Diversity Conference: April 16, 2010
Join us Friday, April 16, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., for the annual Indian Hills Community College Diversity Conference: Many Faces, One Vision.
Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa Campus
Registration: $15
Student Registration: $5
(Note: Must present a current Student I.D. to receive the student rate of $5.)
Keynote Speaker
Rekha Basu, noted columnist for the Des Moines Register, is nationally featured in Gannett newspapers. She comments on a range of issues with a focus on human rights, racial justice, and gender equality. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, USA Today, India Today, and The International Herald Tribune. She has appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, National Public Radio, and C-Span.
Basu holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Brandeis University, a master's in political economy from Goddard-Cambridge Graduate School, and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
Title of Presentation: Diverse Iowa: Progress and the Push-Back
Iowa is growing increasingly diverse. Our population is darker, younger, and more apt to be born in a Third World country than at any other period. We are seeing more ethnic mixing and we have gone in a short time span from a state where gay people were invisible to one that recognizes same-sex marriage. Yet what some see as progress, others see as trouble, and they fight it with increasing belligerence. From a statewide English Only law to hate crimes, work-place anti-immigration raids and economic and sexual exploitation, Iowa’s new immigrants face an ugly backlash from segments of the population that do not want them here. Gay people continue to be scapegoats and marginalized. And African-Americans have yet to penetrate in any significant numbers the heart of mainstream Iowa society. What will it take to better integrate our state? And what do we stand to gain or lose from the end result?
Please check back for speaker updates.
Contact
Norma Rosales
phone: (641) 683-5755 or (800) 726-2585, ext. 5755
email: