Syracuse University School of Education to sponsor two community-focused SU Showcase programs April 21

Syracuse University School of Education to sponsor two community-focused SU Showcase programs April 21April 15, 2009Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s School of Education (SOE) is sponsoring two events on Tuesday, April 21, during this year’s SU Showcase-each highlighting the school’s commitment to promoting inclusion and diversity within the Syracuse community.

‘Local Literacies, Global Visions’

The School of Education’s Reading & Language Arts Center will present the “Local Literacies, Global Visions” oral history project, funded by Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life. The presentation takes place from 12:30-2 p.m. in Room 304B of the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center.

The project is a collection of stories told by young newcomers to Syracuse. “We sought to better understand the lives of young people who dream-dream of going to college, of becoming doctors, nurses and forensic scientists, of creating new lives for themselves and their families in the U.S., while at the same time daring not to forget their roots,” says Kristiina Montero, assistant professor of reading and language arts. “It is important for these young people to tell their stories, and it is even more important that we listen and learn from their experiences.”

Visitors will be able to experience the students’ oral histories as collected by a group of doctoral students in the School of Education. They also will have the opportunity to meet newcomers from Burundi, Liberia, Nepal, Somalia and Sudan who now are students at Nottingham High School.

TDC Survey

The School of Education is also sponsoring a Teacher Diversity Corps (TDC) survey, to be administered to students across the SU campus on April 21.

The survey, designed by TDC students, asks questions about issues of racial segregation and integration within courses and throughout the campus. Information gathered about students’ perceptions of diversity on campus will be used to help more clearly align programs in the School of Education and across the University with a positive vision of diversity.

TDC students involved in the survey will spend the day circulating throughout the SU campus wearing specially designed neon green T-shirts. The TDC is a member of the New York State Education Teacher Opportunity Corps. For more information about the TDC survey, contact Stanley Ford II at stford@syr.edu.