Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 1-16-08
GREENSBORO, NC – The Access and Equity Committee in the UNCG School of Education will host its inaugural conference, “The Evolving Meaning of Diversity: Access, Equity, and Activism in the New Century,” 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Science Building on the UNCG campus.
“Universities need to be more engaged in the crucial issues facing society today,” said Micheline Chalhoub-Deville, the committee chair and a Department of Education Research and Methodology professor. “We hope to bring UNCG and the Triad community together to have an open conversation about diversity, access and equity in education.”
Conference speakers have worked to improve education for girls, language minorities and persons of color. They will speak about the challenges, successful strategies and roles of various institutions – religious organizations, nonprofit groups, governments and universities – in that effort.
The event is free and open to the public, although attendees are asked to register at (336) 315-7400 or aecomm@uncg.edu. Lunch and snacks will be provided, and parking is available for $1 per hour or $5 per day in the McIver Street Parking Deck.
For more information about the Access and Equity Committee, visit its website.
The schedule is as follows:
• 9 a.m. – Welcome, Dr. Dale Schunk, UNCG School of Education dean
• 9:30 a.m. – “Inclusion and Equal Learning Opportunities: A Rights-based Perspective,” Anne Therese Ndong Jatta, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Division for the Promotion of Basic Education director
• 10:30 a.m. – Poetry by Dr. C.P. Gause, UNCG Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, and Dr. Davie Store, UNCG Department of Education Research Methodology
• 11:10 a.m. – “Whither ‘Diversity’: Codeword for (Racial & Gender) Equality or for (Racial & Gender) Domination?” Dr. Reynaldo Macías, UCLA Division of Social Sciences acting dean
• 12:10 p.m. – Video “The Way Home,” produced by Shakti Butler, World Trust Educational Services
• 12:20 p.m. – Lunch with entertainment by Cakalak Thunder
• 1:30 p.m. – “Breaking the Barriers, Opening the Doors,” Dr. Diane L. Givens Moffett, senior pastor St. James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro
• 2:30 p.m. – Diversity Presentation, UNCG School of Education
• 3 p.m. – Panel discussion with the three keynote speakers and audience questions
Dr. Reynaldo Macías, acting dean of UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences, is chair of the UCLA Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and the César E. Chávez Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction. He has joint faculty appointments in the education and applied linguistics departments.
Macías also served on the Board of Directors for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) where he helped fashion their language rights program, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Constitutional Law and Human Rights in Los Angeles.
In 1994, he was honored by the National Association for Bilingual Education as a Pioneer in the field, and again in 1995 for contributions to the organization. In 1996, President Clinton appointed him to the Advisory Board for the National Institute for Literacy.
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, he received his bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in education from UCLA. He earned his doctorate in linguistics from Georgetown University. He is author, co-author or editor of six books and more than three dozen research articles and book chapters. His current research focuses on language policy/politics/demography, adult literacy and teacher studies.
Dr. Diane Moffett, senior pastor of Saint James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, is a native of Oakland, Cal. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Master of Divinity and her Doctorate of Ministry degrees at the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, Cal.
A singer, writer and poet, Moffett wrote the book “Beyond Greens and Cornbread: Reflections of African American Christian Identity.” Her sermon “Giving Birth” has been included in the book “Outstanding Black Sermons,” and her sermon “Mustard Seed Faith” has been published in “Those Preachin’ Women, Volume 4.”
Born in The Gambia, Anne Ndong-Jatta has been director of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Division for the Promotion of Basic Education since 2004.
She also has worked as a teacher, a principal and her nation’s minister of education. In that post she promoted a team approach to management and strove to improve the quality and accessibility of education, especially for girls and the poor.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in education, English and history from Bayero University in Nigeria, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Vanderbilt University. She received postgraduate certificates in educational policy analysis, development studies and evaluation from Harvard University.
The conference is sponsored by the UNCG School of Education, SERVE Center, the National Board for Certified Counselors, the UNCG Child and Family Research Network, the UNCG Linguistics Program, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the UNCG Women’s and Gender Studies Program.
