University of Tulsa Graduate School

Happy Pride Month from your favorite Graduate School! We hope this month brings acceptance, love, and joy to all!

Welcome back to our Unveiling Graduate Programs series! Next, we have two psychology programs: Clinical Psych and Industrial-Organizational Psych. Both of these programs prepare our students for exciting and engaging work in their prospective fields. Swipe for more info!

As the semester ends, let’s dive into our graduate programs! Starting up first: Anthropology, English, and Museum Science and Management. Swipe through to learn more about these exciting programs! Stay tuned for more as we continue the Unveiling Graduate Programs series!

UTulsa Grad School hit the road to Cape Girardeau, MO to get students excited about higher education! At the same time we can’t forget about our own undergrads on campus! Admissions is on a role today, two locations, same team, one university! 👑🌀

Attention all new grad students! Welcome to campus! We can’t wait to meet you at Orientation! See you soon!

We couldn’t let the work week end without wishing you all a Happy New Year! We in the Grad School hope you all feel energized and ready to take another step toward your dreams! See you on campus soon!

With finals well on their way to being completed, we wanted to wish you all a Happy Holiday season! Whether you're staying in Tulsa or traveling to see friends and families, be safe, make memories, and get lots of rest. We'll see you soon!

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you’re having a great time with friends, family, and good food! See you on Monday! 🦃

TU wants you! Interested in an advanced degree from Tulsa’s top private university? Look no further! Applications for Fall and Spring 2024 are now open! To be considered for funding for Fall 2024, the application deadline is February 1st. We hope to see your name soon!

Bust out your sweaters and sip those pumpkin spice lattes! The weather is taking a dip, instead of highs above 100 we’re looking at highs of 90! If that doesn’t make you excited for Fall, then we don’t know what will! The only question we have is, it’s not too early to be this excited, right?? 👀🤔

New to town and not sure where to get your coffee? Look no further than Tulsa’s Top Coffee Stops! This list is curated with different coffee lovers in mind; from drive-thru chains to carefully crafted cups, you’ll find your fix in this list! Let us know which one you’re hitting up first!

Orientation day is underway! We’re so excited to meet you! See you soon!

to our First Annual Graduate Student Banquet! It was a wonderful evening filled with good food, celebration, and dancing! We look forward to hosting this momentous event again! What was your favorite part of the Banquet? Let us know in the comments!

Graduation Day was filled with excitement, joy, and anticipation and we are so proud of all who and . Keep your heads up, there's so much more ahead!

Finals are here! Stay hydrated, eat well, sleep better, and take deep breaths. Remember: you are awesome and you got this!

Look how time flies; today is the last day of classes! You got this!

Finals are approaching, and some of us might be a little nervous or anxious. Just know that your feelings are valid, be sure to take care of yourself during this time, get sleep, eat well, and stay hydrated. You are here for a reason; you can do this. Believe in yourself and your abilities; you got this, we promise.

Just in case you forgot

The weekend is calling, and no not the artist! The weather is going to be so beautiful so take a book, grab a blanket, and soak up the sun!

We are still not over the Graduate Student Awards Banquet! Thank you all for showing up and showing out, and congratulations again to our award winners!

From the Graduate School office to you, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We hope you have a fun day filled with laughter, joy, good food, and great friends! Be safe today, we’ll see you soon!

On behalf of the Graduate School office, have a safe and relaxing Spring Break! We’ll see you when you get back! 💙

This morning the Graduate School is happy to host Speech Pathology Accepted Students Day! Come mingle with other accepted students, snack of breakfast, and meet your professors and advisors! We’ll see you soon!

T-minus 3 hours until the Graduate Student Banquet is upon us! Thanks to for helping us put on this amazing event for our even more amazing students! We hope you bring your dancing shoes because the Graduate School office is ready to show ours! See you soon for food, drinks, awards, and dancing!

As we wrap up Black History Month, we wanted to introduce one more exceptional faculty member.

Dr. Kimyatta Brent's career as a full-time faculty member began in May of 2022 as the newest professor at the University of Tulsa Oxley College of Health Sciences. Dr. Brent took teaching in stride and found great satisfaction in the classroom with subjects such as Nursing Anesthesia, Pharmacology, and Pathophysiology. Not only does Dr. Brent teach, but you can also find her in the operating room.  Yep, Dr. Brent practices what she teaches; once a week, she
practices nursing anesthesia at a local hospital. It is no secret that there aren't many people of color in the medical field, and the same is valid for nursing anesthesia. But Dr. Brent hopes that more people will learn about her profession and will be interested, especially people of color.  One day she hopes to be a Nursing Anesthesia Program Director at an HBCU, a great way to get more people interested in the program possibilities.

When you talk to Dr. Brent, you can feel her genuine care for her patients, and you can see how that care can translate into a classroom. She does not take her position lightly, "We render -our patients- unconscious, but we also wake them up." There is no room for passivity. "Representation absolutely does matter, and it gives you that sense of comfort. You can't buy that."  For many people of color, going to the doctor or the hospital is a nerve-wracking experience. Specifically, African American women are almost three times more likely to die in childbirth than any other demographic of women. Why? For too long, there was a belief that African American women did not feel pain the same as white women. This belief led to African American women's pain being ignored or dismissed in life-or-death medical situations. Reasons such as this show why there is a need for people of color in all fields of work. When you see yourself represented, you realize you have an advocate to stand up for you, especially if you are vulnerable. 

"Our patients are truly the heart of what we do." 

Professor J***y Parker started his career at the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1990. As the first African American professor to earn tenure, Professor Parker understands all too well the value of diversity and inclusion. Currently he teaches Insurance Law and Personal Injury Law, a subject he is exceptionally passionate about. For Professor Parker, teaching isn't just a job but an opportunity for him to give back to the next generation. When you speak with him, you quickly sense that you have gained an ally and mentor who is genuinely invested in your future and your success. Giving back is Professor Parker's goal; he urges his students to recognize their financial priorities saying, "Wealth is not revealed; you can't see wealth."

The segway from Insurance, and Personal Injury Law to financial responsibility stems from his beginnings as a first-generation businessman. With no lump sum of money to help him with his business, he learned, along with other young African American professionals, that life insurance was the way to go. And from that moment on, Professor Parker's understanding of money, wealth, and knowledge changed forever. Now, he encourages young people, and especially young people of color, to recognize what true wealth looks like, how to obtain it, and how to make it work for you.

University of Tulsa--College of Law professor Dr. Warigia Bowman is an academic force to be reckoned with. She has taught abroad at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and Kabarak University in Nakuru, Kenya. Currently, she teaches Energy Law, Water Law, and Natural Resource and Environment Law here at The University of Tulsa. You might be surprised to find areas such as these in law, but Dr. Bowman is passionate about her research and her work in these fields. According to Dr. Bowman, African American communities tend to be disproportionately affected by environmental racism. What is environmental racism? Environmental racism happens when communities of color are disproportionately placed next to or near hazardous sites, landfills, and incinerators, causing serious adverse health side effects over time. Another example of environmental racism is energy starvation, where 75% of unelectrified houses in the country are on Native American reservations. Environmental racism affects so many communities, and as a person of color herself, Dr. Bowman feels a solid passion to right the many wrongs she has seen over time. If you'd like to read more about Dr. Bowman's work, you can check out an article she wrote in the Hastings Law Journal titled "The Big Cough": Coal, Covid, and the Navajo Nation."

This work is essential to standing up for the oppressed and forgotten communities in our countries. And Dr. Bowman feels incredibly passionate about this as she says, "The more diverse our faculty, the more perspective we'll get on these important issues." Without a diverse faculty with diverse backgrounds and experiences, there would be little to no knowledge of how minority groups are affected by various types of discrimination and neglect. Diversity brings new perspectives to issues you might not have seen before. It's essential to see the world through different lenses; that way, you won't go blind to the problems that might be right in front of you.

Born and raised in Tulsa, OK, Nkem had access to a highly rooted sense of self. As a Nigerian-American, she always knew who she was and understood the power within that understanding. While in her Anthology Ph.D. program, a trusted professor asked Nkem to join her on a Greenwood-specific research project. Having already participated in previous research on slavery and the Caribbean, Nkem was interested by this new direction her research could go and accepted, saying, “To understand my community better, I needed to know myself better.” This project allowed Nkem to entangle herself within the Black community and come face to face with the joys of what she calls the “Black Renaissance” and the trauma from the Tulsa Race Massacre and race massacres from all across the country.

When asked about her research, Nkem responded, “Doing this work is hard. Studying anti-Black violence and violence that happened to people who looked like you changes you and the way you see the world.” The big question Nkem asked herself was, “How can the world be this way?” And then she came face-to-face with the horrible answer, over and over again. The research Nkem is conducting is a hard pill to swallow; the Black community has many-a-shadow, and unfortunately, the shadows are large.

Nkem is a recipient of the 2023-2024 Dissertation Completion Fellowship; she plans to continue her research in Tulsa and other countries and cities to study, learn, and grow.

Born and raised in Tulsa, OK, Nkem had access to a highly rooted sense of self. As a Nigerian-American, she always knew who she was and understood the power within that understanding. While in her Anthology Ph.D. program, a trusted professor asked Nkem to join her on a Greenwood-specific research project. Having already participated in previous research on slavery and the Caribbean, Nkem was interested by this new direction her research could go and accepted, saying, “To understand my community better, I needed to know myself better.” This project allowed Nkem to entangle herself within the Black community and come face to face with the joys of what she calls the “Black Renaissance” and the trauma from the Tulsa Race Massacre and race massacres from all across the country.

When asked about her research, Nkem responded, “Doing this work is hard. Studying anti-Black violence and violence that happened to people who looked like you changes you and the way you see the world.” The big question Nkem asked herself was, “How can the world be this way?” And then she came face-to-face with the horrible answer, over and over again. The research Nkem is conducting is a hard pill to swallow; the Black community has many-a-shadow, and unfortunately, the shadows are large.

Nkem is a recipient of the 2023-2024 Dissertation Completion Fellowship; she plans to continue her research in Tulsa and other countries and cities to study, learn, and grow.

Today we celebrate the beginning of Black History Month and the power behind its meaning. During this month, we will be highlighting several exceptional students and faculty who share why Black History isn’t just a month-long consideration but a necessary, everyday conversation.