Fall surrounds the Memorial Belltower. PHOTO BY ROGER WINSTEAD

NC State’s 6th annual Diversity Education Week will take place this week. A featured part of the annual celebration is the Fall Diversity Dialogue. Two sessions of an interactive and engaging workshop entitled, “The Identity Compass” will be offered to students, faculty and staff during the week. Student leaders from the Union Activities Board and Student Government will co-facilitate the workshop with professional staff from the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.

One fallacy associated with understanding diversity is that it is one or two dimensional.  No one is uni-dimensional. Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept.  We learn about our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organizations, institutions, media and other connections we make in our everyday life. Self-exploration is central to our growth as individuals, our relationships with others, and our ability to promote equity. Our various social identities – sex, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, socioeconomic class, religion and ability, among others – are important aspects of ourselves that shape our attitudes, behaviors, worldviews and experiences. As we work to create and participate in diverse and democratic environments, we need to understand how our own and others’ identities affect our lives and our interactions with each other.

In this thought-provoking workshop, participants will have the opportunity to consider the impact of multiple aspects of their own identities, while hearing and sharing stories and experiences that acknowledge difference, privilege, oppression and perspective.

We invite you to attend one of these workshop sessions:

Tuesday, October 13, 2015
7:00-8:30 p.m.
Woodward Student Involvement Center
Talley Student Union, 4th Floor

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
4:00-5:30 p.m.
Washington Sankofa Room
African American Cultural Center
Witherspoon Student Center, Room 126

• Please see the complete schedule of Diversity Education Week activities at go.ncsu.edu/dew and join us for as many as you can!
• Download and print the D.E.W. 2015 Poster!

Dr. Tracey Ray is assistant vice provost for student diversity in the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.