Cultural identity conference with Fisk University students slated for March 22-24
Alyssa Paulsen, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: News
Students from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., will be arriving at Ripon College for a conference with the theme Cultural Identity Wednesday, March 21.
All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to go to this conference, which is run by the students in the one credit pass-fail Fisk class here on campus.
"Activities for the conference start Thursday and the Fisk students will be departing campus on Sunday morning," says Suzanne Katz, assistant professor of educational studies.
The event's keynote speech March 22 will discuss cultural identity in times of globalization and will be given by Dr. Carolyn Calloway Thomas, the director of the Interracial Community Project and associate professor of communication and culture at Indiana University-Bloomington.
Other events include a professor panel Friday speaking on various identities within different cultures and a panel Saturday morning with students speaking on their experiences with different racial backgrounds while studying abroad.
The conference will close up Saturday afternoon with an open session and social activity between Fisk and Ripon students.
First year Misty Brum and her roommate plan to host one of the Fisk students.
"I am very excited about the students coming from Fisk," says Brum. "I hope we will get a fresh, new outlook from the Fisk students."
This relationship between the faculty and students at Fisk and Ripon began 15 years ago.
"Our partnership started about 15 years ago, and it's been ongoing. One of the ideas is that there are so many similarities between the colleges, like how we perceive our institutions of learning," says Katz.
David Seligman, professor of philosophy and executive director of the ethical leadership program, says that the birth of the Fisk program started with brief exchanges between the faculty of the colleges, and later, longer exchanges between students.
"This program is very unique. I don't think there is another exchange like it in the country," says Seligman.
All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to go to this conference, which is run by the students in the one credit pass-fail Fisk class here on campus.
"Activities for the conference start Thursday and the Fisk students will be departing campus on Sunday morning," says Suzanne Katz, assistant professor of educational studies.
The event's keynote speech March 22 will discuss cultural identity in times of globalization and will be given by Dr. Carolyn Calloway Thomas, the director of the Interracial Community Project and associate professor of communication and culture at Indiana University-Bloomington.
Other events include a professor panel Friday speaking on various identities within different cultures and a panel Saturday morning with students speaking on their experiences with different racial backgrounds while studying abroad.
The conference will close up Saturday afternoon with an open session and social activity between Fisk and Ripon students.
First year Misty Brum and her roommate plan to host one of the Fisk students.
"I am very excited about the students coming from Fisk," says Brum. "I hope we will get a fresh, new outlook from the Fisk students."
This relationship between the faculty and students at Fisk and Ripon began 15 years ago.
"Our partnership started about 15 years ago, and it's been ongoing. One of the ideas is that there are so many similarities between the colleges, like how we perceive our institutions of learning," says Katz.
David Seligman, professor of philosophy and executive director of the ethical leadership program, says that the birth of the Fisk program started with brief exchanges between the faculty of the colleges, and later, longer exchanges between students.
"This program is very unique. I don't think there is another exchange like it in the country," says Seligman.
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