The University of Colorado at Boulder’s annual campus diversity summit, “Expanding Our Minds: Encompassing Diversity and Practicing Inclusion,” will feature a variety of sessions for students, faculty, staff and community members Nov. 2-3.

All events are free and open to the public. Hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement and the chancellor’s advisory committees, the sessions will offer a view of diversity beyond the most common definitions and will highlight the research, talents and insights of CU-Boulder faculty, students and staff members.

“The summit is organized around a combination of skill-building sessions for those who are advancing their abilities to practice inclusion and who need tools for accomplishing the work and thought-provoking discussions on what we have yet to work on,” said Alphonse Keasley, associate vice chancellor for campus climate and community engagement. “The program also includes inspirational presentations to bring the latest information to those who toil every day around diversity and inclusive excellence.”

The keynote speaker, Luoluo Hong, is the vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Hawaii and a nationally recognized expert on violence prevention. She will speak on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. in the University Memorial Center Glenn Miller Ballroom about gender and gender violence and its intersection with race, class and other social identities, and how to prevent gender violence on college campuses.

Also on Nov. 2, Philip Piket, professor emeritus of sociology, will present a plenary session titled “Viewing Religion Using Sociological ‘Lenses’: Beyond Us vs. Them” from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the UMC center ballroom.

On Nov. 3, plenary sessions include “Privilege and Activism” by sociology Professor Joanne Belknap and “Conflict Transformation in the Inclusive Environment” by communication Professor Stan Deetz. Belknap will speak from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and Deetz from 1:30 to 3 p.m., both in the center ballroom.

A performance by the Interactive Theater Project, titled “Rise up!” on Nov. 3 from 12:20-1:20 p.m. in the UMC center ballroom will address how to respond to hate when it occurs in one’s presence or nearby.

At “Expanding into the Multicultural Workplace,” panelists from various workplace environments will share their organizations’ need for employees who can evidence cultural competence or who can bring the skill set for participating in multicultural environments. This session will be held on both Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the UMC east ballroom.

New for this year, the Diversity and Inclusion Summit has established a way for employee participation to be recorded in Peoplesoft. Before attending a session, participants can check in at the summit desk in the Glenn Miller Ballroom to have their attendance recorded. Each session is categorized as plenary, participatory, student sessions, inclusion building, or skill-building/professional development. Many campus departments will accept diversity summit attendance as a diversity training requirement and participants who attend one event of each session type will receive a certificate of achievement.

A complete schedule of diversity summit events is available in the Events Calendar at http://tinyurl.com/DiversitySummit2010.
SOURCE: CU MEDIA AFFAIRS