NW Campus to examine diversity issues with daylong conference

By Bethany Peterson/nw news editor

NW Campus students and faculty can share and listen to different facets of diversity at the Engaging Differences Local to Global, a one-day conference, March 4.

The first session will begin at 9:30 a.m. in WSTU 1303-05. The conference will run until 5 p.m.

Free breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Students do not need to register or reserve a spot, and the conference is come and go.

Workshops will be centered in WSTU 1303/05 with other rooms used for times with multiple sessions.

Scheduled workshops include Crash Conversations, an open discussion forum using the movie Crash to encourage discussion of issues concerning race, gender and class.

Speakers include Tony Roberts, NW Campus philosophy and religion professor, who will present Religious Diversity in the World and Down the Street, a quick overview of world religions and the ones that touch Texas.

Jyl DeHaven, guest speaker from PRISM3, will present Living Green: Sustainability and How Does it Affect Me, an interactive workshop about how people tell stories, especially using quilts.

Other workshops and discussions will touch on diversity issues like multiculturalism, globalism, ethnicity and ageism.

Sha-Shonda Porter, NW Campus English assistant professor and conference coordinator, said she wanted the umbrella of topics to be wide.

“I’m hoping everyone can find their one thing and to open up a space for real conversation,” she said.

Porter also said she hopes the conference will open students’ eyes to ideas and thoughts outside their own worlds.

“I want students to see the world is greater than their immediate space and accept there is more than one way of thinking,” she said.