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The Â鶹´«Ã½Diversity Lecture Series offers lectures, workshops, and cultural programming that critically examine issues of diversity, equity, and justice. The spring 2009 will offer events on both the University Campus and Westbrook College Campus around the theme "Arts & Justice." 

Programs are sponsored by Multicultural Affairs in collaboration with various academic departments, student affairs, student groups, Â鶹´«Ã½Art Gallery, Maine Women Writers Collection, and community groups and arts organizations.
 
All programs are free and open to the Â鶹´«Ã½community and public. FMI contact Â鶹´«Ã½Multicultural Affairs at (207) 602-2461 or dgaspar@une.edu.

January

Wednesday,  January 21 
University Campus Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote: Carlos Muñoz, Jr., Ph.D.
"From Dr. King to President Obama: A Call for an Authentic Multiracial Democracy"
12:00 p.m. Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus

Rescheduled to Thursday, Jan. 29th

Westbrook College Campus Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote:  Ruby Nell Sales 
“I Too Sing America” – The Arts as a Metaphor for Healing and Social Movement
12:00 p.m., Ludcke Auditorium, Portland Campus

February

Tuesday, February 3
“Racilicious: When Race and Pop Culture Collide”
Presenter: Carmen Van Kerckhove, co-founder and president of the diversity education firm New Demographic
8:00 p.m.  Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus

From the neo-minstrelsy of Flavor of Love to the racial segregation on Survivor, from the race swapping families on Black.White to the fascination of interracial sex, from Gwen Stefani’s use of Harajuku girls as mute human props to Angelina Jolie’s obsession with international adoption, from Micahel Richards’ lynching tirade to Rosie O’Donnell’s “ching chong” remarks, race and pop culture are colliding more now than ever before. What does pop culture reveal about our attitudes toward race and racism?  Does pop culture’s treatment of race help or harm discussions about race?  As consumers of pop culture, what kinds of stereotypes and assumptions should we look out for?

Co-sponsored with Student Affairs & Residential Education & Housing

Thursday, February 5 
"Arts In Community Panel Discussion"
In collaboration with PCA Great Performances
Presenters: PCA Visiting artist composer/violinst Daniel Bernard Roumain and Portland visual artist Daniel Minter.  Conversation moderated by Marty Pottenger, Director of the Portland Arts & Equity Initiative
5:30-6:30 panel discussion    
6:30-7:30  Reception/Freedom Place Collection Art Exhibit
Â鶹´«Ã½Art Gallery, Portland Campus

Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a Haitian-American artist, who has carved a reputation for himself as a passionately innovative composer, performer, violinist, educator and band leader.  He is known for fusing his classical music roots with a myriad of soundscapes. As a composer, his dramatic soul-inspiring pieces range from orchestral scores and energetic chamber works to rock songs and electronica. His unique hybrid style continues to capture new music lovers worldwide.  His work has been heard at Australia's famed Sydney Opera to BAM's Next Wave Festival. His Call Them All: Fantasy Projections for Film, Laptop, and Orchestra, an orchestral work, received its world premiere at Carnegie's Zankel Hall by the American Composers Orchestra. Roumain has worked with Philip Glass, DJ Spooky, Vernon Reid, Savion Glover, and Cassandra Wilson, and many others.

Daniel Minter is originally from Georgia but currently lives and works in Maine as a professional illustrator, arts educator, painter and sculptor. Minter's artwork is a study of memory: the many ways in which memory is embedded into our past, present and future. Using archetypes, symbols, icons and folklore steeped in the context of African-American and African-Diasporic culture, Minter creates a visual vocabulary.

Marty Pottenger, who will serve as the panel discussion moderator, is an Obi-award winning playwright, performance artist, director and political activist and a pioneer in the community arts and civic dialogue movement.  A longtime New Yorker, she is currently living in Maine and working with the City of Portland as the director of the Arts & Equity Initiative (AEI), a national experiment to improve municipal government's policies and practices through strategic arts projects with city employees, elected officials and unions.

Cosponsored with PCA Great Performances and Â鶹´«Ã½Art Gallery

Thursday, February 12  
Celebrating A Century: NAACP Founders Day
Presenters: Gerald Talbot, author of Maine’s Visible Black History and first President of NAACP Portland branch; Representative Herbert Adams, legislator and historian
12:00 p.m.  Ludcke Auditorium, Portland Campus

Gerald E. Talbot is a Democratic Party elder, civil rights leader, legislator (1972-78), author, activist, and co-founder of the African American Collection of Maine at the University of Southern Maine. He is one of the leading researchers of African American and civil rights history in the State of Maine.  As an activist, he involved himself in the local NAACP, and was one of a handful of down easters to join the "March for Jobs and Freedom" in Washington, D.C. in 1963. He was elected president of the revitalized Portland NAACP in 1964, joined the voter registration drive in Mississippi and was a key figure in helping to pass Maine's 1966 "Fair Housing Bill." In 1972 Gerald E. Talbot became the first African American elected to the Maine State Legislature.

State Rep. Herbert Adams represents the Parkside and Bayside neighborhoods of Portland which include the most densely populated and ethnically diverse square mile in Maine. Rep. Adams previously served in the Maine House of Representatives during the 114th, 115th, 116th and the 117th Legislatures. He is a co-founder of the Parkside Neighborhood Association, created to combat inner city issues such as crime, and substandard housing. As a writer, Rep. Adams' work can be seen on various PBS, A&E and History Channel shows about Maine and American history. He is author or contributor to many books, including the award-winning "Bold Vision: the History of the Portland Park System" (2000). Rep. Adams is an instructor in Maine Government and Civics at the University of Southern Maine.

Cosponsored with NAACP Portland Branch and Â鶹´«Ã½Department of Social Work

Tuesday Feb. 24 
“Critical Issues in Healthcare in Portland's Immigrant and Refugee Communities”
Presenter:  Kolawole Bankole, M.D., M.S., Director of Office of Minority Health, Portland
12:00 p.m. CHP Lecture Hall, Portland Campus

March

Tuesday, March 17
“Preparing Teachers to Work In Multicultural Classrooms”
Presenter: Grace Valenzuela, Director of the Portland Schools Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Programs
4:00-5:30  Café Function Rooms, Biddeford Campus

Cosponsored with Â鶹´«Ã½Department of Education

Liz Funk is a student and writer who focuses on young women and Generation Y.   She has published in USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, Newsday, and CosmoGIRL.  Ms. Funk is a member of YPulse’s Advisory Board and has served on the National Organization for Women Young Feminist Task Force. Supergirls Speak Out is her first book being published in March, 2009.

Monday, March 30
“The Female Ideal in
Generation Y”
Presenter: Liz Funk
Reschedued at 7 p.m., Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center , Biddeford Campus

Workshop: Changing Your Attitude Towards Your Body Image
This workshop will follow the 7 p.m. lecture on  â€šÃ„úThe Female Ideal in
Generation Y, " Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus
Cosponsored with Â鶹´«Ã½Department of Women’s Studies & SHAC student club as part of Body Image Awareness Week.

Tuesday, March 31
“A First Person Perspective on Eating Disorders:  What Health Professionals Should Know”
12:00 p.m.  CHP Lecture Hall, Portland Campus

April

Wednesday, April 1
“What’s Diversity Have To Do With My Career?  Diversity, Inclusion & Equity in the Workplace”
Presenter:  Donna Bivens, diversity consultant and trainer and former co-director of the Women’s Theological Center in Boston.
12:00 p.m. Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus

Cosponsored with Â鶹´«Ã½Career Services as part of Career Services Career Fair.

Elisha Miranda is a filmmaker (screenwriter, director, producer) and author. She is a Co-Founder of Chica Luna Productions, a non-profit organization that develops and trains emerging young women of color filmmakers. Ms. Miranda’s company, Sister Outsider Entertainment produces multicultural media.

Tuesday April 7
Pandora's: From the Theater to the Street
A Toolkit for Increasing Awareness & Fighting Heterosexism 
7:00 p.m.  MPRs, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus

Wednesday, April 8
"Corporate Dawgz" Film and Discussion on Anti-Racism Issues
12:00 p.m.   CHP Lecture Hall, Portland Campus

Cosponsored by Department of Women’s Studies

The "Vagina Monologues" is an award-winning play that celebrates women’s sexuality and strength based on V-Day Founder/playwright Eve Ensler's interviews with more than 200 women. The V-Day Campaign was created to fundraise and raise awareness about violence against women and girls. In 2009, the V-Day spotlight Campaign is Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power To The Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Wednesday, April 15 and Thursday, April 16
“The Vagina Monologues”  Student Performance and V-Day Campaign
8:00 p.m.  Multipurpose Rooms, Campus Center, Biddeford Campus

Cosponsored with the Alliance student club, Office of Citizenship/Service Learning, and Department of Residential Education & Housing.