Let’s stop avoiding the issues: Rethinking Race

Issues of race remain so contentious in the United States that many institutions prefer to avoid dialogue on the topic. That’s not the case at the University of Akron, where faculty, staff and students tackle volatile racial topics in a unique endeavor entitled Rethinking Race: Black, White & Beyond. Since 2007, Rethinking Race has explored issues of race in an interdisciplinary, multi-platform and co-curricular series of events. Lectures, plays, concerts, films, panel discussions, poetry, and facilitated conversations not only educate but also provide a safe space for dialogue during the first two weeks of February. Faculty in departments all around campus embed Rethinking Race events in their spring semester syllabi. Assessment data, quantitative and qualitative, reveal that attendee are challenged, inspired and informed. Rethinking Race is a model that can be adapted in any educational institution that is willing to take on the challenge. This presentation will provide information and suggestions on doing just that