Deadric Williams: Enthusiasm on Steroids

University Communication Author

02/22/2019 Added

73 Plays

Description

In the classroom, Deadric Williams brings energy. His enthusiasm is infectious and lights a fire in his students. The sociology professor’s research also brings clarity to the struggles faced by new parents who struggle with the demands of day-to-day life. This episode of Faculty 101 looks at how this first generation college student from Mississippi found his calling and his passion. Show Notes: https://soc.unl.edu/deadric-williams

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:00.290]There's trying to understand individual perceptions,
[00:00:02.930]beliefs and norms about society, right?
[00:00:06.980]How do individuals--
[00:00:07.920]Dedrick Williams is energetic,
[00:00:10.210]with shirt sleeves rolled up and tie loosened
[00:00:12.910]the Sociology professor strides back and forth
[00:00:15.980]in front of his class, gesturing and leaning over
[00:00:18.840]to make a point.
[00:00:20.080]The groups help facilitate who we are in a given society.
[00:00:25.410]Today the topic is social groups.
[00:00:27.850]And we're gonna talk about how social institutions
[00:00:31.100]be it your family, be it your social class et cetera,
[00:00:35.680]is shaping those particular beliefs, perceptions and values
[00:00:41.270]that we have of the world.
[00:00:43.090]Dr Williams was shaped by forces in his own life.
[00:00:46.820]He grew up in Mississippi and became the first in his family
[00:00:50.060]to go to college.
[00:00:51.330]I grew up personally in kind of some economic hard times
[00:00:57.188]even along with racism and so those things for me
[00:01:02.880]are not mutually exclusive.
[00:01:04.950]So part of what really motivated me to do the work that I do
[00:01:09.750]is my own biography.
[00:01:11.640]Who influenced Dr Williams along the way
[00:01:14.600]and how does he work to help students.
[00:01:17.420]That's this episode of Faculty 101.
[00:01:20.467](upbeat music)
[00:01:21.302]Okay you should switch partners now.
[00:01:22.970]To be able to inspire young people.
[00:01:24.940](laughing)
[00:01:25.880]Ace your finals.
[00:01:26.850]It's really rewarding.
[00:01:27.990]I love the students.
[00:01:29.970]Welcome to faculty 101, life hacks and success stories
[00:01:34.130]from Nebraska faculty.
[00:01:38.730]First up orientation, who is Dedrick Williams?
[00:01:43.380]Knock knock, hey
[00:01:45.450]How are you?
[00:01:46.976]Good, how are you?
[00:01:47.930]I'm good.
[00:01:48.763]When I arrived at his office
[00:01:49.830]Dr Williams is grabbing a quick bowl of soup at his desk.
[00:01:53.740]You're eating your lunch, well that gives us time to set up.
[00:01:56.900]Oh awesome, awesome. So no problem,
[00:01:58.360]take your time.
[00:01:59.550]A white board on one wall serves as what he calls
[00:02:02.560]a symbolic assembly line.
[00:02:04.910]Written on one side
[00:02:06.610]So I have manuscripts,
[00:02:08.800]what has been accepted for publication, what's under review,
[00:02:12.800]things that are--
[00:02:13.633]And on the other side of the board,
[00:02:15.470]notes from a pilot study.
[00:02:17.520]And trying to understand the relationship between
[00:02:21.630]race based stressors, family relationships
[00:02:24.930]and health outcome, particular physiological outcomes
[00:02:28.230]like cortisol.
[00:02:29.460]Dr Williams juggles research and classes
[00:02:32.140]along with the demands of his young family,
[00:02:34.540]his wife Amber and two children.
[00:02:36.420]Yeah so my daughter Avery is two
[00:02:39.040]and my son Anthony is four.
[00:02:40.810]He's a busy guy and he likes it that way.
[00:02:43.340]Dr Williams pours energy into everything he does.
[00:02:47.440]He says his career is his calling.
[00:02:50.632](guitar music)
[00:02:52.150]Sociology for me now isn't just a job, its a passion.
[00:02:58.130]And I feel like it's my duty to educate students,
[00:03:03.560]to educate the world about the context
[00:03:08.350]that is more broadly the United States
[00:03:10.970]and how do we get here, right.
[00:03:12.780]And what are the mechanism and processes
[00:03:15.390]that leads to a host of outcomes.
[00:03:17.530]And so Sociology is, I live it, breathe it, think it,
[00:03:23.000]again not just as a career but also as a passion.
[00:03:28.180]Time for office hours, how did Dr Williams get here?
[00:03:31.724](upbeat rock music)
[00:03:35.860]As a first generation college student,
[00:03:37.780]Dr Williams was influences by mentors including a professor.
[00:03:42.260]When I was an undergrad, I was an English major.
[00:03:45.880]And I took a social inequality class,
[00:03:48.960]maybe my junior or senior year,
[00:03:50.540]that really revolutionized my mind.
[00:03:52.790]And I was like woaw!
[00:03:53.880]This class is really speaking to my own biography.
[00:03:57.560]And I was fortunate enough that the professor of that class
[00:04:00.740]pulled me aside and was like
[00:04:02.410]you really need to consider graduate school.
[00:04:05.870]Societies shape the very social--
[00:04:08.510]Now that Dr Williams is a college professor,
[00:04:10.760]he reaches out to other freshman
[00:04:12.700]and first generation students.
[00:04:14.680]He teaches a class for Thompson Scholars,
[00:04:17.620]freshman who share a dorm floor
[00:04:19.520]and attend introductory classes together.
[00:04:22.380]Dr Williams knows how they feel because he's been there.
[00:04:25.593]I remember my freshman year being super afraid, timid
[00:04:32.000]not knowing what questions to ask,
[00:04:33.980]not knowing whether I'm thinking about the world
[00:04:36.630]in the right way, maybe I'ma say something stupid.
[00:04:40.130]And so I tried to give students to get an opportunity
[00:04:43.744]to ask me questions, not just about intro to Sociology,
[00:04:49.170]but college, how are you feeling, how are you doing,
[00:04:52.150]are you feeling overwhelmed, are you tired, right.
[00:04:56.010]I know what it feels like to be a first gen student
[00:05:00.030]who trying to figure it all out.
[00:05:02.470]One way we can retain students in my opinion
[00:05:05.490]is to show students that you care,
[00:05:08.020]and that you care more than the grade the make
[00:05:10.590]at the end of the day, but about their overall well being.
[00:05:13.836](bright music)
[00:05:15.520]Next, lab work, a deep dive into research.
[00:05:22.329](baby crying)
[00:05:23.980]Being a new parent is stressful.
[00:05:27.500]But what happens when parents also struggle with depression
[00:05:30.990]and bills they can't pay.
[00:05:33.440]A study of young families conducted by Dr Williams suggests
[00:05:37.260]tough economic issues and mental health problems are linked.
[00:05:43.120]The sample included couples with children
[00:05:46.370]who the kids were one years old, three years old
[00:05:48.890]and five year olds over time, so it's a longitudinal study.
[00:05:51.920]And what we found was early mental health problems
[00:05:56.350]particularly among mothers actually incapacitate families
[00:05:59.590]in a way that increase their economic problems.
[00:06:03.300]But for the other direction,
[00:06:05.990]economic hardship to mental health,
[00:06:08.270]that was more prevalent over time.
[00:06:10.580]So if you had early economic hardship,
[00:06:13.880]it'll affect both mother's and father's mental health
[00:06:17.320]in the case of depression.
[00:06:19.320]And when parents struggle so does the relationship.
[00:06:25.560]Individuals who are married
[00:06:27.020]or are in a cohabiting relationship
[00:06:28.910]when they're experiencing economic hard times
[00:06:32.640]or mental health problems,
[00:06:35.730]there is detrimental to their relationships too.
[00:06:38.420]Information from the study could be used
[00:06:40.640]to help develop policies that promote family strength.
[00:06:44.320]How we think about family leave, right?
[00:06:49.150]How do we approach vacations,
[00:06:52.450]how do we approach when a child is born.
[00:06:54.688](baby crying)
[00:06:56.750]How can we express to families across the United States
[00:07:01.800]that their families matter,
[00:07:03.800]not just by words but through action.
[00:07:08.010]So can businesses and organizations create policies
[00:07:12.360]within their own institutions to promote family time.
[00:07:17.557](upbeat music)
[00:07:20.490]Dr Williams next area of research
[00:07:22.450]involves race based stress and how it affects physiology.
[00:07:26.670]Race based stressors might include
[00:07:29.010]being the only African American at an event
[00:07:31.990]or dealing with subtle racism, like a joke or comment.
[00:07:35.580]An African American person is facing
[00:07:38.160]those types of stressors often.
[00:07:41.440]And os the body is not designed to deal with chronic stress.
[00:07:46.960]In a pilot study with five couples
[00:07:49.300]Dr Williams incorporates surveys and wearable devices
[00:07:52.980]that collect physiological signals like heart rate.
[00:07:55.666](heart beating)
[00:07:56.800]samples of saliva measure cortisol,
[00:07:59.760]the body's built in alarm that signals stress.
[00:08:03.110]We know that African Americans have a disproportionate,
[00:08:06.103]we have racial health disparities in this country.
[00:08:08.780]And part of those health disparities are in terms of
[00:08:11.920]cardiovascular disease, heart disease, strokes, et cetera.
[00:08:16.890]And so many scholars are wondering what are the kind of
[00:08:20.290]physiological things that are happening
[00:08:22.880]that put African Americans at higher risk
[00:08:25.950]of those particular problems.
[00:08:28.060](slow piano music)
[00:08:31.443](moves into playful music)
[00:08:32.900]Now its time for a pop quiz, random questions, life hacks
[00:08:36.850]and wisdom for all of us.
[00:08:40.360]Do you have a habit that makes you happier
[00:08:42.560]or more productive?
[00:08:45.110]Coffee (laughs)
[00:08:48.080]Mine too.
[00:08:49.730]One of the things is self care.
[00:08:53.060]And I'm learning as over time being a new faculty member
[00:08:55.870]of how to juggle time for myself.
[00:08:59.620]Being in the gym or cycling here recently,
[00:09:04.330]it has been a way to relieve my own stress.
[00:09:08.770]Help me with energy so I can maintain that passion, right?
[00:09:12.800]What's your favorite life hack
[00:09:14.880]or piece of advice for students to be successful?
[00:09:18.300]I joke to students often that you don't get the time
[00:09:21.580]to be away from your parents unsupervised
[00:09:24.540]for four to five years,
[00:09:27.520]when you're trying to figure out life.
[00:09:29.450]So try to balance, kind of work and play.
[00:09:35.050]On the one hand part of being in college
[00:09:37.400]is you to do well, to pass your courses
[00:09:39.630]and get the necessary GPA's that you need to graduate,
[00:09:43.550]but at the same time college is also a place of fun.
[00:09:47.040]You get to meet new people, you get to do
[00:09:51.420]things that you probably didn't even foresee yourself doing.
[00:09:54.950]So striking a healthy balance
[00:09:59.080]is what I encourage students to do,
[00:10:01.080]to be responsible but make the most of it.
[00:10:04.950]Finally graduation day,
[00:10:07.060]final thoughts from Dedrick Williams.
[00:10:09.687](marching band music)
[00:10:11.880]Going to college is about life changing moments,
[00:10:14.830]a class that opens a new world.
[00:10:16.970]What were you thinking about?
[00:10:18.040]Well
[00:10:18.945](students laugh)
[00:10:19.990]A professor who makes you think, wow I didn't know that.
[00:10:22.968](Italian music)
[00:10:26.400]Study abroad experiences that allow you
[00:10:28.640]to try on another culture.
[00:10:30.666](Arabic music)
[00:10:33.070]Friendships that last a lifetime.
[00:10:35.463](girl screams)
[00:10:36.454]All right
[00:10:37.510]Dr Williams says it's a privilege
[00:10:39.880]to be part of that journey.
[00:10:41.453]Help determine our goals, our values.
[00:10:43.710]When you are able to teach your passion,
[00:10:46.820]the emotions come out, the passion comes out.
[00:10:50.890]And students don't become just another set of students
[00:10:54.440]I'm teaching that semester,
[00:10:55.960]but human beings sitting in a chair,
[00:10:58.520]who I am really helping
[00:11:02.000]and shaping their critical understanding of the world.
[00:11:05.660]That means the world to me,
[00:11:07.440]to get this opportunity to do that.
[00:11:10.420]And not many people are able to get up every day
[00:11:14.360]to whether that's doing research, or teaching,
[00:11:17.580]to do something you're passionate about.
[00:11:20.218](upbeat music)
[00:11:22.660]That's it for this episode of Faculty 101.
[00:11:25.560]Next week on the podcast
[00:11:27.370]People are gonna go upstairs and go wow!
[00:11:29.360]Is this Morril Hall?
[00:11:30.680]A new exhibit floor opens at the University of Nebraska
[00:11:33.640]State Museum.
[00:11:34.821](upbeat music)
[00:11:36.620]Faculty 101 is produced by
[00:11:38.570]the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
[00:11:41.006](upbeat music)
[00:11:44.010]One of the things I really really want for my kids
[00:11:48.000]is that one day in a good university
[00:11:52.120]that promotes the arts and sciences
[00:11:55.410]where they can take a course and become blown away
[00:11:58.390]and say this is it, and that's what Sociology did for me.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

Deadric Williams: Enthusiasm on Steroids

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments