Outreach Programs & Events

CoDaC hosts institutes, conferences, workshops, and other events to engage scholars, practitioners, our campus community, and the general public.

Below you will find details on upcoming events and information on previous events. Videorecordings may be available for checkout through the UO Library System.

 

CoDaC Professional Development Institutes

Connections, Community & Best Practices - CoDaC Summer Diversity Institute for NW Student Affairs Professionals (June 2007)

100 student affairs professionals from 28 universities, colleges, community colleges and institutes throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana convened for this inaugural 3-day institute, held at the University of Oregon. Sponsored by CoDaC, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, the University Counseling and Testing Center, the Division of Student Affairs, University Housing and Catering Services, the Office of Student Life, the UO Bookstore, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region V.

 

Past Events - CoDaC and Co-Sponsored

What is Cultural Competency: A Series of Conversations (January 2006)

What is cultural competency? What place does it hold in higher education? What place, if any, should it have at the University of Oregon? This two-day conference provided the UO campus community and stakeholders opportunities to consider, inquire, and voice opinion regarding cultural competency through a town-hall community conversation, keynote presentations, the screening of a CoDaC-produced video, and other sessions.

Homeland 'In'Security: Race, Immigration, and Labor in Post-9/11 North America (April 2004)

The "9/11 moment" forever changed the united states and the cross-border regions of North America. The "war on terrorism" generated new policies affecting immigration, security, and guest labor in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The war and its attendant policies affect communities of color, recent immigrants, and refugees within and beyond the United States. Sponsored with the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. (Televised courtesy of the Oregon Public Affairs Network)

After Grutter: Affirmative Action and Our Compelling Interests in Diversity (September 2003)

Keynote: Hon. Paul J. DeMuniz Oregon State Supreme Court

The United States' Supreme Court's 2003 affirmation of public universities' "compelling interest in diversity" challenged higher education and other sectors to ensure that the students of today and tomorrow will be equipped to lead in the 21st century. It also marked a call for cross-sector collaboration to maximize the benefits of diversity and prepare for social changes and challenges ahead. This full-day event brought together regional experts in law, business, higher education and other fields to discuss the future of affirmative action and other diversity-building efforts. Summit Information, Recommended Readings, and News Articles are available here. Please visit the Library for Summit handbooks and videos.

The End of Affirmative Action?: Diversity, Higher Education and Public Policy (March 2003)

Voices of the Ducks: Campus Climate, Community and the Broadcast Media (December 2002)

50th Anniversary Commemoration - Brown v. Board of Education (October 25, 2004)

The UO commemorated the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education with a convocation keynote address and a law school forum examining the impact, promise, and limits of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. Both the keynote and forum focused on how Brown laid the groundwork and prepared the path for the dismantling the racial quasi-caste system that prevailed throughout much of the country.

University of Oregon Convocation -- "The Promise of Brown for the 21st Century"
Monday, October 25, 2004
EMU Ballroom, 2:30-4:30 PM

Featuring Professor Raymond Diamond
CJ Morrow Research Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at Tulane University and co-author of Brown v. Board of Education: Caste, Culture and the Constitution

Forum at the Law School -- "Unfinished Legacy: Brown v. Board of Education at Fifty"
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
175 Knight Law Center, 4:00-6:00 PM

Moderated by Keith Aoki (Professor of Law, University of Oregon)

Panelists: Raymond Diamond, Robert Tsai (Assistant Professor of Law, University of Oregon), Naomi Zack (Professor of Philosophy, University of Oregon), Gregory Vincent, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity, and Affiliate Professor of Law, University of Oregon.

Sponsored by the University of Oregon Office of the Provost, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, the School of Law, and the Center on Diversity and Community.

Nonviolence, Peace, Social Change and Justice - Congressman John Lewis (D-GA)

UO Presidential Lecture
Monday, November 10, 2003 at 5:30pm, EMU Ballroom

Sponsored by the Office of the President, the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, and the Center on Diversity and Community

A Night with Howard Zinn

Friday, April 4, 2003 at 7:00pm
McDonald Theatre

Sponsored by the UO Cultural Forum, Concerned Faculty for Peace and Justice, the McDonald Theatre, and the Center on Diversity and Community.

CoDaC Graduate Research Conference

The Center on Diversity and Community, with support from the Graduate School, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, and the Center for the Study of Womein in Society, hosts an annual cross-disciplinary UO graduate student conference, at which that year's CoDaC Graduate Summer Research Award recipients give presentations from their research projects.

Please take a moment to review the presentation abstracts for these award-winning projects:

 

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Workshops & Book Discussion Groups

Appropriate for and open to UO Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students, these workshops and book discussion groups are co-sponsored by CoDaC, the Teaching Effectiveness Program (Academic Learning Services) and the Office of Student Life. Please contact Tim McMahon to register.

Fall Term 2007 - Weekly Book Discussion Groups

Privilege: A Reader edited by Michael Kimmel and Abby Ferber
Mondays, Oct. 1 - Nov. 26 (Weeks 2 - 10) 12:00 - 1:00pm EMU Board Room
Facilitator: Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP)

With chapters written by Marilyn Frye, Robert Jensen, Peggy McIntosh, bell hooks, Paul Kivel, and others, this collection of readings covers a wide range of topics related to privilege. Join good colleagues and explore this important topic through weekly readings and discussion.

 

In the Name of Identity: Violence & the Need to Belong by Amin Maalouf
Thursdays, Oct. 4 - Nov. 29, (Weeks 2 - 10) 12:00 - 1:00pm EMU Board Room
Facilitators: The Bias Response Team (Office of Student Life), & Tim McMahon
(CoDaC/TEP).

In the Name of Identity is a personal, sometimes even intimate, account of identity-in-the-world by Amin Maalouf, a novelist by trade. Fluidly written to illuminate the roots of violence and hatred he sees tied to tribalistic forms of identity. He argues that our convictions and notions of identity--whether cultural, religious, national, or ethnic--are socially habituated and frequently dangerous in our increasingly globalized existence. He makes the case for understanding and conceptualizing each other and ourselves through the intersections of our identities. For more information, please contact Gina at brt@uoregon.edu

Previous workshops and discussion groups include:

Teaching Controversial Subjects: Proactive Strategies to Create a Successful Learning Environment (workshop)
Irmary Reyes-Santos (Ethnic Studies), Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP), & Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life)

Whiteness. Power and privilege. Creation and evolution. In this workshop we will explore specific strategies for creating optimal learning environments when teaching controversial subjects such as these. Specifically, topics will include developing syllabi, preparing for the first day and week, collaborating with students to create a safe learning environment, and dealing with difficult situations that inevitably arise.

Is There a Problem with "I Don't See Color?" (workshop)
Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life) & Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP)

One of the reactions to diversity trainings is "I don't need to be here -- I don't see color." In this workshop we will explore this idea and examine its impacts on cross-cultural dynamics in the classroom or workplace.

Diversity & Inclusion: How is This Relevant to My Classroom? (workshop)
Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP) & Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life)

The expectation to create an inclusive and welcoming classroom for a diverse student population assumes that one has the knowledge, skills, and awareness to do so. What if one does not? What if the topic one teaches seems to have nothing to do with issues of cultural diversity? Why should one be expected to address these issues when they probably will not ever come up on their own in the classroom? This workshop will explore these and related questions.

Language & Labels II (workshop)
Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life) & Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP)

"Is it okay to use the term 'Hispanic'?" "I thought 'queer' was a degrading term." "How do I know what they want to be called?" Conversations related to diversity are often challenging for a variety of important reasons. Barriers to talking about diversity issues often involve fears of saying the "wrong" thing, hurting others, or being hurt ourselves. In this workshop, we will begin to explore the language of diversity and its multiple impacts, and to talk about the evolving nature of related vocabulary.

Responding to Difficult Moments in the Classroom (Workshop)
Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life), Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP), & Mia Tuan (CoDaC/Sociology)

Imagine that a student makes a comment in class that immediately sets off a storm of heated reactions including accusations of racism and sexism. What do you do? Difficult moments in the classroom happen. It is essential for faculty to have the resources that allow them to intervene intentionally and skillfully. In this workshop participants will have the opportunity to practice handling different intervention strategies related to critical incidents in the classroom.

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (discussion)
Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Office of Student Life) & Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP)

This weekly book group will read and discuss The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathon Kozol. This latest book by Kozol "firmly grounds school-reform issues in the thorny context of race and concludes that the nation has failed to deliver the promise of Brown." (Washington Post)

Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students (discussion)
Chicora Martin (Student Life), Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP) & Annie Bentz (CoDaC/Student Life)

This weekly book group will read and discuss selected chapters from the well-regarded Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender College Students: A Handbook for Faculty and Administrators, edited by Ronni L. Sanlo. What a joy it is to discuss important ideas with valued colleagues! Join us.

Why We Hate: Understanding, Curbing, and Eliminating Hate in Ourselves and in Our World (discussion)
The Bias Response Team (Student Life) & Tim McMahon (CoDaC/TEP)

This weekly book group will read and discuss the provocative Why We Hate: Understanding, Curbing, and Eliminating Hate in Ourselves and in Our World by Rush W. Dozier, Jr. This book combines anthropology, zoology and neuroscience perspectives in order to explain the scientific underpinnings of the emotion that leads to prejudice, violence and genocide. For more information, please contact Gina at brt@uoregon.edu

 

 

 

Center on Diversity and Community (CoDaC)
335 Hendricks Hall
5238 University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon 97403-5238
541.346.3212 (phone)
541.346.5096 (fax)
codac@uoregon.edu

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