With its emphases on understanding and embracing linguistic and cultural diversity, on investigating and understanding language structure and usage, and on promoting multilingual literacy, creative writing, and translation, the DWLLC is central to both the University’s mission of diversity, equity and inclusion, and to its status as the Writing University.

The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamental to the mission of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa, as we conduct our work in the context of the whole of humanity.

• In our teaching, we draw on, explore, and question every facet of human experience and understanding.
• In our scholarship, scientific inquiry, and artistry, we create new knowledge and insight, reflecting and shaping the cultures and societies in which human lives unfold.
• In our service to Iowans, we collaborate with communities to solve critical problems arising from inequity.

DEI values are inseparable from those of the liberal arts tradition. To fully realize our college’s critical mission of advancing human understanding within that tradition, we must actualize these values in every aspect of our decision-making and every area of our academic community.

Race, Ethnicity, Language, and Culture Symposium: Advocating for DEI in the Academy

Thursday, October 6, 2022 - Saturday, October 8, 2022

Funding for the symposium provided by The Stanley-University of Iowa Foundation Support Organization

This event is hosted by the UI Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures with support from UI International Programs.

Following the resurgence of protests against racialized police violence since May 2020, citizens, activists, artists, and academic communities across the globe have renewed efforts to reflect on and respond to issues of race and ethnicity and racial and ethnic discrimination. The University of Iowa Division of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (DWLLC) has joined these efforts. Racial and ethnic hatred is increasing around the world. As educators, we share the University of Iowa’s initiatives in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the goal of supporting students on the path to becoming antiracist global citizens. Antiracism is the “active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably” (The National Action Committee on the Status of Women International Perspectives: Women and Global Solidarity). Becoming an antiracist is always a work in progress and depends on who you are. The public discussion of antiracism is informed by research in a diverse array of fields including sociology, English, African-American studies, linguistics, literary and cultural studies, and media studies. Part of understanding race in America means understanding that anti-Blackness, ethnic discrimination, and colonialism are global issues. Acknowledging and addressing structural inequalities in the cultures that DWLLC and its constituent units represent, and how they advantage some and disadvantage others, is an essential part of our curricula and research programs, and innovative learning takes place in many forms. We look forward to a multidisciplinary dialogue and exchange of ideas concerning global ethnic and antiracism studies.

This three-day symposium will bring together leaders and scholars from across disciplines and geographic areas and engage them in an open dialogue about the opportunities that advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academy provides.