Asset-Based Inquiry Can Reveal Solutions

Room 42

In this episode, we explore the applications and dimensions of positive deviance, an approach to social and organizational change.
Dr. Lucía Dura is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing Studies in the English Department and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She is a border resident with bordered identities and perspectives who enjoys working on collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. Lucía teaches and mentors students in rhetoric and technical writing projects. Her work on positive deviance, intercultural communication, and participatory methodologies foregrounds and leverages the assets of vulnerable populations to solve complex problems. She collaborates on risk communication and change facilitation initiatives with local, national, and international organizations. Her research has yielded numerous publications, presentations, and awards. Lucía co-chairs the Hispanic Servingness Working Group at UTEP and contributes to leadership initiatives. She also represents UTEP at the Graduate Education Advisory Committee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and is an advisory board member and chair-elect of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics.

Positive deviance asks questions about outliers and exceptions. It prompts us, through asset-based inquiry, to search for solutions that already exist in our communities and systems, but that we tend to overlook. Lucía shares some examples of positive deviance research and practice in the fields of federal probation, education, and healthcare. She also talks about the ways using a positive deviance lens has impacted her daily life both at work and at home as a resident of the largest border metroplex in the world.

For transcript, links, and show notes: https://tccamp.org/episodes/how-asset-based-inquiry-methods-can-reveal-solutions/