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On speech and belonging

john a. powell, director, Othering & Belonging Institute | September 18, 2017

Today and in the upcoming weeks there are those scheduled to make appearances on our campus who are not coming here for dialogue. These speakers are not using their right to speak merely to communicate, they are using speech carefully crafted to harm, to demonize, to disparage, to create a sense of fear about anyone they deem Other. … Continue reading »

Radical for each other right now

Savala N. Trepczynski, director, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice | December 16, 2016

If certain things about President-elect Trump remain unclear — policy positions, his taxes, his ultimate vision — one thing is certain: he has peeled back the worn-out bandage on America’s most infected wounds and summoned some of humanity’s darkest impulses. How we respond to his presence may, indeed, determine not just who we include when … Continue reading »

Five ways to build caring community on social media

Jeremy Adam Smith, Editor, Greater Good Magazine | November 30, 2015

As news of the terrorist attacks in Paris spread through social media, responses followed a pattern I’ve come to know well. First, shock and grief. Friends and followers share video and pictures that are almost pornographic in their deracinated intensity. The images appear with no context, and we see only running, screaming, guns, and blood. … Continue reading »

TV’s Dora takes kids exploring where schools fear to tread

Bruce Fuller, professor of education and public policy | September 15, 2014

“For my kids to learn a second language — it’s so important to me,” Christiane Gauthier said in mournful tones, her own mother’s native Spanish fading fast among younger generations. Many parents share this lament as our children remain ill prepared for a diverse society, along with a job market that already rewards bilingual workers, … Continue reading »

Diversity in economics

Carola Conces Binder, Ph.D. candidate, economics | August 22, 2013

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, in an interview earlier this month, pointed out that there are no women on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). There also happen to be no female ministers in the Treasury. Carney suggested, “What we have to do at the Bank of England is grow top female economists all the … Continue reading »

Drawing from experience

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, professor of psychology | March 25, 2011

Many years of studying intergroup conflict have taught me this: the world is like a coloring book, and culture our crayons. You see, the world provides us with only an outline, a suggestion, of what the boundaries of our experience should be. We fill in these outlines with our own interpretations, value systems, and behavior … Continue reading »