March 2022

Peace Corps Week

Feb. 27-March 5
UA students

Join the Capstone International Center in celebrating Peace Corps Week, which commemorates the establishment of the agency and recognizes all the ways that the Peace Corps makes a difference at home and abroad. Hear from volunteers about their service experience at the Returned Peace Corps Panel March 1 at 6 p.m. in 109 BB Comer. Virtually meet your local Peace Corps representative, Kenyatta Spiller, on March 4 at 11 a.m. Registration is required.

Diversity, Coffee and Conversations

Tuesday, March 1 | 8:30-10 a.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students, staff and faculty

The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s monthly Diversity, Coffee and Conversations meeting will focus on the Women’s History Month national theme of “providing healing and promoting hope,” featuring speaker Dr. Elle Shabaan-Magaña, executive director of the UA Women and Gender Resource Center. Breakfast, coffee and other refreshments will be provided. Diversity, Coffee and Conversations take place on first Tuesdays. For more information, contact the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at diversity@ua.edu.

Women’s History Month Presentation

Tuesday, March 1 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
(Educational Engagement)

The Intercultural Diversity Center will provide a PowerPoint presentation in observance of Women’s History Month focused on the 2022 theme of “providing healing and promoting hope.” This presentation will feature women who made an impact within their communities – nationally and locally – by promoting cultural learning, sharing and teaching. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Education Abroad Pop-Up Advising

Tuesday, March 1, 8, 22, 29 | 1-3 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
Tuesday, March 1 | 2-3 p.m. | Safe Zone Resource Center, 2418 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
UA Students only

The Capstone International Center will host weekly information sessions on studying abroad. These sessions will provide advising on the overall process and timeline for studying abroad, dispelling myths about Education Abroad, and program searching. For more information, contact the Capstone International Center at cic@ua.edu.

Cinnamon Rolls, Not Gender Roles: Language and Voice

Tuesday, March 1, 8 | 1 p.m. | Safe Zone Lounge, 2418 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students only

The Safe Zone Resource Center will host its weekly Cinnamon Rolls, not Gender Roles program for individuals of all identities to come together, eat pastries, and discuss topics concerning gender identity and performance in our current culture and climate. This group meets weekly on Tuesdays. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Diversity Speaker Series: Ashley M. Jones Virtual Keynote

Tuesday, March 1 | 6-7 p.m. | Zoom
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)

Ashley M. Jones, Poet Laureate of the State of Alabama (2022-2026), holds an MFA in Poetry from Florida International University, and she is the author of Magic City Gospel (Hub City Press 2017), dark thing (Pleiades Press 2019), and REPARATIONS NOW! (Hub City Press 2021). Her poetry has earned several awards, including the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Book Awards, the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Prize for Poetry, a Literature Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, and the Lucille Clifton Legacy Award. She was a finalist for the Ruth Lily Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship in 2020. Her poems and essays appear in or are forthcoming at CNN, POETRY, The Oxford American, Origins Journal, The Quarry by Split This Rock, Obsidian, and many others. She co-directs PEN Birmingham, and she is the founding director of the Magic City Poetry Festival. She teaches in the Creative Writing Department of the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and she is part of the Core Faculty of the Converse College Low Residency MFA Program. She recently served as a guest editor for Poetry Magazine. Registration is required.  For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

MA Thesis Exhibition of Will Henry

Wednesday, March 2-Wednesday, March 9 | Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Woods Hall
Reception: Thursday, March 3 | 4-6 p.m. | Sella-Granata Art Gallery
Gallery hours: Monday/Wednesday 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Tuesday/Thursday 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

The UA Department of Art and Art History presents the MA thesis exhibition of Will Henry, a graduate assistant in printmaking with a secondary concentration in photography. He has produced an exhibition, primarily of ink drawings on paper, titled “Heaven Sent…Hell Bound, Transmutations, A Heathen’s Heresy: Story of a Gritty Loser.” Henry’s work reflects his experiences as a Black queer nonbinary man reimagined through visual elements such as Black and queer cultural tropes and religious iconography, in order to examine themes of the constructed self, sexuality, intimacy, violence, culture, and the human desire to be seen and heard. “Feelings of displacement, yearning and angst often emerge when living an intersectional reality in a binary world,” Henry writes in his artist statement. “Embracing and expressing every facet of my experience, I construct a nonlinear narrative in hopes of personal reconciliation and a queer salvation.” Henry, a second-year graduate student, received the BFA in studio art from the University of Montevallo in 2017 with concentrations in photography, graphic design and printmaking and a minor in art history. For more information, go to the gallery’s webpage. Information about visitor parking is available on the UA parking services website. For more information, contact the gallery at 205-348-1893.

One Little Girl: Denise McNair and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Exhibition

Continues through Saturday, March 19 | Noon- 5 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)

The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion presents the inaugural viewing of “One Little Girl: Denise McNair and the 16^th Street Baptist Church Bombing,” an exhibit specially curated by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Autherine Lucy: Forgotten Hero Campus Tours

Wednesday, March 2 and March 23 | 9-10:30 a.m. | Starts at Malone-Hood Plaza in front of Foster Auditorium

This is a counter-narrative tour led by Meredith Bagley, UA associate professor of Communication Studies, about the event of Autherine Lucy’s 1956 enrollment at UA and the ongoing, dynamic public memory landscape that is the UA campus. This is a walking tour and participants should dress for the weather.

Multi-Cultural Coffee Hour

Friday, March 4, 25 | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA Faculty/Students and Staff

The International Student & Scholar Services and the Intercultural Diversity Center will host weekly coffee hours for students, faculty and staff to come and enjoy free coffee, tea, snacks, and conversation with others from around the world. For more information, contact Sonya Harwood-Johnson in International Student and Scholar Services at sonya.harwood@ua.edu.

Rainbow Connection

Friday, March 4, 25 | 2-3 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Social Enrichment)
UA Students only

The Safe Zone Resource Center will host its weekly support and dialogue group for LGBTQIA+ identified students and their allies, Rainbow Connection. This group provides an opportunity to form supportive friendships with other group members, learn resilience skills and strategies for self-care, and set personal goals. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Social Justice Movie Series: ‘Arise – Women Healing the Environment’

Friday, March 4 | 7 p.m. | Virtual
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)

The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Spring 2022 Social Justice Movie Series with a showing of “Arise – Women Healing the Environment.” Participants will hear the stories of a diverse group of 13 women in five countries who have initiated solution-oriented environmental projects in their communities, towns and villages. The film challenges our current way of thinking about the environment and encourages a shift in values to find a different, healthier way to view our relationship to the earth. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Celestia Morgan: Disparities Exhibition

March 4-May 20 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-8 p.m. First Fridays | Paul R. Jones Museum
Reception for the artist: Friday, April 1 | 5-8 p.m. | Paul R. Jones Museum

What does it mean in our society, one of the richest in the world, to not only systematically deny opportunities for progress and prosperity, but to also obstruct access to basic life needs such as food and housing? Celestia Morgan’s new work continues within her series of critically acclaimed photos and visual works titled “REDLINE.” In visually frank images, Morgan’s work displays and discusses historically deep-rooted inequalities related to housing and other basic life necessities. She works across several artistic mediums, incorporating sculpture, map-making and community engagement as well as photography and video into her work.

Celestia Morgan was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She earned her BFA in photography from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2012 and her MFA from The University of Alabama in 2017. Morgan has taught visual arts in the Birmingham City Schools and served as a photography instructor at UA. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at UA.

Morgan’s recent exhibitions include REDLINE at the Birmingham Museum of Art; the National Public Housing Museum’s Undesign the Redline in Chicago; and New Southern Photography, curated by Richard McCabe at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. She has also exhibited her work at the Minneapolis (Minn.) Institute of Art; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas; and the Birmingham (Ala.) Civil Rights Institute. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Lenscratch, The Bitter Southerner, Art Papers, the Southern Foodways Alliance journal Gravy; and Burnaway. Morgan’s work is in the permanent collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Birmingham Museum of Art and in many private collections across the country. This exhibit has been made possible by grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, call 205-345-3038.

Advancing Women in STEM

Friday, March 4| 2-4 p.m. | Camellia Room, Gorgas Library
UA students

Join University Libraries to celebrate women in the sciences. Enjoy refreshments while browsing books about women scientists and the study of gender and sexuality in the sciences, hear from UA faculty about their work in the sciences, and meet faculty and students working in STEM and adjacent fields. Displayed books will be available for checkout from the library. The event includes faculty lightning talks from 2:30-3:30 p.m. with panelists:

• Cadi Fung (Geography)
• Amanda Koh (Chemical Engineering)
• Kimberly Genareau (Geological Sciences)
• Martha Makoswki (Mathematics)
• Kathryn O’Harra (Honors Program, Chemical/Biological Engineering)

From 3:30-4 p.m. guests can enjoy refreshments and browse books during an informal meet-and-greet with faculty.

‘Hattie Mae’s Jook Joint’

Friday, March 4 | 6:30 p.m. | Student Center Theatre, 751 Campus Drive West

Follow the movement of a jook joint and its people from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1938 to St. Louis, Missouri, in 2018 in this new musical that centers and celebrates the role of Black communal spaces over time. “Hattie Mae’s Jook Joint” was conceived by Alvon Reed, UA assistant professor of musical theatre. Support for the staged reading of “Hattie Mae’s Jook Joint” has been made possible through a collaboration with the UA Black Student Union and by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The event is free and open to the public. The event also will be streamed on Zoom. Those interested in the Zoom presentation should email Reed at adreed3@ua.edu for the link.

Celebrating Rosa Parks: A Trip to the Rosa Parks Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative

Saturday, March 5 | 8 a.m.-5 p.m. | Montgomery, Alabama
Reservation deadline: Wednesday, March 2
UA students only

This event, hosted by the Women and Gender Resource Center in partnership with University Programs, will be a trip to the Rosa Parks Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative Museum and Memorial in Montgomery. Transportation and lunch will be provided.

The day of the event, participants should arrive at the Women and Gender Resource Center, 1101 Jackson Ave., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, no later than 8 a.m. Students may reserve a free spot at sltickets.ua.edu. UA COVID protocols as well as the COVID protocols of the Rosa Parks Museum and the Equal Justice Initiative Museum and Memorial will be followed.

Questions or concerns can be directed to Elizabeth Lester, elester1@ua.edu or 205-348-5040.

TEDTalk Tuesdays: ‘Radical Women, Embracing Tradition’

Tuesday, March 8 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Educational Engagement)
UA faculty, staff and students

The Spring 2022 TEDTalk Tuesday Series continues with Kavita Ramdas. Participants will learn why investing in women can unlock infinite potential around the globe, how women can walk the line between Western-style empowerment and traditional culture and preserve the traditions that sustain them. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Cinnamon Rolls, Not Gender Roles: Sports

Tuesday, March 8 | 1 p.m. | Safe Zone Lounge, 2418 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA Students only

The Safe Zone Resource Center will host its weekly Cinnamon Rolls, not Gender Roles program for individuals of all identities to come together, eat pastries, and discuss topics concerning gender identity & performance in our current culture and climate. This group meets weekly on Tuesdays. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Ally Training Program

Tuesday, March 8, | 9-11 a.m. | Zoom
(Educational Engagement/Cultural Exploration)
UA faculty, staff and students

The UA Safe Zone Ally Training Program provides a visible network of allies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) individuals. Safe Zone Allies distribute information regarding sexuality, gender identity, campus and community resources, and methods for reporting harassment and/or discrimination. The Safe Zone Ally Training Program is a two-hour training session that allows participants to: develop a working knowledge of appropriate and respectful LGBTQIA+ terminology; recognize the impact that  campus climate has on individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+; and identify areas of personal growth as a member of the UA community. Following the training program, participants are invited to sign-up to serve as UA Safe Zone Allies. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.

All of Us Research Program

March 8, 10, and 11 | 8 a.m.-2 p.m. |Quad (Honors Hall)

Learn how you can be included in shaping the future of health care by joining the All of Us Research Program enrollment event. Visit the bus to learn more. Faculty, staff, and students, who are 19 years or older, are eligible to participate. The primary goal of the program is to better represent people of all backgrounds in the field of health care. Those who enroll are eligible to receive $25 as compensation. For more information, visit JoinAllofUs.org/UAMedCenter or call 205-348-6991.

Queer Women of History Trivia Night

Tuesday, March 8 | 5-7 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Cultural Exploration)
UA students, faculty and staff

In partnership with the Women and Gender Resource Center, the Safe Zone Resource Center will host a trivia night celebrating the accomplishments of queer women in history. Attendees will test their knowledge of queer women in history throughout the event via a Kahoot game. Food will be provided and prizes will be given to the top three teams. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.

Food for Thought: The Hope of Black Queer Voices

Wednesday, March 9 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
UA students, faculty, staff

The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Food for Thought: Cultural Learning, Sharing & Teaching series with a program on this year’s Women’s History Month theme “promoting health and providing hope.” The program, hosted by the Safe Zone Resource Center, will include a panel discussion on the importance of Black queer voices as they work towards providing healing and promoting hope, sharing their experiences, and working collectively to provide a space for their voices to be heard. Educational materials and resources on Black LGBTQ+ identity will be provided as well. Catered lunch, snacks and refreshments will be offered. Participants will have the opportunity to receive giveaways that support educational efforts. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium on Diversity

Wednesday, March 9 | Virtual
(Educational Engagement/Cultural Exploration)

The College of Communication and Information Sciences will host its 13^th Annual Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium on Diversity focusing on “Media Platforms as the Message: Creating Meaningful Diversity in the 21^st Century.” This year’s symposium features submissions by undergraduates, graduates and faculty members, and a keynote presentation by Dr. André Brock, author of “Distributed blackness: African American cybercultures.” Dr. Brock is an associate professor of School of Literature, Media and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is one of the preeminent scholars of Black cybercultures with his published work focusing on racial representations in videogames, Black women and weblogs, whiteness, blackness, digital technoculture, and groundbreaking research on Black Twitter. The Discerning Diverse Voices Symposium on Diversity will be free and virtual. Registration is required for online access. For more information, contact Dr. Suzanne Horsley, assistant dean of Assessment, Accreditation and Diversity, at horsley@apr.ua.edu.

Start Smart

Wednesday, March 16 | 5-7 p.m. | Virtual
UA students

Join this Pay Equity Workshop. Registration is required. For more information contact Elizabeth Lester at 205-348-5040 or elester1@ua.edu.

TEDTalk Tuesdays: ‘To Future Generations of Women, You are the Roots of Change’

Tuesday, March 22 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Educational Engagement)
UA students, faculty and Staff

This TEDTalk features award-winning journalist, writer, political activist and feminist organizer Gloria Steinem. Participants will learn about the revolutionary roots of the feminist movement, the fundamental need for intersectionality to combat prejudice, and how to advocate for each other in solidarity, discovering the freedom within companionship and community. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Cinnamon Rolls, Not Gender Roles: Disney Villains

Tuesday, March 22 | 1 p.m. | Safe Zone Lounge, 2418 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students only

The Safe Zone Resource Center will host its weekly Cinnamon Rolls, not Gender Roles program for individuals of all identities to come together, eat pastries, and discuss topics concerning gender identity and performance in our current culture and climate. This group meets weekly on Tuesdays. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Ally Training Program

Tuesday, March 22 | 3-5 p.m. | Zoom
(Educational Engagement/Cultural Exploration)
UA students, faculty and staff

The UA Safe Zone Ally Training Program provides a visible network of allies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) individuals. Safe Zone Allies distribute information regarding sexuality, gender identity, campus and community resources, and methods for reporting harassment and/or discrimination. The Safe Zone Ally Training Program is a two-hour training session that allows participants to: develop a working knowledge of appropriate and respectful LGBTQIA+ terminology; recognize the impact that a campus climate has on individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+; and identify areas of personal growth as a member of the UA community. Following the training program, participants are invited to sign-up to serve as UA Safe Zone Allies. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.

Town Hall with Student Life and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Tuesday, March 22 | 5-7 p.m. | Heritage Room, 3300 Student Center
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students only

Dr. Steven Hood, interim vice president of Student Life, and Dr. G. Christine Taylor, vice president and associate provost of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will host a special town hall meeting. Students will have the opportunity to connect, ask questions and learn about the different resources and information available. Dinner will be provided. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Coffee & Mental Health

Wednesday, March 23 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students, faculty and staff

The Intercultural Diversity Center and Counseling Center presents Coffee and Mental Health where participants have an opportunity to speak with therapists in a one-on-one setting. The program provides an environment for participants to ask questions, get to know the University of Alabama therapist and learn about counseling as a student resource. In addition, the program will offer a space for guests to learn about the many mental wellbeing resources the counseling center has and ways they can connect with the counseling center. Coffee and Mental Health occurs every third Wednesday. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Providing Healing and Promoting Hope with Dr. Nikki Giovanni

Thursday, March 24 | 6 p.m. | Zoom
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)

The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host Dr. Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, educator and author, for the Women’s History Month keynote lecture on this year’s theme “providing healing and promoting hope.” Giovanni has received numerous awards in the course of her career, including seven Image Awards from the N.A.A.C.P., more than two dozen honorary degrees, the first Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award, the Langston Hughes Medal for Poetry, and the Carl Sandburg Literary Award; additionally, Oprah Winfrey recognized her in 2005 as one of 25 “Living Legends.” She continues to teach, write and publish books, the most recent of which is “A Good Cry.” Her newest collection, “Make Me Rain,” was released in October 2020.

The event is co-sponsored by the UAH Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and UAB Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Registration is required. For more information, contact the UA Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

Sandra Vega: Cielo Azul, Piel Morena

March 24-31 | 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (varies) | Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Woods Hall
Reception: Thursday, March 24 | 5-7 p.m. 

The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History presents the Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition of Sandra Vega: Cielo Azul, Piel Morena. Vega, a graduate assistant in printmaking with a secondary concentration in ceramics, has produced works in screenprinting, cyanotype and ceramics for this show. In her artist statement, Vega writes, “My work explores the politics of identity, biculturalism, which I define as a state of double consciousness, and an interpretation of otherness. In my work I document a self-defining journey, navigating the hybridity of existing within this duality.” Vega teaches Introduction to Printmaking and Drawing I classes at UA. She presented her MA thesis exhibition, Caminos de Identidad, in March 2021. Vega earned the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa and has worked as a summer camp art instructor, teaching design for screenprinting and Adobe Creative Cloud to high school students. She assisted in the NEA-funded program Pots-n-Prints mobile studio that traveled to rural areas in southwest and west Texas, teaching students screenprinting, etching and ceramics. Follow Vega on Instagram @avalancheofdinosaurs. Gallery hours are Monday and Wednesday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Wednesday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.;  and Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m., during the spring semester when classes are in session.

Women in Business Conference

Friday, March 25 | Noon-6 p.m. followed by dinner | Alston Hall Room 30
Saturday, March 26 |7 a.m.-12:45 p.m. | Hewson Hall Room 0002
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students, faculty and staff

Join the Culverhouse College of Business for its signature women’s event, Women in Business Conference. Connect with a community of alumnae, professional women, and current female students in an event designed to inspire, support and develop women in business. The conference will feature panels, networking, professional development and more. Everyone is welcome. For more information, please visit www.diversity.culverhouse.ua.edu.

Social Justice Movie Series: ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’

Friday, March 25 | 7 p.m. | Virtual
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students, faculty and staff

This week’s Social Justice Movie Series for Women’s History Month will feature “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry: The History of the Women’s Liberation Movement.” Participants will hear from the women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966-1971, the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberations, and its effect on the worldwide revolution. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.

COVID 19 Trauma: Social Justice Approaches to Healing Communities from the Impact of Racial Discourse and Disparities

March 28 | 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Virtual

This School of Social Work event will discuss the implications of racial trauma related to the COVID-19 response and its effect on health and mental well-being. The symposium will review social justice approaches to respond to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in communities of color and discuss the experiences of racial tensions toward Asian Americans and increase an understanding of how to take active measures to prevent discrimination and harassment. Presenters will be Dr. Nahree Doh, Rev. Tyshawn Gardner, Dr. Hee Yun Lee, Dr. Sohye Lee, Dr. Yunju Nam, and Shayla Smith. The event is presented by the School of Social Work Diversity Committee. Registration is required.

Cinnamon Rolls, Not Gender Roles: Religion

Tuesday, March 29 | Safe Zone Lounge, 2418 Student Center
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA Students only

The Safe Zone Resource Center will host its weekly Cinnamon Rolls, not Gender Roles program for individuals of all identities to come together, eat pastries, and discuss topics concerning gender identity & performance in our current culture and climate. This session will feature Dr. Merinda Simmons from the department of Religious Studies. This group meets weekly on Tuesdays. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Allies for Inclusion: The Ability Exhibit

Workshop 1: Tuesday, March 29 | 1-2 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center, 2100 Student Center
Workshop 2: Wednesday, March 30 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
 (Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
UA students, faculty and staff

The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with The Office of Disability Services and the Intercultural Diversity Center, is hosting “Allies for Inclusion: The Ability Exhibit,” a creative, hands-on exhibit designed to promote inclusion of people with disabilities.

Multimedia and interactive stations build awareness about people with disabilities and the disability movement, encouraging introspection about the way we think and talk about disability while engaging participants to ponder the multiple forms disability may take.

Dr. Mark Pousson, assistant professor of Higher Education Administration at St. Louis University, will give two facilitated interactive workshops. The first one, which will be Tuesday, March 29, from 1-2 p.m., will discuss disability identity and ally development. It is open to all university students, faculty and staff.

The second workshop will be Wednesday, March 30, from noon to 1 p.m., and it will focus on incorporating Universal Design in the classroom. It is open to all university faculty and course instructors. Registration is required. For more information, or to request accommodations for this event, contact Brittany Gregg at brittany.gregg@ua.edu in the Office of Disability Services.

Andrea Jenkins Virtual Keynote Presentation

Tuesday, March 29 | 6 p.m. | Virtual
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)

For Women’s History Month, the Safe Zone Resource Center in partnership with the UA Counseling Center, the Women and Gender Resource Center, and Alabama Panhellenic Association will host Andrea Jenkins, oral historian, poet, and the first Black, transgender woman to be elected to public office in the United States. Jenkins, who was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, is the author of the poetry collection, “The T is Not Silent: New and Selected Poems” (Purple Lioness Press, 2015), and contributor to the acclaimed anthologies “Queer Voices: Poetry, Prose and Pride” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019), “A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2016), and “Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2015). Jenkins is currently the Oral Historian for the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota Libraries, documenting the lived experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming people in the Upper Midwest and the United States.

Registration is required. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.

Crimson Culture Gala