Monday, Oct. 11 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States. President Joe Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation commemorating the event, noting: “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.” Read more.
Diversity Programming Highlights
Multi-Cultural Coffee Hour
Fridays, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22 | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 The University of Alabama Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
International Student & Scholar Services and the Intercultural Diversity Center will host weekly coffee hours for students, faculty and staff to enjoy free coffee, tea, snacks and conversation with others from around the world. This program will act as a space for cultural learning, teaching and sharing. For more information, contact International Student and Scholar Services at bethanyli@ua.edu.
Rainbow Connection
Fridays, Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22 | 2-3 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Social Enrichment)
The Safe Zone Resource Center hosts Rainbow Connection, its weekly support and dialogue group for LGBTQIA+ identified students and their allies. 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.
LGBTQ+ History Month 50 Years: The Stonewall Uprising Traveling Exhibit
Oct. 4-29 | Exhibit opening Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
To celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month, the Intercultural Diversity will host the Stonewall National Museum’s “50 Years: The Stonewall Uprising” traveling exhibit. In June 1969, riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village are generally cited as the starting point of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Participants will learn about the creation and execution of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the era of LGBTQ+ liberation, the impact of gay activist organizations, and understand why the Stonewall riots became the catalytic movement in the effort to secure equal rights for LGBTQ+ Americans. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Yuri Herrera Keynote
Monday, Oct. 4 | 4 p.m. | Gorgas Library Camellia Room
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies Program will host Yuri Herrera, author of the award-winning novel “Signs Preceding the End of the World.” Signs Preceding the End of the World is one of the most arresting novels to be published in Spanish in the last ten years. Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back. Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the USA carrying a pair of secret messages – one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld. The novel won the Best Translated Book Award in 2016. This event will include a discussion and reception. In order to attend, Registration in required. at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/signs-preceding-the-end-of-the-world-a-talk-by-yuri-herrera-tickets-172854240687. For more information, contact Sarah Moody at stmoody@ua.edu.
LGBTQ+ History Month Trivia
Monday, Oct. 4 | 6-7 p.m. | Safe Zone Resource Center (2418 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The Safe Zone Resource Center will host an LGBTQ+ Trivia Night to commemorate LGBTQ History Month. Participants will learn about LGBTQ history, LGBTQ+ history at UA and in the Tuscaloosa community. Guests will have the opportunity to win prizes, enjoy catered food, and listen to music. All attendees will be given informational pamphlets on UA’s LGBTQ+ history. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu or 205-348–7297.
Education Abroad Pop-Up Advising
Tuesdays, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 | 1-3 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The Capstone International Center will host weekly information sessions on studying abroad. These information 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
Tuesdays, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 | 3 p.m. | Safe Zone Lounge (2418 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
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 at 3 p.m. in the Safe Zone Lounge. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at safezone@ua.edu.
Latinx in Alabama: A Panel Discussion on Issues Within the Latinx Population
Wednesday, Oct. 6 | 2 p.m. | CDRC Training Rooms and Virtual
In recognition of Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, the College of Community Health Sciences Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity will present this panel discussion featuring top experts in a variety of fields including healthcare, human development, mental health, substance abuse and more. Please register for either in-person or Zoom participation.
LGBT+ History Month Presentation
Wednesday, Oct. 6 | 3-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will provide a PowerPoint presentation in observance of LGBT+ History Month. This presentation will focus on the 2021 theme of “Body. Mind. Spirit.” highlighting Lily Parr, Mark Ashton, Maya Angelou, Michael Dillon and Mark Weston. The theme invites us to celebrate LGBT+ pioneers while offering information and reflecting on all contributions. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Painting with Pride
Wednesday, Oct. 6 | 4-6 p.m. | 142 B.B. Comer Hall
(Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The Education Abroad Office will host Painting with Pride a “Sips and Strokes” style event for LGBTQIA+ students and allies to bring awareness and resources for students interested in studying abroad. The event will have refreshments, a short presentation and provide all supplies and a lesson for the painting activity. Seating is limited to 25 students and registration is required. For more information, contact Education Abroad at studyabroad@ua.edu.
Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre
Oct. 6-8 | 7:30-9 p.m. (Oct. 6-7), 5:30-7 p.m. (Oct. 8) | Dance Theatre
Experience the beauty, magic, and power of dance as The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance hosts its first dance production of the season, Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre in October. Celebrating its 30th season, Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre (ARDT) presents five choreographic works, each conceived and produced by members of the UA dance faculty. ARDT allows students the opportunity to engage in a professional dance experience. Throughout the concert, audience members should expect to experience grace, athleticism, beauty and power through movement. They should be prepared to embrace the unexpected and witness a diverse range of pieces as each work is approached through a different artistic lens. Tickets are $20 for adult patrons. A season ticket package can be purchased for $158 per adult that includes one ticket to each of the 11 theatre and dance shows throughout the 2021-2022 season. All tickets and packages are available in Rowand Johnson Hall in the ticket office, by phone at 205-348-3400, or online at ua.universitytickets.com. More information on this production and the rest of the UA Theatre and Dance season can be found at theatre.ua.edu.
Inclusion, Belonging and a Growth Mindset: Rethinking the Syllabus Webinar
Thursday, Oct. 7 | 4-5 p.m. | Zoom
This inclusive teaching webinar presents strategies for creating a sense of belonging and a growth mindset for students in the classroom. Focusing in particular on syllabus design, the webinar includes small group facilitated discussions through which participants will explore specific approaches they can apply to their own course syllabi. Registration is required. For more information on this webinar, contact Dr. Cassander L. Smith, UA Provost Faculty Fellow, clsmith17@ua.edu.
Historic LGBTQ+ Movie Series: ‘The Celluloid Closet’
Thursday, Oct. 7 | 6-8 p.m. | Safe Zone Student Lounge (2419 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
UA’s Safe Zone Resource Center will host weekly screenings of historic LGBTQ+ films for LGBT History Month as an opportunity for the UA community to learn about LGBTQ+ history and participate in UA’s LGBTQ+ community. The first screening will feature “The Celluloid Closet” along with popcorn, snacks and drinks. Participants will learn of the historical contexts that people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender have occupied in cinema history. The film shows the evolution of the entertainment industry’s role in shaping perceptions of LGBT figures including issues addressing secrecy, the demonization of the homosexual community with the advent of AIDS, and the shift toward acceptance and positivity in the modern era. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.
The Deportation Machine: America’s Long History of Expelling Immigrants by Adam Goodman
Thursday, Oct. 7 | 6 p.m. | Virtual
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
In partnership with The University of Alabama at Birmingham Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, professor and author Dr. Andrew Goodman, will discuss his latest book, “The Deportation Machine.” In the past few years, news headlines talk about deportations, detention camps and border walls that drive urgent debates about immigration and what it means to be an American in the 21st century. Dr. Goodman will share the troubling history of the U.S. government’s systematic efforts to terrorize and expel immigrants over the past 140 years and the innovative strategies people have adopted to fight against the machine and redefine belonging in ways that transcend citizenship. Registration is required. For more information, contact UAB’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at inclusion@uab.edu. The UA Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a co-sponsor of this event.
Social Justice Movie Series: ‘The State of Texas vs. Melissa’
Friday, Oct. 8 | 7 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Fall 2021 Social Justice Movie Series with “The State of Texas vs. Melissa.” Participants will learn about Melissa Lucio’s story as the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas, the appeal process and how her conviction was an egregious miscarriage of justice. In addition to the in-person viewing, this program will be provided for participants to engage virtually through Zoom. In order to attend the online component, registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Druid City Pride Festival 2021
Sunday, Oct. 10 | 1:30-6:30 p.m. | Government Plaza, Tuscaloosa
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will support the Sixth Annual Druid City Pride Festival in downtown Tuscaloosa. This event will include musicians, entertainers and vendors, including headliner Jamaal Swaim and ABC 33/40 News reporter Stoney Sharp as host. Children and pets are welcome. For more information, contact the Druid City Pride Festival at druidcitypride@gmail.com.
National Coming Out Day
Monday, Oct. 11 | 5-8 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Social Enrichment)
The Safe Zone Resource Center will host a pride fest for the annual celebration of National Coming Out Day, which highlights LGBTQ+ identities and the process of coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ experience. The festival will feature booths with different LGBTQ+ aligned organizations, a photo backdrop, music, food, games and a special welcome from the new Safe Zone director. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348 – 7297 or safezone@ua.edu.
TEDTalk Tuesdays: ‘Disability and Employment’
Tuesday, Oct. 12 | 3-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Fall 2021 TEDTalk Tuesday Series in observance of National Disability Employment Month by featuring “Disability and Employment.” Paul Anomah-Kordieh is a blind journalist with eTV Ghana. Attendees will hear his story of losing his sight at five years old, how he advanced in his career as a journalist and uses his disability as a way to anchor efforts for others. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Food for Thought: Pronouns Matter
Wednesday, Oct. 13 | Noon-1 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Food for Thought series. In commemoration of LGBT+ History Month, a special session will feature a Pronouns Matter panel discussing the importance of pronouns, gender expression and identity, and combating misconceptions. The panel will feature UA faculty and staff and other community members making a difference in the LGBTQ+ community. This program will have several giveaways to support educational efforts such as scholarships, backpacks and University of Alabama swag. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Invisible Histories with Joshua Burford, Director of Outreach and Lead Archivist
Wednesday, Oct. 13 | 2 p.m. | CDRC Training Rooms and Virtual
The Invisible Histories Project locates, preserves, researches and creates an accessible collection of the rich and diverse history of LGBTQ life in the U.S. South for local communities. Registration required for either in-person or Zoom participation. The event is sponsored by the College of Community Health Sciences Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity in recognition of LGBT+ History Month. Read more about Josh Burford.
National Disability Employment Month Presentation
Wednesday, Oct. 13 | 3-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will provide a PowerPoint presentation in observance of LGBT+ History Month. This presentation will focus on the 2021 theme of “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion,” which reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
‘Pippin’
Oct. 13-15 and Oct. 21-22 from 7:30-9 p.m. | Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. | Marian Gallaway Theater
The University of Alabama Department of Theatre and Dance presents its first musical of the season, “Pippin,” directed by Matt Davis, assistant professor and head of directing and stage management. Set within the 9th century, King Charlemagne’s son, Pippin, takes audiences on the journey of a young individual who feels the need to be extraordinary in some way. Moving from war to love in search of the brilliance in his life, he finds his answer in a rather unexpected place, fulfilled through his family and environment that surrounds him. Pippin teaches a lesson of the importance of understanding humanity and the driving factors to make the world better together. Tickets are $14 for students, $17 for faculty/staff and senior citizens, and $25 for adult patrons. All tickets are available in Rowand Johnson Hall in the ticket office, by phone at 205-348-3400, or online at ua.universitytickets.com. More information on this production and the rest of the UA Theatre and Dance season can be found at theatre.ua.edu.
GOOD KID, M.A.A.D. Research: Culturally Sustaining Research and Decentering the White Gaze with Kendrick Lamar
Thursday, Oct. 14 | 3:30-4:30 p.m. | 118 Graves Hall and Zoom
The College of Education Office of Diversity Initiatives and Faculty Development presents this talk featuring Dr. Casey Wong, UCLA. One of the central principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy is the need to decenter the white gaze. H. Samy Alim and Django Paris have invoked the “white gaze” in the tradition of Toni Morrison. They have invoked the white gaze to theorize how systemic processes of white supremacy enact influence by forcefully projecting European-rooted epistemologies and ontologies as the way we should “see” and “be” in the world. We will interrogate the current regime of knowledge production and investigate what it means to engage in education research outside of the politics normalized within guides like AERA’s Signifying on how rapper Kendrick Lamar accomplishes this epistemic labor in his hip-hop classic “good kid, m.A.A.d city,” we will critically center and sustain hip-hop approaches to gathering, assessing, and sharing knowledge outside of the white gaze, and come out with understandings of how our epistemologies, ontologies, and axiologies are bound to systemic processes of injustice. Registration is required to join the talk via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants on Monday, Oct. 11.
Hostile Terrain 94 Closing Event: Organizing for Immigration Panel
Thursday, Oct. 14 | 4:30-6 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center
To commemorate the closing of the Hostile Terrain ’94 exhibition at UA, the panel ‘Organizing for Immigration Justice’ will discuss the undocumented experience in Alabama, immigration policy, and matters of incarceration, healthcare and education for immigrants and undocumented migrants. The interactive panel will expose students and the wider community at UA to the realities of the U.S.-Mexico border; a border that extends beyond the border itself by creating legal hurdles, social restrictions, and community distance and separation. The panel will allow students to think of different ways of engaging with these problems by organizing collaborative ways to take on the border and its injustices.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Juan Black Romero, instructor in the UA Department of Gender and Race Studies. The panel will feature: Graciela M. Picazo, education advocate and home instructor for Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool youngsters (HIPPY); Judith Zambrano-Avendaño, pro-immigrant activist and organizer with various local organizations; Julia Sosa, MS, RD, health care advocate and health care worker with Whatley Health Services, Inc.; and Fabio Mela, immigrant justice organizer with Adelante Alabama. Registration is required. At the closing of the panel those who are interested may walk to Maxwell Hall to visit the exhibition Hostile Terrain 94. The exhibit will have extended gallery hours Friday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This panel and the Hostile Terrain 94 exhibition were made possible with the support of The Collaborative Arts Research Initiative; Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Intercultural Diversity Center; and Department of Geography, Department of Theatre and Dance, the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies Program, and Art Forward in collaboration with The Undocumented Migration Project.
Historic LGBTQ+ Movie Series: ‘Milk’
Thursday, Oct. 14 | 6-8 p.m. | Safe Zone Student Lounge (2418 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
UA’s Safe Zone Resource Center will continue weekly screenings of historic LGBTQ+ films for LGBT History Month as an opportunity for the UA community to learn about LGBTQ+ history and participate in UA’s LGBTQ+ community. The second screening will feature “Milk” along with popcorn, snacks and drinks. Participants will learn about Harvey Milk and the barriers he surpassed becoming the nation’s first openly gay man elected to a notable public office, his efforts in defeating Proposition 6, and how he transferred the Castro District into a mecca for gays and lesbians. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348–7297 or safezone@ua.edu.
Representing Blackness in Italy: A Conversation with Afro-Italian Filmmaker Fred Kudjo Kuwornu
Friday, Oct. 15 | 2 p.m. | Zoom
Fred Kuwornu will address issues of diversity and the complexities of representation through the lens of his films. For over a decade, Kuwornu, an Italian-Ghanaian independent scholar, has been involved in narrating and analyzing the experience of the African diaspora in Italy from historical, sociological, and political perspectives, utilizing examples of visual culture ranging from the 1930s to the 2020s. The event is sponsored by the Collaborative Arts Research Initiative at The University of Alabama. Registration is required.
Social Justice Movie Series: ‘From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?’ Screening & Q&A
Friday, Oct. 15 | 7 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center) and Zoom
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Fall 2021 Social Justice Movie Series featuring “From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?” Participants will hear personal stories from Rev. Gil Caldwell, a black, straight preacher, and Marilyn Bennett, a white, lesbian activist, who form an unusual bond as they seek to find the intersection between the civil rights and the LGBTQ equality movements, centering cast members who live at the intersection of identities. The screening will include a special Q&A session with the Rev. Dr. Tommie Watkins. A hybrid model of this program will be provided for participants who want to engage virtually through Zoom. Registration is required for the online component. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Multicultural Visitation Program
Saturday, Oct. 16 | 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. | Student Center Ballroom
(Educational Engagement)
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host the UA Multicultural Visitation Program as an on-campus event that assists students and their families in learning more about UA. It is a half-day event that will include various Q&A sessions, provide information about majors and minors, scholarship information, give campus tours, and more. This University Days event, held in collaboration with UA Enrollment Management, is for high school students and their parents. For more information, contact the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at diversity@ua.edu.
50th Kentuck Festival of the Arts
Saturday, Oct. 16 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Kentuck Park, Northport
Sunday, Oct. 17 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Kentuck Park, Northport
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
In celebration of Kentuck’s 50th Festival of the Arts, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will provide weekend tickets to students, faculty and staff to attend the highly anticipated annual event. The two-day festival is rooted in folk art and features more than 270 artists, live music, spoken word, activities for children, folk and contemporary crafts, demonstrations, food trucks and more. Registration is required in order to receive a free ticket. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu. Directions to Kentuck Park.
Honoring Their Legacy
Saturday, Oct. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Moody Concert Hall
Dr. Alexis Davis-Hazell, mezzo soprano; Dr. Luvada A. Harrison, soprano; and Dr. Kevin Chance, piano, will perform arias, duets and piano arrangements from major operatic works performed on the historic recital presented by internationally acclaimed African American opera singers Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett in honor of Marian Anderson, the first African American to perform a major role at the Metropolitan Opera. The recital was presented at Carnegie Hall in celebration of Anderson’s 80th birthday on Jan. 31, 1982.
Artist’s ‘Border Stories’ Depicts the World Through an Immigrant’s Eyes
Oct. 18 through Nov. 17 | Gallery hours | Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Woods Hall
The UA Department of Art and Art History will present the Master of Fine Arts exhibition of Juan Lopez-Bautista: “Border Stories.” Lopez-Bautista, a Mexican American artist and biologist, creates large mixed media works collaged with images related to people migrating to the U.S.-Mexico border. The artworks–painted with acrylic washes, inks, dry pigments and acrylic transfers on synthetic paper and panels–depict migrants and objects that represent their presence immersed in an abstract landscape as in a struggle for survival. Lopez-Bautista, who holds a PhD in plant biology from Louisiana State University and has taught for more than a decade in UA’s biology department, uses images of the traces of migrants, traces that “show the remains from a journey, the residues of long and sometimes deadly crossings.” He explains, “the items left behind by immigrants are objects with meaning; they are remnants of stories to be told, clothing and shoes that someone wore, forgotten toys and dolls, and bags that at one time contained cherished heirlooms. Although the objects appear faded after being exposed for weeks or years to the desert conditions, they still vividly contrast with the arid and inhospitable environment.”
The child of an American father and a Mexican mother, Lopez-Bautista’s explorations of his own maternal family’s migration from central Mexico to the US, “provided me with clues to understand my complex identity,” and led him to empathize with what other Mexican immigrants have gone through and are going through now. “My work,” he said, “represents an empathetic invitation to appreciate the migratory issue…and to embrace my immigrant and hyphenated citizenship identities.” He said, “During my painting process, I challenge myself to arrive at the poetics of in-betweenness amid the abstraction process and the landscape’s human presence. I envision my artworks as social settings, where race, survival, resilience and hope occupy the same pictorial space.”
TEDTalk Tuesdays: ‘They are Italian, Too’
Tuesday, Oct. 19 | 3-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will continue its Fall 2021 TEDTalk Tuesday Series in observance of Italian American Heritage Month by featuring “They are Italian, Too” by Giorgia Colongo. Participants will learn of the many characteristics of Italians including connections to food, Latin blood, fashion, most recognized features of Italians abroad, and the reason for some idioms and “misbeliefs” of non-Italians about the “Bel Paese.” Italian American Heritage Month celebrates the distinguished cultural contributions of Americans with Italian lineage. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
AAUW Start Smart Workshop
Tuesday, Oct. 19 | 5-7 p.m. | 3104 Student Center
(Engagement)
The Women and Gender Resource Center will host a Start Smart Pay Equity workshop featuring a full presentation regarding the origin of the pay gap, the role it plays in systemic racism, and the long-term effects. Students also will learn about helpful tips and tools to create their brand, how to craft their resumes and cover letters per employer, how to analyze how salary ranges can contribute to the best cost of living per career and location, negotiation skills and the value of benefits. Pre-packaged refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lester at elester1@ua.edu.
An Evening with Professor Carol Anderson: Framing Inequality through Race and Policy
Tuesday, Oct. 19 | 6 p.m. | Zoom
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion welcomes Dr. Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University, New York Times Bestseller, and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author. Dr. Anderson’s research explores how policy is made and unmade, how racial inequality and racism affect that process and outcome, and how those who have taken the brunt of those laws, executive orders, and directives have worked to shape, counter, undermine, reframe, and, when necessary, dismantle the legal and political edifice used to limit their rights and their humanity. Some of her most noted works include “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide”; “Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955”; “Bourgeois Radicals: The NAACP and the Struggle for Colonial Liberation, 1941-1960”; “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy”; and her latest book, “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.” Reserve your ticket to attend the program. For more information, contact UAB’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at inclusion@uab.edu. The UA Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a co-sponsor of this event.
International Pronouns Day
Wednesday, Oct. 20
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion celebrates International Pronouns Day on Wednesday, Oct. 20. International Pronouns Day seeks to make respecting, sharing and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity and referring the wrong pronouns particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people. Together, we can transform society to celebrate people’s multiple, intersecting identities. Participate by taking the pledge for information found on the official website at https://pronounsday.org/.
National Italian American Heritage Month Presentation
Wednesday, Oct. 20 | 3-4 p.m. | Intercultural Diversity Center (2100 Student Center)
(Educational Engagement)
The Intercultural Diversity Center will provide a PowerPoint presentation in observance of National Italian American Heritage Month. This presentation will focus on the 2021 theme of “DANTE 700! Celebrating the Genius of Dante; The Great Poet Who Unified Italy Through Language,” which reflects on the importance of him being the first to use the Florentine vernacular in a major literary work, establishing Italian as the accepted national language and unifying the people of Italy across diverse regions and dialects. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Julie Laible Lecture Series: Dr. Cheryl E. Matias
Wednesday, Oct. 20 | 5 p.m. | 118 Graves Hall and Zoom
(Educational Engagement)
The College of Education continues its Julie Laible Lecture Series by featuring Dr. Cheryl E. Matias, whose research focuses on race and ethnic studies in education with a theoretical focus on critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, critical pedagogy and feminism of color. Specifically, she uses a feminist of color approach to deconstruct the emotionality of whiteness in urban teacher education and how it impacts urban education. She will present “Hypermania, Racially Just Teaching, and the Ever-Present Emotionalities of Whiteness: How Racialized Emotions Intoxicate Us All” at the 2021 Julie Laible Lecture on Anti-Racist Scholarship, Education and Social Activism. Registration is required. For more information, contact Dr. Rebecca Ballard at rebecca.ballard@ua.edu.
EveryWoman Book Club
Thursday, Oct. 21 | Noon-1 p.m. | Legend’s Bistro at Hotel Capstone
(Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Women and Gender Resource Center will continue its EveryWoman Book Club series by featuring, “Somebody’s Daughter” by Ashley Ford. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lester at elester1@ua.edu or 205-348-5040 to be added to the EveryWoman Book Club email list. You can also register for a single meeting online. Join the email for future updates.
Historic LGBTQ+ Movie Series: ‘Before Stonewall’
Thursday, Oct. 21 | 6-8 p.m. | Safe Zone Student Lounge (2418 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
UA’s Safe Zone Resource Center will continue weekly screenings of historic LGBTQ+ films for LGBT History Month as an opportunity for the UA community to learn about LGBTQ+ history and participate in UA’s LGBTQ+ community. The third screening will feature “Before Stonewall” along with popcorn, snacks and drinks. Participants will learn about how the arrests caused riots at the New York City’s Stonewall Inn in 1969, how the riots led to a major development in the history of gay and lesbian rights in America, the national cultural perceptions of homosexuality and conflicts with police and censorship. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.
LGBTQIA+ History Month Keynote: Lydia X.Z. Brown
Friday, Oct. 22 | 6 p.m. | Zoom
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement/Social Enrichment)
The Women and Gender Resource Center and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host Lydia X.Z. Brown as the keynote speaker in commemoration of LGBT History Month. Lydia X.Z. Brown is a gender non-binary, queer, disabled person of color, self-described as “multiply-marginalized.” They serve as the director of Policy, Advocacy and External Affairs, Parkville, Maryland, at the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. They are founding director of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival and Empowerment. Brown is adjunct lecturer/core faculty in Georgetown University’s Disability Studies Program, and adjunct professorial lecturer in the American University Department of Critical Race, Gender, & Culture Studies. In 2015, Brown was named a Top Thinker Under 30 in the Social Sciences by Pacific Standard and included on Mic’s inaugural list of “the next generation of impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and breakthrough innovators.” Brown often speaks on law as a tool for change, “falling into activism,” and the intersections of oppression. Registration is required. For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Tide & Turf Alabama Football Tailgate
Saturday, Oct. 23 | Three hours before kickoff | the Quad across from Carmichael and Graves Halls
(Cultural Exploration/Social Enrichment)
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host a football tailgate for the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee Volunteers game in celebration of UA Homecoming Week. This event will feature an exclusive tailgating experience with catered food from Urban Bar & Kitchen, giveaways, music and more, providing a safe space for cultural learning, cultural teaching and cultural sharing. The Tide & Turf Alabama Football Tailgate will begin three hours before kickoff on the Quad across from Carmichael & Graves Hall.
For more information, contact the Intercultural Diversity Center at ua_idc@ua.edu.
Ace Week
Monday-Friday, Oct. 25-29 | 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
(Cultural Exploration/Educational Engagement)
The Safe Zone Resource Center will host a visibility campaign on social media for Ace Week, formerly known as Asexual Awareness Week and founded in 2010 as an international movement to support the asexual community with posts about asexual-inclusive resources and media. Information on the asexual community also will be available in the Safe Zone Student Lounge in the information displays, and asexual pride flags and buttons will be available for students in the center to allow them to promote awareness for their identities. For more information, contact the Safe Zone Resource Center at 205-348-7297 or safezone@ua.edu.
Safe Zone Open House
Monday, Oct. 25 | Safe Zone Student Lounge (2418 Student Center)
(Cultural Exploration/Social Enrichment)
The Safe Zone Resource Center will host an open house for students, faculty and staff. Guests are welcome to drop by, learn about the programs and services provided by the Safe Zone Resource Center, and meet the new director. Light refreshments, informational handouts, small pride flags, and Safe Zone buttons will be available.