Our May 7 book discussion event is quickly approaching, and we hope many of you will be able to participate. Attached is our promotional flyer; newjimcrowevent.

DATE:  Tuesday, May 7, 2013
TIME:  11:30 AM – 1 PM
LOCATION: Furman 303

Please bring a friend and your lunch.

If you have not yet read the book – The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander– we have some copies available in Furman 104.  Please contact Lynda Thomas about borrowing one: lynda.thomas@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-4661.

If we run out of books and/or you run out of time before the event, we encourage you to look at one of Alexander’s recent lectures online and come participate anyway:  Michelle Alexander’s Oregon Humanities Center Lecture.

It may not seem readily apparent from the title that this book is directly related to our work as an educational community.  As you read it, you’ll discover that it is about basic civil and human rights, the formation and perpetuation of racial stereotypes, the importance of paying attention to cultural and individual silences, the unconscious bias in our expectations of youth, the pitfalls of a personal responsibility credo, the marginalization and dismantling of families/communities, etc.  It is a powerful read.

Posted by Stacey Lee

The College of Education 

Please join us for a screening on campus:
3:00 p.m. – May 3,  OSU Film Screening (in conjunction with TCE 576 ESOL class), Furman 101

Everyone is welcome to attend one or more of the above screenings.

All screenings will be followed by an open Question and Answer session with the filmmaker.  Questions can be submitted in advance to RSVP@oregonstate.edu.

Posted by Cheridy Aduviri

Our second book discussion event will be on Tuesday, May 7 at 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM.  We’re reading Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.  Lynda Thomas (lynda.thomas@oregonstate.edu) has copies available to lend in Furman 104.

“The New Jim Crow is essential reading for anyone who cares about justice, humanity, and the future of our democracy.”—California Lawyer, as cited on http://newjimcrow.com.

Posted by Stacey Lee

As part of our continuing professional development, the College of Education’s Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Work Group is hosting a chat for any interested students, staff, and faculty. We’ll watch and discuss the educational implications of Chimamanda Adichie’s powerful TED talk: The Danger of a Single Story.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/en//id/652

Our campus partner discussion is tentatively set for Tuesday, March 19.

The Office of Equity and Inclusion is accepting applications for  9-week “Intergroup Dialogues” this spring for staff, faculty, and students: http://oregonstate.edu/oei/igd.

Applications are due April 1, 2013, for the 2013 Difference, Power, & Discrimination (DPD) Faculty Seminar: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/dpd/dpd-faculty-seminar.

Posted by Stacey Lee

Posted by Ken Winograd

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/06/study-aims-learn-why-some-black-men-succeed-college

Posted by Kris Elliott

The legal document attached is the product of a long-standing desegregation case and impacts the recent law that led to the dissolution of Mexican American Studies in k-12 schools in Tucson. It is the Unitary Status Plan as written by the Special Master to the court (a court appointed advisor to the parties in the law suit and the court).  While the document is long and addresses other concerns including schooling of ELLs, it also includes two  (what I believe to be) important issues (among many!).

First, noted on p. 5 under “Legal Standard,” is that schools must “eliminate the vestiges of the prior de jure segregation … “  This seems to expand the conversation of desegregation of schools well beyond the presence of “diverse” racial/ethnic bodies in schools, to include all that went on inside once segregated schools to include curriculum and instruction.

The second important issue builds on the first and, as discussed on p. 36 of the document, calls for the implementation of “culturally relevant courses of instruction designed to reflect the history, experiences, and culture of African American and Mexican American communities.”  This would appear to call for the district to reinstate Mex Am courses that were cancelled earlier as a result of state law.

A judge will now review the plan and announce a decision.  At that point the decision will become a precedent for similarly situated school issues.

http://www.tucsonusp.com/

Posted by Rick Orozco

(A) read the first couple chapters and the last couple chapters and/or

(B) watch one of the following Claude Steele lectures:

http://brown.edu/web/livestream/archive/2012-steele.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOjiAivuPfI&feature=share&list=FLYtp74jGqSdHJdIh9v61MNQ
http://universityprograms.columbia.edu/university-lecture-provost-claude-m-steele

That should give you enough background information to participate.  We’d love to have as many people as possible be part of this important discussion.

Posted by Stacey Lee

Posted by Stacey Lee