Showcase Oregon will offer workshops and other discussions to discuss practices that enhance diversity, inclusion and equity at the University of Oregon. This event is hosted by the the Office of the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion at the Ford Alumni Center on Thursday, May 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The event, titled “Showcase Oregon: Incorporating Best Practices in Equity, Inclusion and Diversity,” will discuss the best practices in diversity, inclusion and equity for higher education of students and staff.
Experts from the UO and around the country will join the university community to discuss the best practices that are out there.
Various workshops, panel discussions and poster sessions will be available to the public for viewing. The showcase looks at what has been done in the past, the present and what needs to be done for the future.
After each workshop, poster presentation and panel discussion students, staff, and faculty will be asked to fill out evaluations. These evaluations will be looked over and addressed at the encore event happening in the fall. It will follow up on the themes of this years showcase.
W. Andrew Marcus, the interim dean at the college of arts and sciences, will present posters during one of the sessions.
“Our intent is to better understand who we are as a college in terms of the multiplicity of people who make up our college, where they come from, and where they end up in terms of majors and departments,” Marcus said.
Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Abigail Leeder will lead a workshop with Rehearsals for Life. This group of graduate students come together to discuss real life situations that they have all experienced. They compile together stories of personal experiences where cultural clashes have occurred. They interact with audience members by asking them to participate within each scenario to see how they would react and resolve those said issues.
“Through personal performance and experiential activities we will explore the use of theater as a tool for addressing the complex challenges that face students, faculty and staff across disciplines,” Leeder said. “This workshop will provide an opportunity to witness the power of personal theater and provide opportunities for audience members to intervene in everyday situations of bias and oppression.”
Aria Seligmann, the director of strategic communications in the Office of Equity and Inclusion, emphasizes that students are not required to stay for the whole event.
“You don’t have to register for the whole day. You just need to register for the things that you know you will be at so I know what classrooms in the Ford Alumni Center and the Law School to put the workshops in,” Seligmann said. “That will be based on how many people registered.”
The event is free and open to the public with registration completed prior to the event.
Program information can also be found at http://emrld.co/1jcsbq5.