans.”