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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GLOBAL LEARNING AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Dr. Ronald Takaki to Give Conference Keynote Address

(WORCESTER – September 13, 2005)  Worcester State College (WSC) will hold an important conference, “Pedagogical Changes to Enhance Global Learning and Social Responsibility,” Saturday, October 1, 2005, at the Holiday Inn, Lincoln Street, Worcester, beginning with an 8:30 a.m. registration. Ronald Takaki, Ph.D., professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, will provide the keynote address, “A Pedagogy for a Diverse America,” at 9:45 a.m.

Takaki taught UCLA’s first Black History course. While there, he helped to found the UCLA Centers for African-American, Asian-American, Chicano, and Native-American Studies. He returned to UC Berkeley as chairperson of the Ethnic Studies Department. He is a prolific writer with several award winning books including: A Pro-Slavery Crusade, Violence in the Black Imagination, the critically acclaimed Iron Cages, a study of race and culture in America; the Pulitzer Prize nominated Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans and A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.

The conference will include two concurrent sessions featuring several facilitators:   

Norman Barber, Ed.D., director of Residential Educational Programs & Assessment at UMass, Dartmouth, will lead an interactive workshop, “Identities and Ideologies Pedagogical Changes to Engage Differences in the Classroom,”  to explore how various dimensions of college teaching and learning can maintain the pedagogical integrity and expectations of the college experience. Barber holds an Ed.D. from UMass Amherst and has served as a faculty fellow with the New England Center for the Improvement of Teaching at UMass Boston.

Shirley S. Tang, Ph.D., assistant professor in Asian Studies and American Studies at UMass Boston, will present “The Power of Digital Stories.”  Her workshop will explore the use of digital stories to challenge and redefine dominant and distorted representations, and also enables students of diverse backgrounds to examine their historical and social identifies, to build more inclusive communities. She will be assisted by Ms. Molly Lamb, photojournalist and artist-in-residence with UMass Boston’s Asian American Studies Program.

Natalie A. Mello, WPI’s director of Global Operations in the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division, David DiBiasio, associate professor of Chemical Engineering at WPI, as well as assessment coordinator for the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division and director of the Washington, D.C. project center; and J. Robert Krueger, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Worcester Community Project Center will facilitate the workshop, “Overcoming Barriers to Pedagogical Change: WPI’s Global Perspective Program as a Case Study.” This workshop will provide information to help faculty overcome the multidimensional barriers to international study.

Educators, faculty, teachers and administrators may register or receive additional information by calling the Worcester State College Office of Diversity at 508-929-8117. Lunch and PDP’s are included in the registration fee of $50 ($40 before September 19).

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