Each Spring, UMD’s Commission on Equity, Race, and Ethnicity (CERE) sponsors a Summit on Equity, Race, and Ethnicity. This year, the event will be hosted at UMD on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The theme is Shifting Narratives: Power, Identity and Place, and English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies (ELWS) faculty are a key part of this event.
Presenting at the Summit on Equity, Race, and Ethnicity
An array of ELWS faculty are set to present on March 4, 2020, at the Summit.
Associate Professor David Beard will present in RDC 301 from 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on “Accounts of the Enemy in US, Hmong, and Vietnamese Soldiers’ Literary Reflections on the War in a Writing Studies Class.” Beard talks about lessons learned from listening to students as he worked to internationalize and diversify the content of his class, which explores multiple genres of writing about the Vietnam War. (More information about this project can be found on the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute website).
Professor Elizabethada Wright and MA student Asmita Ghimire will be presenting the short film Writing Across Borders, created by Oregon State University Center for Learning and Writing, and leading a discussion after the presentation. This subject of this film is the importance of multilingualism in all classrooms--especially the traditionally monolingual one.
Carrying the Theme of “Shifting Narratives” Beyond the Summit
ELWS Faculty Lindsey Jungman and Kevin Swanberg are part of both the larger CERE group and its subcommittee on small events, where they have encouraged UMD to think about “Shifting Narratives” beyond the March 4 date.
According to Jungman, “On February 12 at 6 p.m., we’re excited to show the film "Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian," a documentary that follows this year’s Summit keynote speaker, Kate Beane, as she explores the life of her famous relative Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman). Then on March 19 at 4 p.m., Carter Meland, an Anishinaabe writer who teaches at the U of M, will lead a discussion of his wonderful book Stories for a Lost Child; the UMD Library has both physical and electronic copies available to check out. Both events will provide an opportunity to expand the conversations sparked at the Summit.”
Swanberg, reflecting on CERE’s mission, says “the Summit, but also the events surrounding the Summit, are an important part of UMD’s mission and a valuable contribution to the Duluth community. With 2020 being the 100th anniversary of the 1920 Duluth Lynchings, it is important that UMD reaffirm its commitment to create a community that is both inclusive and representative of all. Sharing diverse perspectives at these events is a step in that direction.”
The Commission on Equity Race & Ethnicity (CERE) works to create an equitable campus community for people of all racial, ethnic, and intersecting identities through education and institutional change.
Visit the Summit on Equity, Race and Ethnicity website for more information.