As a highlight of this year’s Asian Pacific Heritage Month programming, students, faculty and staff are invited to attend a day-long training that focuses on increasing diversity skill sets, community building and cultivating trusting relationships on April 23. The , in collaboration with Hendricks Chapel, is hosting Lee Mun Wah, accomplished filmmaker, author, educator and master diversity trainer. The program, “An Unfinished Conversation,” is free and includes breakout sessions designed for the campus populations. Registration is required before April 16.
Lee Mun Wah
“We are very excited to bring Lee Mun Wah to ϲ to inspire our campus community, “ says Huey Hsiao, associate director in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “His program will further strengthen the bridges we’ve built on our campus in a way that is meaningful and lasting.”
Lee Mun Wah is a Chinese American community therapist, documentary filmmaker, special education educator, performing poet, Asian folkteller and author. He is also director of StirFry Seminars & Consulting, which works with corporations, government agencies, educational institutions and social agencies to facilitate diversity issues through healthy and authentic cross cultural relationships.
Schedule of Events on April 23
For Faculty and Staff
Creating Community in a Diverse School Environment; 9:30 a.m.-noon, Peter Graham Scholarly Commons (114 Bird)
This workshop provides basic, practical techniques on how to develop alliances and a sense of community among multicultural groups. The focus will be on how to create an environment of trust and a sense of community where similarities and differences are valued, acknowledged and considered useful.
Register
For Students
How to Have A Dialogue Across Cultures; 2-4 p.m., Peter Graham Scholarly Commons
So often we are afraid to begin a conversation on diversity issues because we have had a bad experience or feel others will say something wrong or hurtful. In this workshop, we will practice talking to people different than ourselves in a compassionate and honest way. We will learn that we are not alone in our fears and that although we all lack “models” that show us how to have these difficult dialogues well, the most important ingredient is our sincerity and our willingness to learn from and understand one another.
Register
Open to the Community
“If These Halls Could Talk” Film Showing, Community Address and Diversity Dialogue; 6:30-9 p.m., Maxwell Auditorium; no registration required
In the summer of 2010, Lee Mun Wah brought together 11 college students from around the country to explore issues of race on their campuses. In the process of sharing their stories and different life experiences with each other, they discover and expose the complexity and anguish that accompany those experiences, while trying to be understood and validated in a predominantly white environment. Their stories are starkly emotional and the issues they provoke are equally perplexing, begging to be heard and confronted. A preview of this new documentary film can be found at .
Additional sponsors of the day include The College of Arts and Sciences, Asian/Asian American Studies Program, Asian Students in America, Communication and Rhetorical Studies Program, Disability Cultural Center, LGBT Resource Center, Office of Associate Provost for Academic Programs, Office of Residence Life and The Renée Crown University Honors Program.
For more information, contact Hsiao at 315-443-9676 or huhsiao@syr.edu. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Real time Translation (CART) will be provided for the evening program. For accommodations or dietary need, contact Hsiao by April 16.
