Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
The Office of the Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity will sponsor a diversity film series for the entire University community during the Fall 2008 semester. The series will include a three-part film title, “Race – The Power of an Illusion.” “Race – The Power of an Illusion” challenges one of our most fundamental beliefs: that humans come divided into a few distinct biological groups. This definitive three-part series is an eye-opening tale of how what we assume to be normal, common sense, even scientific, is actually shaped by our history, social institutions and cultural beliefs.
The film series will be open to faculty, staff and students, with a maximum attendance of 50 people at each session. Lunch will be provided. Dr. Venessa A. Brown, Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity, will serve as the facilitator at each session.
The schedule is as follows:
| Episode 1 – The Difference Between Us Everyone can tell a Norwegian from a Nubian, so why doesn't it make sense to sort people into biological races? Examine the contemporary science – including genetics – that challenges our assumptions about human groups. Date: Thursday, September 25, 2008 |
| Episode 2 – The Story We Tell Hasn't race always been with us? Explore the roots of the race concept, including the 19th Century science that justified it and how it gained such a hold over our minds. |
| Episode 3 – The House We Live In Race may be a biological myth, but racism gives different groups vastly different life chances. Forty years after the Civil Rights Movement, the playing field is still not level and “colorblind” policies only perpetuate inequality. Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2008 |