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2013 Dealing with Difference Institute

May 14-15, 2013 ( Tuesday & Wednesday)

Multicultural Center
Western Illinois University
Macomb, Illinois

• Keynote Presenter
• Additional Presenters
• General Information
• Schedule
• Registration Form for WIU Faculty, Staff, and Students
• Registration Form for Participants Not Affiliated with WIU

The most visible of the programs the ECDP has developed is probably the Dealing with Difference Institute (DWDI). Though the length and format of the DWDI has changed somewhat over its 20-year existence, its focus has always been on cultural diversity and its significance in education. Within this broad focus, the institute has revolved around various themes, among them race/ethnicity (with separate institutes on African, Arab and Middle Eastern, Asian, Latino/a, and Native Americans, though European American cultures have been a constant), gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, privilege, identity development, Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy, media, intercultural communication, interactive learning, the uses and abuses of fear, nonviolent social action, and multiculturalism vs. assimilation.

DWDI speakers have included national and international as well as local and regional scholars and activists. Among the most widely recognized are African American International Grand Master of Chess Mr. Maurice Ashley, who uses chess to help at-risk youth; Dr. Sut Jhally, founder and executive director of the Educational Media Foundation; Dr. Peggy McIntosh, author of one of the very earliest articles on white privilege; Dr. Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs, an analysis of the representation of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood films; Dr. Garry Shirts, creator of BaFa BaFa an interactive game that simulates the challenges of intercultural communication; Dr. Christine Sleeter, co-author of Teaching with Vision and Critical Multiculturalism: Theory and Praxis; and Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, psychology professor and current president of Spellman College;  Without exception, the speakers have incorporated Q&A and discussion into their sessions, with some integrating other interactive and experiential exercises as well.

Keynote presenter for the 2013 DWDI will be Dr. James A. Banks, widely recognized as the “Father of Multicultural Education” and distinguished professor and director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1989, Dr. Banks was the first major nationally known scholar and advocate of diversity education to lead a workshop at Western; it is altogether appropriate to have him return to discuss the future of multicultural education since it has become increasingly important as demographic changes redefine the population of the United States. In a presentation titled “Diversity in America: Challenges and Opportunities for Educating Citizens in Global Times,” Professor Banks will examine how “the future of multicultural education in the United States is its link with diversity issues in nations around the world.”