Diversity Conversations Continue, Expand
With Alternative Meeting Times

After a discussion of issues, goals and strategies for the coming year, the Office of Intercultural Affairs will continue its "Diversity Conversations" with a full schedule of topics for the fall semester (posted on the OIA's Web site). The first topic: "I Don't Look Like My Mom: Transracial Adoption and Identity," will explore a growing phenomenon that sheds an interesting light on American attitudes about race and family. For the first time this year, the OIA will offer two public conversations of each topic on the list — one to take place in the Multicultural Center on alternate Fridays at noon and a second, led by student Community Diversity Assistants, to take place in Rhoads Meeting Room on the following Mondays at 5:30 p.m.

"We want to broaden access to the OIA's resources and involve as many members of the community as we can in these conversations," says OIA Program Coordinator Vanessa Christman. "That's why we're offering the Monday-evening alternative. Some students simply can't make it to the Multicultural Center on Friday at noon — students at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, for instance, usually work at their field placements on Fridays. And a nighttime meeting in a dormitory might be more convenient or feel more congenial to undergraduates who are unaccustomed to public discussion of issues that are often seen as sensitive."

"The OIA has a multipronged approach to addressing issues on campus," Christman explains, "and the Diversity Conversations are just one of many programs and services we offer. They are often a way to introduce members of the community to our work — and to each other."

Christman says that the OIA is always on the lookout for ways to respond to the campus community's needs and concerns: "We are constantly trying to increase the community's ownership of the topics — trying to find new ways of soliciting ideas for discussions." She hopes the Diversity Conversations will introduce topics that have not been discussed in a public forum on campus before.

"Another goal for this year," she says, "is to raise the question of what actions might follow the discussions."

Topics for the semester:

Friday, Sept. 29, and Monday, Oct. 2: I Don't Look Like My Mom: Trans-racial Adoption and Identity

Friday, Oct. 27, and Monday, Oct. 30: Labels Belong on Clothing: Issues of Transgender and Gender Norms and Diversity

Friday, Nov. 10, and Monday, Nov. 13: From Both Sides of the Tracks: Class, Privilege and Inter-class Relationships

Friday, Dec. 1, and Monday, Dec. 4: Beyond the Welsh Castle: Bryn Mawr, Its Architecture and Diversity

Friday, Dec. 15, and Monday, Dec. 18: Ad-Hoc Discussion: Current Diversity Topics

For more information or to suggest a topic, e-mail Christman at vchristm@brynmawr.edu.

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