Our lives are full of narratives and those lifestyles are approximated on screen (Gergen, 2015). Regardless of what we are viewing, we are subconsciously seeking to understand or vicariously living through the narratives displayed. There’s something to be said when someone walks into a room and witnesses individuals gazing at a television program. Jaws dropped, eyes barely blinking and little to no movement, viewers absorb everything while unpacking the trajectory of characters’ storylines. “Television is a centralized system of storytelling. It is part and parcel of our daily life…. [it] cultivates from infancy the very predispositions and preferences…. [that have] become the primary common source of socialization and everyday information” (Gerber, Gross, Signorielli, and Morgan, 1986, pp. 2-3). This session examines complex narratives of socio-cultural identities portrayed on screen and its relationship to socio-historical perspectives as it relates to cultural rootedness; envisioning alternative narratives on screen; and the possibility of progress in America. Given the history of how historically underrepresented lives have been constructed for television, and contemporary narratives of modern life, this session relies upon the Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference (Nichols, 2013) framework to underscore the importance of operating from a non-mainstream cultural lens. Finally, this session will create opportunities for us to collectively reform our minds of the images portrayed on screen to transform our lived experiences.

Dr. Ashley N. Campbell is a culture and social impact strategist with more than ten years of progressive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) higher education, not-for-profit, and entrepreneurial experience. Her diverse experiences in multicultural programming, organizational development, and data analysis have positioned her to create transformative change. She’s often sought for her presentations on unpacking social identity, creating professional environments with an equity-based mindset, and deconstructing the nuances of higher education systems. Currently, Dr. Campbell serves as Director of EDI Integration, Education, and Programming with the Institutional Office of Equity and Inclusion at the University of Rochester. She teaches within the Integral and Transpersonal Psychology Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Dr. Campbell holds a PhD in Transformative Studies from CIIS. Her arts-based research dissertation focuses on the areas of ethnic psychology, speculative fiction, and television media, just to name a few.