Diversity and Civility Week Schedule
Monday, April 11, 2016
Keynote Address: Stacy E. Holland, Executive Director, the Lenfest Foundation and Member, Community College of Philadelphia Board of Trustees
10 to 11 a.m., Coffeehouse
Stacy Holland is an unapologetic advocate for youth, who has held several positions in the educational and nonprofit sectors. As the executive director of the Lenfest Foundation, Ms. Holland pursues her passion of serving vulnerable youth throughout Philadelphia. Previously, she served as chief of Strategic Partnerships for the School District of Philadelphia, where she was responsible for organizing the ecosystem of partnerships for more than 200 schools, and led the district’s fundraising initiatives. Before this, Ms. Holland served as president and CEO of the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), a nonprofit she co-founded in 1999, which promotes positive postsecondary and economic outcomes.
Photo Installation Opening: Racism Is A Sickness
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Main Campus Library
Co-facilitators: Tieshka K. Smith and Kimberly Bonner, Adjunct Instructor, Social Science
Explore this art and social change project by Philadelphia-based photographer Tieshka K. Smith. Racism Is A Sickness is a visual commentary about the insidiousness of race in American society. It is an urgent call to action to individuals and organizations working for racial justice to find new and inspiring ways to work together to heal the unchecked damage done by racist policies, practices and beliefs over multiple generations. It also is a commentary on the pervasiveness of race on social media, and the power it has to be both a game changer and a barrier to honest conversation about racism. Taken during the summer of 2015 in Germantown, the photo installation will be featured in the Library from April 11 through April 15, 2016.
The Philadelphia–Serengeti Alliance
12:40 to 1:40 p.m., Room C2-28
Facilitator: Margareth Awiti, President, Philadelphia–Serengeti Alliance
Host: Jeffrey Markovitz, Assistant Professor, English
Learn about the Philadelphia–Serengeti Alliance's water resource project in the Serengeti, and the project’s connection to improving public health, as well as empowering young girls and women in regard to their educational goals. Ms. Awiti was born in Tanzania and came to the United States in 1996. She lives in the Wynnefield neighborhood of Philadelphia and works as a nurse at the Inglis Foundation. For years, she has personally assisted family, friends and former neighbors with medical emergencies, school fees and housing needs. The objectives of the Philadelphia–Serengeti Alliance have grown out of her own experience of life in Tanzania, where as a nurse midwife she encountered many individuals, especially women and children, who were and still are deprived of human rights, clean water, education, economic well-being and health care.
This talk is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program (UISFL) for the Title VI East Africa Project.
Co-Sponsored by International Festival Week, Office of Student Life; Office of Diversity and Equity; and the Center for International Understanding, Division of Strategic Initiatives
Women in Islam: Challenging the Myth
1 to 2:30 p.m., Room S2-3
Facilitator: Aliya Khabir
Arguably, Islam is the most misunderstood and stereotyped religion on Earth. While learning the fundamentals of Islamic principles, attendees will be given a chance to ask the women on the panel the burning questions about hijab, polygyny, “being submissive” and education, among other topics.
Serving Nontraditional Adult Students with Criminal Records at the College in the Classroom and Beyond
3 to 4:30 p.m., Room S2-3
Facilitator: Tara Timberman, Reentry Support Project Founder and Coordinator
This presentation by the College’s Reentry Support Project (RSP) of the Fox Rothschild Center for Law and Society will provide a brief introduction to the unique challenges nontraditional adult students with criminal records face when they transition from incarceration to Community College of Philadelphia. Specific topics will include the benefits of adopting a trauma-informed care perspective and practical strategies for helping students adjust to academic culture and expectations. Presenters will include Ms. Timberman, staff from University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Carceral Communities and a panel of current students who have participated in the project’s REACH College Program.
Know Your Rights Community Forum: What Now?
4:30 to 6 p.m., Winnet Student Life Building, Coffeehouse
Facilitator: Cameo Pritchett, Support Coach, Center for Male Engagement
This forum will educate and inform you of your basic rights and responsibilities when dealing with local law enforcement. The conversation will focus on the progression of contemporary civil rights issues, and feature a guest panel of professionals from law enforcement, legal agencies and community organizations. The open and honest dialogue will seek to provide attendees with a better understanding of working with issues unique to local community members and strategies to enhance positive relations between the community members, governing bodies and businesses.
The Omicron Delta Lambda Chapter of A Phi A will provide voter registration information and registration forms as a part of the National Voter Education Program, “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People.”
The Global-Local Connection: Haiku from Japan and Philadelphia, a presentation by two U.S. Department of Education Title VI participants, 2014–2015
6 to 6:15 p.m.: Akiko Mori, an adjunct instructor of Japanese at the College, will present two famous Japanese haiku in Japanese and in translation. Ms. Mori co-led a Community College of Philadelphia Study Abroad Program to Japan in June 2015 and has presented papers on Japanese contemporary theater and on Okinawa at Japan Studies Association and Asian Studies Development Program conferences.
6:15 to 7:15 p.m.: Barry George will read selections of his award-winning poetry inspired by the Japanese haiku and tanka forms.Mr. George’s poetry has been widely published in journals such as The Louisville Review, Controlled Burn, Modern English Tanka, Modern Haiku, Frogpond and Ko, and in the anthologies A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, The New Haiku, Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems, Butterfly Dream and One Man’s Maple Moon. His haiku have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian, Romanian, Croatian and French. An AWP Intro Poets Award recipient, he has also won First Prize in the Haiku Society of America’s Gerald R. Brady Senryu Contest. He is the author of Wrecking Ball and Other Urban Haiku (Accents Publishing), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and The One That Flies Back My Way (Kattywompus Press).
Co-Sponsored by International Festival Week, Office of Student Life; Office of Diversity and Equity; and the Center for International Understanding, Division of Strategic Initiatives
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Transgender Rights: Where We Stand, Where We’re Going
9:30 to 10:45 a.m., Room C3-5
Facilitator: Aiden Kosciesza, Adjunct Instructor, English
While LGB rights have made great advances in recent years, transgender people—the T in the popular acronym—still face serious legal discrimination across the United States. Come learn about the history of the transgender civil rights movement and the challenges that transgender people encounter at school, at the doctor’s office, in the workplace or just trying to use the bathroom. Find out what you can do to support trans people, and where we go from here.
Film Screening and Discussion: “In Football We Trust”
11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Room S2-3
Facilitator: Rob Buscher, Festival Director, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
In Football We Trust is the story behind the Polynesian pipeline to the NFL as witnessed through the lives of talented high school football players in Utah. Before these prospects enter the high stakes world of college recruiting and the promise of NFL fame, fortune and glory, they must contend with gang violence, drug abuse and poverty.
Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership’s Community Partnership Lunch Meeting (Invitation only)
12 to 2 p.m., Pavilion Building, Klein Cube
Facilitators: Dr. Judith Gay, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives; Dr. Sharon Thompson, Associate Vice President, Strategic Initiatives; Dr. David Thomas, Dean, Division of Access and Community Engagement; and Dr. Fay Beauchamp, Professor, English
Participants will engage in a brainstorming session where we are beginning to frame the question of what it means to be an engaged citizen at the local, regional, national and international level. The concept for the Institute for Community Engagement and Civic Leadership will be introduced, facilitators will share the College’s initiatives to date, and ask for constructive feedback and reactions to the initiative thus far.
The Fight Is Not Over: HIV/AIDS Awareness
3:30 to 5 p.m., Pavilion Building, Klein Cube
Facilitators: Liz and Jessica Becerra, SIDA (Sisters Inspired to Defeat AIDS)
SIDA are two “Sisters Inspired to Defeat AIDS” after overcoming the tragic loss of both parents in 1992 as a result HIV/AIDS. They are "opening the door to an unspoken truth," since the discrimination associated with the epidemic in the 80s and 90s forced them to hide the truth about their parents' deaths for almost 20 years. As the middle children among two other siblings, Jessica and Liz have courageously made it their mission to open up and publicly share their story of how they turned their tragedy into triumph through their achievement and success. In this interactive workshop, they will educate attendees about the continued seriousness of the epidemic, motivating them to value life and empowering them to succeed in all aspects of life regardless of any situation.
The Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus
5:30 to 6 p.m., Pavilion Building, Klein Cube
Facilitator: Joseph Buches
Sharing music with others is joyous. It entertains. It educates. It brings people together. The chorus, in partnership with the Attic Youth Center for LGBT youth through a grant from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, performs to foster understanding and personal growth.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Room S2-3
Film Screening and Discussion: “MissRepresentation”
3 to 5 p.m, Room S2-3
Facilitator: Dr. J. Alison Watts, Assistant Professor, Social Science
"MissRepresentation" exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film draws back a curtain to reveal a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see—how the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls makes it difficult for women to feel powerful and achieve leadership positions. In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message we receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Merchants and Sojourners of the Indian Ocean
9:40 to 11:10 a.m., Room C2-28
Facilitator: Dr. Ian Petrie, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Petrie will discuss the intertwined mercantile, religious and kinship networks that spanned the Indian Ocean world, across the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia, and the impact of past connections and divisions on today’s world. Ian Petrie is a senior associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. He holds a B.A. in History from Queen’s University and an M.A. in Chinese History from the University of British Columbia. He completed his doctorate in South Asian History at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2004 to 2009, he taught Western Civilization, South Asian History, Islamic History and African History at Saint Joseph’s University. His current research concerns the history of technology and labor history as viewed through the study of multinationals in late colonial India. With students, he is also researching the history of a ship that transported indentured laborers from India to Guiana.
This lecture is supported by the South Asia National Resource Center, University of Pennsylvania
Co-Sponsored by International Festival Week, Office of Student Life; Office of Diversity and Equity; and the Center for International Understanding, Division of Strategic Initiatives
Present But Not Home: Working With Veterans 101
9:30 to 11:15 a.m., Room S2-3
Facilitators: Kimberly Bonner, Adjunct Instructor, Social Science and member/program director, Warrior Writers; and Stephen Bachovin, Coordinator, Veterans/Military Programming
In an effort to better support transition to civilian life, these discussions will help educate participants on veterans’ issues to encourage healthy and meaningful dialogues.
Creating Safer Spaces
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Room C2-28
Facilitator: Mazzoni Center
Has anyone ever come out to you as LGBQ/T? Would you like to help create an affirming environment for LGBQ/T people—at school, at work or in your day-to-day life? In this interactive training, participants will develop a deeper understanding of gender and sexuality, learn affirming language, dispel myths and misinformation, reflect upon personal beliefs, and acquire the tools to create safe spaces for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.
Tunnel of Opression
2 to 4 p.m., Winnet Courtyard
Sponsored by the Diversity and Civility Committee and Student Life
Friday, April 15, 2016
Drop the Mic and Philly Asian-American Performance: Jason Chu
3 to 5 p.m., Bonnell Large Auditorium
Facilitator: Dr. Michelle Myers, Associate Professor, English
The Drop the Mic Spoken Word Poetry Competition features performances by Community College of Philadelphia students followed by Jason Chu, an Asian-American hip hop artist, rapper and spoken work poet who writes music about Asian America, Chinese America, hope, faith, love and truth.