UAS Sitka and Community Partners Host Virtual Speaker Series on Racial Equity & Justice in Southeast Alaska September 10-24

This is a free online series of presentations and workshops on racial equity and social justice sponsored by the Complete to Compete (Title III grant) at UAS Sitka Campus, in partnership with Sitka Tribe of Alaska Social Services Department, SEARHC, the Sitka STEPS Grant, the Sitka Health Summit and Pathways Coalitions.

Juneau, Sitka, Alaska

Date of Press Release: September 9, 2020

The UAS Sitka Campus is hosting the Racial Equity & Justice Speaker Series, with five presentations beginning September 10 with writer and educator Tim Wise. This is a free online series of presentations and workshops on racial equity and social justice sponsored by the Complete to Compete (Title III grant) at UAS Sitka Campus, in partnership with Sitka Tribe of Alaska Social Services Department, SEARHC, the Sitka STEPS Grant, the Sitka Health Summit and Pathways Coalitions.

Schedule

Thursday, September 10, from 10 am to 12 pm

Workshop: Beyond Diversity: Steps for Uprooting Racism, Privilege and Institutional Inequity with Tim Wise

Description: “What are the causes – both formal and informal – for institutional racial inequities? By examining the various policies practices and procedures that exist within educational, employment and organizational settings – and which often inadvertently perpetuate unequal opportunity and treatment – workshop attendees can develop strategies for shifting their institutional cultures in the direction of greater parity.”

Monday, September 14 from 12 noon to 1 pm

Lunch and Learn: Intercultural Leadership Development with Dr. Amer F. Ahmed

Description: “Among the array of perspectives on Leadership, most tend to focus on positional and individual achievement. These approaches to leadership typically reinforce the message that individuals should operate according to dominant cultural norms in order to succeed. What happens when we begin to conceive of leadership in a fundamentally different way that accounts for the need for intercultural skills? This workshop will engage participants in cultivating intercultural skills as necessary for effective leadership in the 21st Century. In this process, the goal will be to cultivate leadership that emphasizes community development, inclusion and equity rather than individual achievement.”

Thursday, September 17 from 10 am to 12 noon

Workshop: Creating Conditions for Equity Across Race, Class, Gender and other Cultural Lines with Hugh Vasquez

Description: “We live in a world where rights, access, and privileges are awarded to some while denied to others. Neither the award nor the denial of these privileges is based upon one’s merit, but instead an elaborate system that pays special attention to race, gender, class, etc. Although this system was established long before anyone now living was born, we are all taught/conditioned to perpetuate it. Changing this system demands an awakening process for each and every individual. Changing the system so that privileges and access are awarded to everyone despite the color of one’s skin, gender, or socio-economic status will only come about when individuals move from being unconscious to the conditions and become competent to transform them. This workshop will focus on how we as individuals, members of cultural groups, and society at-large can embark on a cultural transformative process to bring about equity.”

Monday, September 21 from 7 to 8 pm

Evening Keynote: We Are Still Here: On Native Identity and Activism with Megan Redshirt-Shaw

Description: “This presentation discusses the contemporary, and often forgotten, presence of Native people in social justice conversations through a personal lens. The conversation is not expected to define what it means to be Indigenous in America, but is an opportunity to share one perspective, as an urban Lakota woman, about the importance of hearing our voices and our stories.”

Thursday, September 24 from 7 to 8 pm

Evening Keynote: Bringing It Home: Reflections on How We Can Create Stronger Communities with Dionne Brady-Howard

Description: "The final part of the 2020 speaker series on racial equity and justice will address the question: How do these concepts relate to life in our small communities in Southeast Alaska? What can we do to bring what we have learned into daily life? Join local Mt. Edgecumbe High School social studies teacher and former school board member Dionne Brady-Howard for a keynote that gives local perspective on issues of racial equity and justice in Southeast. After the session participants will be invited to join other members of audience in virtual breakout rooms to discuss this and other challenges that have been highlighted or explored during the series."

Sitka Campus Director, Dr. Paul Kraft notes, “The topics of equity, diversity and inclusion are critically important in our world today. I believe that as members of the university we should be ensuring these conversations are occurring and we are on the forefront of struggling to integrate what we are learning into our workplace, classrooms and community.”

Registration

Visit Community to College to Career for free registration, full descriptions of each session, and information about each speaker.