WCU FOR ALL OF US
DIVERSITY LECTURE SERIES
Spring 2008
The WCU FOR ALL OF US Diversity Lecture Series is offered to the increasingly complex and diverse West Chester University community to heighten our ability to understand and appreciate our differences and to create a respectful environment. The WCU FOR ALL OF US Series is sponsored by the Office of Social Equity.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration
Wednesday, January 16, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Philips Memorial Building, Asplundh Concert Hall
Barry Scott: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mr. Scott discusses Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement in his lecture and evokes the spirit of Dr. King by reciting some of his most famous speeches. We commemorate on this holiday celebration, the ecumenical, visionary and global leader who embraced the unity of all and inspired nonviolent liberation movements around the world.
Tickets $5.00 available at the SSI Ticket Office, lower level Sykes Student Union. All revenue goes to the MLK Scholarship Fund.
Wednesday, January 23, noon – 1:00 p.m.
255 Sykes Student Union
Lunchtime Lecture with Dr. Lauri Hyers, Ms. Jackie Hodes, Ms. Barbara Schneller, Ms. Brooke Schaeffer, Mr. Vy Cu, Ms. Hayley O’Hagan, Ms. Laura Begley, and Mr. Nathan Haverly
Impact of Repent America Demonstrations on our University Communities: Observations and Recommendations
“Why doesn’t any one stand up and say that this is wrong” – student reaction to fall 2008 Repent America demonstration.
In this presentation we will discuss the impact of the Repent America demonstration on our campus, show a WCU student documentary film, review the results of a small impact survey, explore the legal context and strategies for mobilizing appropriate support services.
Please bring your lunch, beverages and desserts will be served. Reserve your place by calling the Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433.
Friday, February 1, noon – 1 p.m.
Alumni House
Lunchtime lecture with Dr. Cecilia Chien,
Associate Professor, Department of History
Kinship and Genealogy in China
This presentation will focus on the importance of kinship in Chinese society today and the uses of genealogy in Chinese history. Dr. Chien will share her own personal tale on the topic.
Please bring your lunch, beverages and desserts will be served. Reserve your place by calling the Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433.
Civility Day Celebrations – Go Green
Wednesday, February 20
Sykes Student Union
A full day of programming has been arranged by the University Forum, some equity related programs that we would like to highlight include:
Interdependence in the Global Village
2 p.m.
The Frederick Douglass Institute and the Office of Social Equity will sponsor scholars from a myriad of universities to share their multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding societies, modern technology, and learning environments. Their research will provide opportunities for in-depth discussion of their knowledge and experiences with diverse learning communities. A reception sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs will follow this program.
Richard Louv, author
Last Child in the Woods
Ballrooms, Sykes Student Union - 7 p.m.
Today’s kids are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, says child advocacy expert Louv, even as research shows that thoughtful exposure of youngsters to nature can … be a powerful form of therapy for attention-deficit disorder and other maladies. Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result, Louv says, they’ve come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality.
Monday, February 25, 3 and 8:30 p.m.
Panel discussion at 7:30 p.m.
Philips Autograph Library
Diversity Film Series:
Autism Every Day
Autism Every Day is a short video created by Lauren Thierry, Jim Watkins and Erick Solomon in 2006 that chronicles the adversities and tribulations that a few mothers of autistic children face on a daily basis. It also expresses the feelings of these mothers about their children's autism and how it has drastically affected their lifestyles, personality, and view on life. The movie was sponsored by Autism Speaks, an organization devoted to finding a cure for autism. Cosponsored by the Office of Student Programs.
Wednesday, March 19, noon – 1:00 p.m.
255 Sykes Student Union
Lunchtime Lecture with Dr. Helen Schroepfer,
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
Religion in the Public Square:
The Case of the Bush Administration
This presentation will draw from Schroepfer’s recent publication in the Journal of Political Theology, “Pursuing the Enemies of Freedom: Religion in the Rhetoric of the Bush Administration. Focusing on the State of the Union and Inaugural addresses, internal tensions within the texts’ treatment of religion will be uncovered. Based on this analysis, it will then explore how this ideology reflects an inchoate religious discourse that has come to significantly monopolize public references to religion. In a world where religion matters, the argument is that this discourse is far from innocuous, and that scholars have a responsibility to analyze these claims and foster a well populated and diverse public square for religion.
Please bring your lunch, beverages and desserts will be served. Reserve your place by calling the Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433.
Tuesday, April 8, 12:30 p.m.
255 Sykes Student Union
Lunchtime Lecture with Dr. Ann Abbott, Professor
Department of Graduate Social Work
Identifying, Comparing and Facilitating Professional Value Development: A Challenge for Global Understanding
This presentation will look at the value base of the social work profession and compare the professional value base of social workers in the USA to the value base of social workers in other countries, with emphasis on Chinese social workers. It will describe the development of two scales designed to assess social work values, highlight the use of specific strategies for teaching of values, and suggest the use of key indicators to measure existence, development and achievement of values among social work students.
Please bring your lunch, beverages and desserts will be served. Reserve your place by calling the Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433.
Tuesday, April 22--3 P.M. & 8:30 P.M. Showing
Panel Discussion 7:30-8:30 P.M.
Theater, Sykes Student Union
Diversity Film Series:
Journey from the Fall
Inspired by the true stories of Vietnamese refugees who fled their land after the fall of Saigon—and those who were forced to stay behind, Journey from the Fall follows one family’s struggle for freedom. April 30, 1975 marked the end of Vietnam's two-decade-old civil war and the start of the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Imprisoned in a Communist re-education camp, Long Nguyen urges his family to make the escape by boat without him. His wife Mai (Diem Lien), son Lai (Nguyen Thai Nguyen) and mother Ba Noi (Kieu Chinh) then embark on the arduous ocean voyage in the hope of reaching the U.S. and freedom. Back in Vietnam, Long suffers years of solitary confinement and hard labor, but news of his family’s successful resettlement in America inspires him to make one last desperate attempt to join them.
Co-sponsored by the Office of Student Programs.
(cover - on reverse side of paper)
WCU for All of Us
Diversity Lecture Series
Spring 2008
The WCU FOR ALL OF US program is sponsored by the Office of Social Equity. We cordially invite you to join us as we continue building our inclusive community. The WCU FOR ALL OF US Diversity Lecture Series responds to our changing community by providing a series of lectures intended to enlighten and empower us as a community.
Accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available on request by calling the Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433. Please make your needs known as soon as possible, but not less than one week in advance of the event, to allow time to make the necessary arrangements.
If you would like further information on any of our programs, or if you would like to register for any of the presentations in our series, please call West Chester University’s Office of Social Equity at 610-436-2433
| 
