I am the education equity coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan in
Canada. I've been hired to coordinate two projects. One is a team taught
course on education equity. It's a regular university credit course, but
the University has waived the tuition fee, so we're getting registrants
from absolutely every type of person. It will be the most diverse course
I've ever participated in, both at the teaching and the student level.
The other project is an on-campus conference on education equity. Its
main purpose is to raise the awareness of people on campus about the
issues. Again, it's being made as accessible as possible, with no
registration fee, introductory sessions about the issues for a general
audience and for instructors who want to incorporate them in their
classes, signing for the deaf and hearing impaired, child care, etc. The
sessions are being organized so there are 3 or 4 position papers, then
everyone who shows up goes into a working group to discuss the issues,
raise criticism and make recommendations for change, and then a plenary to
discuss the findings.
What I want to know is, has anything like this conference happened
elsewhere? If so, are there any pitfalls I should be aware of? I will
try to organize something to prevent/contain/deal with any backlash as a
result of raising consciousness of the issues. Is there anything else?
Susan Vincent
<vincents@duke.usask.ca>