Indiana State University Newsroom

Presenters from around the Midwest will converge on Indiana State University Saturday for the Diversity Research and Teaching Symposium.

More than 40 presentations will be held during the symposium, which will run from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in ISU's Hulman Memorial Student Union. People from colleges and universities in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky will be among those presenting research and discussions on a variety of diversity-related topics.

"We have a nice blend of presenters," said Mary Ferguson, ISU's diversity officer and event organizer. "We're looking at diversity across disciplines."

Nineteen presentations will be from ISU faculty and graduate students. ISU presentations include "Telling U.S. History Through Our Families' Past" by Lisa Phillips, assistant professor of history, and Les M. Lunce, associate director of the Center for Instruction, Research and Technology; and "Gender Diversity in Economics at ISU" by Debra Israel, associate professor in the department of economics, and doctoral student Katrina Davis.

Other conference presentations will address issues related to language, nationality, racial and ethnic diversity, gender identity and expression, religion, ability and sexuality, Ferguson said.

The keynote speaker will be Barbara Love, an associate professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is an international consultant on the empowerment of women, especially women of color. She also has published writings on issues such as self-knowledge for social justice educators, internalized racism and building alliances for change.

Love will give the keynote speech at 12:45 p.m.

Ferguson attended the diversity symposium last year at Ball State University. She enjoyed the event and wanted to see it continue, and so contacted the event organizers and eventually started planning for the event this year at ISU. Ball State has agreed to hold the event next year in Muncie, and ISU is expected to host the symposium in even-numbered years, Ferguson said.

Contact: Mary Ferguson, university diversity officer, Office of Diversity, Indiana State University, 812-237-2877 or mary.ferguson@indstate.edu.

Writer: Austin Arceo, assistant director of media relations, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3790 or austin.arceo-negrich@indstate.edu.