Grand Rounds - Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn

We are excited to announce the launch of our inaugural School of Social Work Grand Rounds series this fall. The Grand Rounds are designed to keep social work professionals informed about evolving areas within social justice.

Join Us for the First Grand Rounds Event!

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Exploring Racial Justice Through Immersive Virtual Reality: The 1,000 Cut Journey

Achieving racial justice requires more than intellectual understanding; it demands a profound, visceral grasp of racism that engages both the mind and the body. The 1,000 Cut Journey offers a groundbreaking approach through its Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) experience, where participants step into the life of Michael Sterling, a Black male character, and navigate the pervasive challenges of racism across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, within various settings such as the classroom, neighborhood, and workplace.

Designed with white, liberal audiences in mind, the 1,000 Cut Journey merges empirical and theoretical research on multidimensional racism with an immersive narrative. This innovative approach seeks to foster a deeper connection and in turn, enhanced competence and more genuine engagement with racial issues.

In this talk, Dr. Cogburn, co-creator of the 1,000 Cut Journey alongside Jeremy Bailenson from the Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab, will delve into the transdisciplinary process behind creating this IVR experience. She will present initial findings from empirical research conducted with white, graduate-level social work students and discuss the broader implications of these findings. Additionally, Dr. Cogburn will explore future directions for integrating emerging technologies into social science research to further advance our understanding of race and racism.

Join us to discover how immersive technology can transform perspectives and contribute to the ongoing quest for racial justice.

About The Presenter

 Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn is a tenured Associate Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work and a faculty member at the Columbia Population Research Center. Her research employs a transdisciplinary approach to enhance the understanding and measurement of racism, with a particular focus on its impact on racial health inequities. Dr. Cogburn investigates how media and technology can be leveraged to combat racism and address health inequities.