Diversity Week 2021
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Bauder LectureThis year's Bauder Lecture features Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of "Friday Black", a short story collection exploring the injustices experienced by Black men and women in the U.S. Watch Thurs., March 4 at noon.Watch -
Diversity WeekCelebrate Diversity Week - March 1 - March 5 -
Tirrany ThurmondTirrany Thurmond is a featured presenter all week - check out the schedule below to find her sessions.
Welcome to Howard Community College's 2021 Diversity Week brought to you by the Diversity Committee. Our committee consists of nearly 50 HCC faculty, staff, and students representing a wide range of fields, experiences, and expertise. Yet, all of us share the same commitment to creating a campus community that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable.
2020 was a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest due to racism. The Diversity Committee has been committed to providing the support that colleagues and students need to navigate uncomfortable conversations and provide safe and brave spaces to learn and understand our roles in tearing down systemic racism.
The presentations available this week show how deeply our HCC community and community at large are committed to anti-racism. We are sure that these presentations throughout the week will help move conversations and behaviors forward as we do this work together.
Sincerely,
Crystal Walker & Dr. Cindy Nicodemus, Diversity Committee Co-Chairpersons
Erin Foley & Sandy Cos, Diversity Week Co-Chairpersons
Erin Foley & Sandy Cos, Diversity Week Co-Chairpersons
Evaluation Form - Please remember to fill this out for any session you attend.
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Monday
Monday, March 1
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Diversity Week Keynote: Dr. Michele HarperStart Time: 9:45 am
End Time: 11:15 am
Diversity Index: #4633
Dr. Michele Harper has worked as an emergency room physician for more than a decade. As a Black woman in an overwhelmingly white and male profession, Dr. Harper is passionate about the persistent societal issues that impact patients and providers alike. In her memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, and her talks, she weaves personal stories of trauma and resiliency into an ode to service and healing. Dr. Harper also directly confronts the myriad racial inequalities that appear in the medical profession and the importance of dismantling bigotry on a personal and structural level. (Description from Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau)
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Ubuntu: Living Better TogetherStart Time: 12:00 pm
End Time: 1:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4634
Coordinator: INSPIRES
An overview of what Ubuntu means and interactions that invite people to put themselves in someone else's shoes.
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Lessons from students during COVID-19 at HCCStart Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4635
Coordinator: Yang Yu and Rosemary Williams
Covid-19 has affected our students greatly, from disturbance of face to face classes, to transition to remote learning. This panel discussion will invite different groups of students including students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, who are from under-represented ethic groups, who have disabilities and students who are also parents to share their experiences dealing with COVID-19 related challenges. We will learn about different challenges that they face while learning remotely, and what are their strategies to deal with stress and rejuvenate themselves. More importantly, we would like to learn how we could better help our students succeed at HCC and in their future studies and careers, and build our education system more resilient at HCC.
Register
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Tuesday
Tuesday, March 2
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The Takeaway’s 08/15/2015 podcast; Violence and Revolution: The True Story of the Black PanthersStart Time: 8:30 am
End Time: 9:30 am
Diversity Index: #4835
Coordinator: Shoshanna Allaire
Join Shoshanna Allaire, Diversity representative, on March 2nd at 8:30am to discuss The Takeaway’s 08/15/2015 podcast; Violence and Revolution: The True Story of the Black Panthers.
Faculty and staff can receive credit for this discussion using index# 4835.
Listen to the podcast here.
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Understanding the Weight of Racial Battle Fatigue (HCC Faculty, Staff, and Students Only)Start Time: 10:00 am
End Time: 11:30 am
Diversity Index: #4637
Coordinator: Tirrany Thurmand
Safe healing spaces were hard to find in 2020 and many BIPOC leaders felt the tug-of-war on their humanity was just too much to bear. This heaviness, the physiological and psychological impact of race-based stress on one’s being, is racial battle fatigue.
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Anti-racist & Inclusive Theatre Practices at Rep StageStart Time: 12:00 pm
End Time: 1:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4638
Coordinator: Joseph Ritsch
In this session, we will introduce participants to out anti-racist work, share and discuss our process, as well as out anti-racist theatre statement, action steps and staff training.
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An Abolitionist Approach to InclusionStart Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4643
Coordinator: Angie Luvara
Abolitionist perspectives are often criticized for being too utopian, however inclusion without an abolitionist perspective can result in, as Dr. King feared, inclusion into a “burning house.” Without addressing the systemic nature of oppression, inclusion strategies offer marginalized individuals access to systems that harm them. By taking an abolitionist perspective, inclusion efforts move beyond the surface and seek to reduce and eventually eliminate those systemic harms, creating a truly inclusive space where marginalized individuals are free from harm. This session will
1. Break down the seemingly lofty abolitionist perspective into an accessible theoretical framework,
2. Provide attendees with the ability to discern between “reformist reforms” that seek to appear inclusive but in reality perpetuate existing inequalities and “non-reformist reforms” that take reasonable steps toward true inclusion, and
3. Facilitate a discussion among attendees to identify non-reformist actions that members of the HCC community could readily implement—both in the short- and long-term—to craft a more inclusive environment for students and employees."
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Healing & Centering Spaces (For HCC BIPOC Faculty and Staff Only)Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 4:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4645
Coordinator: Tirrany Thurmand
These 90-minute healing spaces are designed to hold and make space for People of Color to process, define, grieve, and start healing from the taxing weight of systemic and interpersonal racism. It's a moment to commune without the burden of whiteness and centering care for self differently than before. BIPOC professionals will engage in racial healing and resilience reflections, identify relaxation methods, and identify ways to reclaim their joy and power.
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“Not Synonyms: Asian Americans and Invisibility, Hypervisibility, and Earning Legitimacy from the Margins”Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 3:30 pm
Diversity Index: #4655
Coordinator: Sylvia Lee
The presenters, three Korean American faculty members in leadership roles, will discuss the idea of invisibility and hypervisibility based on their experiences and perspectives as colleagues, teachers, and leaders at HCC. They will also discuss how their own experiences of earning legitimacy and understanding their own place within academia highlight the need to make visible the work all of us must do. This session is recommended for staff, faculty, and those in leadership roles.
Join
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Wednesday
Wednesday, March 3
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Diverse Short Stories for Broader Perspectives and RepresentationStart Time: 10:00 am
End Time: 11:00 am
Diversity Index: #4666
Coordinator: Jennie Charlton-Jackson and Sandra Lee
This session will introduce specific short stories by authors from different parts of the world who explore variety of topics. Students and faculty will see a rich and diverse perspectives and wide range of representation in the short stories. Additionally, faculty may see ways to use, share, or include the short stories in their content areas.
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Healing & Centering Spaces (HCC Students Only)Start Time: 11:00 am
End Time: 12:00 pm
Diversity Index: n/a
Coordinator: Tirrany Thurmond
In collaboration with the HCC Diversity Committee and the Office of Student Life, we invite you to participate in a Healing & Centering Space. Tirrany Thurmond with Idaltu Counseling & Consulting will lead these 90-minute healing spaces designed to hold and make space for People of Color to process, define, grieve, and start healing from the taxing weight of systemic and interpersonal racism. It's a moment to commune without the burden of whiteness and centering care for self differently than before. We will offer two sessions: Wednesday, March 3rd at 11am, and Thursday, March 4th at 2pm. The first 15 people to register and attend one full session will earn a $10 Amazon gift card.
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Consequences are not Suspended for Coursework: How Faculty Can Discuss Race-related Stressors and Racial Trauma with StudentsStart Time: 12:00 pm
End Time: 1:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4669
Coordinator: Courtland Douglas
In counseling, broaching refers to the practice of recognizing how sociopolitical factors influence client concerns while also inviting clients to discuss issues related to cultural diversity. Broaching behavior may also be applied in classroom settings. College students of color may experience distress from race-related stressors and racial trauma that hinders their psychological functioning and ability to engage with coursework. Educators have the opportunity to check-in with their students individually or as a class to discuss the impact of race-related events, foster a safe space in both their classroom and office, and make counseling referrals as needed. Participants engaging in this interactive discussion can expect to do the following: discuss race-related events that took place in 2020 and thus far in 2021 as well as the noticeable impact of these events on students; examine how they approach topics of race as instructors; and discuss how to introduce and navigate topics of race-related stress and racial trauma in the classroom.
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Documentary Screening & Chat Engagement: An American AscentStart Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:30 pm
Diversity Index: 4859
Coordinator: Bob Marietta
AN AMERICAN ASCENT is a documentary film about the first African-American expedition to climb North America's highest peak, Denali.
In only a few decades the United States will become a majority-minority nation, as people of color will outnumber today's white majority for the first time ever. Yet, a staggering number of people in this soon-to-be majority do not consider the outdoors a place for them. By taking on the grueling, 20,310 foot peak of the continent's biggest mountain, nine African-American climbers set out to shrink this Adventure Gap by building a legacy of inclusion in the outdoor/adventure community.
The film addresses often overlooked issues of race and the outdoors as it follows the team up the mountain, chronicling the many challenges of climbing one of the worlds most iconic peaks.
AN AMERICAN ASCENT is Wild Vision / Floating Point co-production. The film was produced and directed by George Potter & Andy Adkins, and written by Andy Adkins & James Mills. It follows Expedition Denali, a project of the National Outdoor Leadership School.
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(re)Building Community in 2021 and BeyondStart Time: 2:00 pm
End Time: 4:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4862
Coordinator: Candace dePass
In this session, participants will engage in an interactive workshop around building (and rebuilding) community with students, staff, faculty, and other allies within the HCC community. The ideas and tactics that will be introduced in this workshop are meant to be applicable to our current virtual world, as well as the world we hope to return to post-pandemic. Participants will be asked to step outside of their comfort zone as they attempt to place themselves in each other’s shoes through reflection and empathy mapping. The main objective of this session is to leave participants with new, richer ideas for building a more diverse and inclusive community in 2021 and beyond. This session will be led by Jerome Smalls, an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, and the co-founder and CEO of SmallTalk, an organization dedicated to youth motivating youth. This program is brought to you by the Silas Craft Collegians Program.
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Leading DEI as AAPI Students (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) in a PWI: Reflections, Challenges & HopesStart Time: 2:00 pm
End Time: 3:30 pm
Diversity Index: #4694
Coordinator: Cindy Tang (she/her)
As leaders in our undergraduate business school student government this academic year through our DEI Committee, we are three AAPI students who have been dreaming about and working for a business community at UC Berkeley that welcomes, includes, and works for us all. Join us as we share an overview of our DEI strategy, vision, and experiences; discuss values and tactics that have been important to us in ‘doing the work’ and driving it forward; and reflect on our challenges, lessons learned, hopes, and next steps for the future of the business community on our campus and beyond. This will be an interactive presentation and discussion where attendees will have the opportunity to discuss and collaborate on solutions that can help us move towards an equitable and inclusive environment for all students in higher education.
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Signing Black in AmericaStart Time: 4:00 pm
End Time: 5:30 pm
Diversity Index: #4705
Coordinator: Sandra Lee
While African American Language is the most widely recognized ethnic variety of English in the world, the use of American Sign Language (ASL) by Black Americans has been largely ignored or dismissed as part of an assumed ASL system uniformly used by the deaf community in the United States. But ASL, like any language, may show robust diversity, including traits associated with by Black Americans.
Signing Black in America is the first documentary to highlight the development of Black American Sign Language. Based on extensive interviews with Black signers, linguistic experts, interpreters, natural conversations, and artistic performances by Black ASL users, it documents the development and description of this unique ethnic variety of ASL. This film has been produced by the Language & Life Project of North Carolina State University, one of 14 documentaries about language use in the United Sates (Dr. Walt Wolfram, Executive Producer). This session will start with a short presentation, have showing of the 27-minute film, and conclude with a Q & A.
Register
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Thursday
Thursday, March 4
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How to Build Habits to Become an Anti-Racist Online EducatorStart Time: 10:00 am
End Time: 11:00 am
Diversity Index: #4782
Coordinator: Megan Myers
If you wanted to become a runner, then you would need to build a habit of going on a morning run. If you wanted to become a reader, then you would need to build a habit of reading a book before bed. If you want to become an anti-racist online educator, come to this session, and let's work together to identify, share with each other, commit to, and systematize anti-racist online teaching practices. In this interactive session, you will use strategies like habit stacking or intention setting to make it easier to implement whichever practiced you select.
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Let's Talk StereotypesStart Time: 11:00 am
End Time: 12:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4783
Coordinator: Kathie Martin and Tamara Jones
HCC’s English Institute will conduct a student panel of HCC international students who will discuss their ideas and experiences regarding stereotyped behavior and thoughts. The English Institute Student Ambassador will also be a member of the student panel. This event brings continued awareness and exposure to various cultures and unmasking microaggressions
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Developing Intercultural Communication SkillsStart Time: 11:00 am
End Time: 12:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4784
Coordinator: Rachel McCloud
This event will explore highlight the importance of intercultural communication skills in everyday life. We will discuss the importance these skills can have in academic and professional development and ways to develop these skills while at HCC.
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Bauder Lecture: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday BlackStart Time: 12:00 pm
End Time: 1:00 pm
Diversity Index: #8670
Coordinator: Danny Hall/Student Life
Bauder Lecture and Bauder Awards – Howard County Book Connection The Howard County Book Connection committee has selected Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black as its choice for the 2020-2021 academic year. Adjei-Brenyah’s collection of twelve short stories is his debut work. A bestseller, it received the 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Writing Award among many other prizes. Adjei-Brenyah, a professor at Syracuse University, uses fiction, humor, and shock to get his readers to reflect on some of society’s major issues, such as race relations and consumerism. As a student at the State University of New York at Albany, Adjei-Brenyah attended a campus lecture by George Saunders, esteemed author and faculty member at Syracuse University. To get a signed copy of the author’s work, Adjei used the little money that he had (meant for a textbook) to buy a copy of Saunders’s book. Three years later, Adjei-Brenyah would obtain his Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse as one of Saunders’ students and move on to a successful career of his own as an author and teacher.
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Health disparities & Diversifying the Healthcare WorkforceStart Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:30 pm
Diversity Index: #4786
Coordinator: Oluwakemi Tomobi, Coleen Hager, Monica Lewis
This session will provide an overview of the history of health disparities, engage participants to walk in the shoes of various roles, experience various perspectives, and lay the groundwork for attendees to examine their own biases.
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Understanding IntersectionalityStart Time: 2:00 pm
End Time: 3:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4825
Coordinator: Rachel Adams and Jarrell Anderson
The term "intersectionality," coined by Prof. Kimberle Crenshaw, refers to the acknowledgement of how each person's individual characteristics -- race, gender identity, sexuality, religion, and so on -- overlap to create systems of disadvantage or discrimination. In doing anti-racist work, using an intersectionality framework is crucial to identifying and understanding individuals' unique challenges. If we truly want our students and coworkers to bring their full selves to HCC, then we must understand and embrace an intersectional approach.
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Healing & Centering Spaces (HCC Students Only)Start Time: 2:00 pm
End Time: 3:30 pm
Diversity Index: n/a
Coordinator: Tirrany Thurmond
This 90-minute healing spaces are designed to hold and make space for People of Color to process, define, grieve, and start healing from the taxing weight of systemic and interpersonal racism. It's a moment to commune without the burden of whiteness and centering care for self differently than before. We will off two sessions: Wednesday, March 3rd at 11am and Thursday, March 4th at 2pm. The first 15 people to register and attend one full session will earn a $10 Amazon gift card.
Register -
The Bauder Lecture: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s “Friday Black” Workshop (HCC Students Only)Start Time: 2:30 pm
End Time: 3:30 pm
Diversity Index: n/a
Coordinator: Danny Hall/Student Life
Howard Community College presents the Bauder Lecture Workshop featuring Nana Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black. This is the follow-up from the lecture where Adjei-Brenyah will guide students through the creative writing process. Friday Black is a collection of twelve short stories in Adjei-Brenyah’s debut work. A bestseller, Friday Black received the 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Writing Award among many other prizes. Adjei-Brenyah, a professor at Syracuse University, uses fiction, humor, and shock to get his readers to reflect on some of society’s major issues, such as race relations and consumerism.
Register
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Friday
Friday, March 5
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Harmony: Powered by DiversityStart Time: 10:00 am
End Time: 11:30 am
Diversity Index: #4860
Coordinator: Fabien W. Edjou
Better understanding of Diversity as the foundation for Harmony, Peace, and all aspect of Life in general. We must learn to celebrate diversity regardless of its social context. At the essence, Diversity comes from diverse which simply means different. Music that everyone love is the product of diverse notes generating sounds that complement one another to form a melody. A single note alone cannot create music. What is true with music, is equally true with painting and art in general. Everything in life depends of diversity to have meaning and strive. It has already been proven scientifically that race as one' skin color is nothing but a social and political twist to fragment and better control the only race there is. We must learn from nature and apply the lessons in our own interactions with individuals that look differently from us. Everyone has the power to make a difference but it requires real knowledge.
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Centering Racial Equity in Planning and Practice: Initial Insights from Academic EngagementStart Time: 11:00 am
End Time: 12:30 pm
Diversity Index: #4854
Coordinator: Matt Van Hoose (co-presenters: Mary Allen, Jarrell Anderson, Eileen Kaplan, Nana Owusu-Nkwantabisa, Cindy Paige Desi, Frances Turner)
Program directors from the Academic Engagement division will discuss efforts initiated during the summer of 2020 to confront racial inequities through ongoing program- and division-level core work. This panel is intended to promote dialogue and exchange among all participants regarding how such initiatives can be framed, initiated, evaluated, and sustained in different units around the college. Ample time will be devoted to Q&A and discussion.
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Intersectionality as a HeuristicStart Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4855
Coordinator: Chelsea G.Mays-Williams
This session explores using podcasts as a means to encourage and emphasize intersectional heuristic thinking.
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Autism at HCCStart Time: 2:00 pm
End Time: 3:00 pm
Diversity Index: #4858
Coordinator: Scott Foerster
Autists. Not Asperger's. Not a spectrum. Not a condition. Not an "ism." Begin recognizing Autists. Experience their faults and their strengths without fear. Identify their humor and let them laugh. Support them in the classroom and in the HCC workflow.
Register
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On Demand Content
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Liberation Theory meets Ecological SystemsDiversity Index: #4869Coordinator: Dr. Akuoma Nwadike - akuoma.nwadike@gmail.com
Combine ecological systems theory with liberation theory to develop one’s critical consciousness towards greater personal and interpersonal DEI practice. Deconstruct one's personal socialization into visible and invisible systemic racism and reconstruct those systems centered in personal critical transformation towards anti-racism.
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Stopping the Cycle of OppressionDiversity Index: #4861Coordinator: Luna Jimenez Institute for Social Transformation - info@ljist.com
No person is born agreeing to oppress others or be oppressed. Young people have an innate sense of justice. We entered the world clear about our significance and ability to make things go well. It takes the systematic mistreatment of young people for us to doubt our goodness, thinking, or power to ensure justice for all. To interrupt the cycle of oppression we will need to recognize how we were hurt and commit to heal from internalized messages of discouragement, helplessness, or powerlessness. Giving up, waiting, or resentfully going it alone are no longer our only options. When we reconnect to our inherent human capacity to heal, we can and will stop the cycle of oppression.
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Giving Up PrivilegeDiversity Index: #4872Coordinator: Luna Jiménez Institute for Social Transformation - info@ljist.com
The concept of “privilege” represents a deep misunderstanding of racism and its impacts, instead reifying White supremacy and sowing separation and guilt. During this webinar, you will learn to differentiate between three distinct phenomenon that have been lumped into “White Privilege”: 1) Human Rights, 2) “Systemic Obliviousness,” and, 3) “Entitlement.” We explore how “benefit” and “advantage” narratives—connotations of “privilege”—are counter-productive to solidarity and equity and instead reinforce White supremacy, advocate assimilation, and perpetuate paternalism and defensiveness. We also examine how “privilege” denies the costs to White people as non-targets of racism: loss of humanity, connection, and belonging. NOTE: In this offering we use “White privilege” for teaching concepts that apply to all types of oppression and the use of “privilege” in broader social justice work.
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Centering Relationships for Systems ChangeDiversity Index: #4873Coordinator: Luna Jiménez Institute for Social Transformation - info@ljist.com
Have you struggled to listen to (let alone understand) someone who disagrees with you, how you think, or how you live your life? Do you find yourself unfriending people in your social networks or cutting off relationships because of opposing beliefs? You are not alone. During this session you will learn how fear and power imbalances impact our capacity to communicate and connect with people different from us, and what it means to remain “value-based” in your actions, even in the face of conflict, disagreement, and dominance.
Register
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Leadership Videos
2021 Diversity Week Leadership Messages
In celebration of HCC's Diversity Week, the Diversity Committee asked our leadership timely questions related to this year's theme: Anti-Racism: Representation Has Never Mattered More. Their answers are featured here.
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President Dr. Kate HetheringtonWhat is one significant investment higher education institutions should make over the next ten years to substantially impact anti-racism efforts on our campus and in our community?
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Dr. Jean Svacina, Vice President of Academic AffairsWhen our students leave HCC, what set of values would they have learned at HCC to help them be anti-racist in their everyday lives?
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Linda Wu, Vice President of Information TechnologyIf you could recommend one book for HCC students, faculty, & staff about antiracism, what would it be and why?
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Dr. Cindy J. Peterka, Vice President of Student ServicesIf you could recommend one book for HCC students, faculty, & staff about anti-racism, what would it be and why?
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Elizabeth S. Homan, Executive Director of Public Relations and MarketingWhen our students leave HCC, what set of values would they have learned at HCC to help them be anti-racist in their everyday lives?
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Linda Emmerich, Executive Associate to the PresidentHow do you practice antiracism in your everyday work?
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