This spring, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is once again offering its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) educational workshops to faculty, students and staff. The workshops, which can be found on diversity.syr.edu, provide participants with a foundational understanding of key aspects of DEIA, including equity and recognizing microaggressions.
Led by Ebony King, diversity and inclusion specialist in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), the monthly workshops allow for consistent opportunities for campus members to access DEIA education, previously the sessions were only available upon request.
Last semester King led 23 educational workshops, which included over 1,000 participants. “Our focus is on equity, this academic year, helping people to define it and identify where it is present, or missing,” says King. “In addition, this semester we want to measure the outcomes of our workshops and have included ways to do so.”
The ODI workshops include pre- and post-assessments tools that help to gauge increases in understanding and knowledge about core aspects of the sessions.
As part of ODI’s goal to educate campus in a progressive fashion, two new workshops are offered this semester, Moving from Cultural Competency to Cultural Proficiency and Power and Privilege. The full list of ODI workshops are promoted alongside other DEIA sessions held by other areas on campus as a way to provide a centralized located for campuswide DEIA sessions. If you, or your area, have DEIA sessions you would like to promote, contact Annice Allen at atbrooki@syr.edu.
A key component of the ODI workshops is building confidence to speak to topics and issues that, while fundamental to DEIA advances, are difficult to discuss.
A participant of ODI’s Enacting Equity-Mindedness workshop, Maggie Washburn, graduate coordinator in the Department of Psychology, shared that, “Attending workshops and events centered around the topic of diversity not only helped to diversify my knowledge base but equip me with the tools to discuss sensitive topics with my colleagues.”
The ODI workshops will run until May 2022. Special requests for large groups or groups that prefer to meet together will be taken into consideration based on availability, please contact Ebony King at ebking@syr.edu for details.
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