The annual University of Wisconsin-Madison Diversity Forum, titled “Beyond the Numbers: Relationships, Retention and Reality,” will be held Wednesday and Thursday, on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 in Union South.
The Oct. 31 keynote speaker will be Talithia Williams, Ph.D., a professor, statistician, mathematician, specialist in the spatiotemporal structure of data and first black woman to achieve tenure at Harvey Mudd College. She will discuss the changing culture of higher education and effective techniques for recruiting and retaining students and faculty from underrepresented communities in “Power in Numbers: Data-driven decision making for inclusive education.”
Williams will share her personal journey as a woman of color in STEM and examine current benchmarks shown to be effective in retaining underrepresented students in STEM. Using data to capture the many facets of the problem, she will highlight best practices embraced by institutions that have had success in these areas.
Wednesday’s session also will include a panel discussion on making STEM classrooms more inclusive, a message from Chancellor Rebecca Blank, a special viewing of the STARZ documentary “America to Me” followed by a Q&A with UW–Madison graduates, Jessica Stovall (’07) and Adam Levin (’11), who were featured in the series.
Day one will close with “Reality vs. Perception: A town hall discussion about demographic change in America and the backlash against it.” The discussion will explore research into the rapid demographic changes taking place in the United States, and how those changes have been written about, talked about, processed and reacted to in American mass media, politics and culture. Featuring experts from UW’s Applied Population Lab, Political Science Department and School of Journalism and Mass Media, the town hall will tackle topics that are often tough to talk about, but which are vital for achieving a more just and equitable society for all people.
On Thursday, Nov. 1, the Diversity Forum will host breakout sessions focusing on diversity and inclusion topics relevant to our educational work within the global perspective of the world we prepare students to enter.
Thursday breakout sessions will include:
◉ Cultivating Police-Community Trust
◉ Trans/forming Allyship: Inclusive Practices to Support Transgender People and Gender Diversity
◉ The Color of Drinking and Beyond: Alcohol as a Social Justice Issue
◉ Combatting Sexual Assault and Misconduct on Campus
◉ Our Place on Campus: Cultural Centers at UW–Madison
◉ Crisis on Campus: Turning Mental Illness into Wellness
◉ How Does Masculinity Evolve?
◉ Creating Gender-Inclusive Restrooms on Campus
◉ The Center for Educational Opportunity: 25 Years of Supporting Academic Excellence, Retention and Graduation
◉ Hostile and Intimidating Behavior Prevention
◉ Better Relationships, Better Reality: A Meditation Workshop
Register today for both or either day of the 2018 Diversity Forum at go.wisc.edu/diversityforum2018.
