The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) hosted a bi-annual talking circle on inclusion and diversity to examine topics related to human rights and social justice on Feb. 7.
Graduate students started the Social Justice Roundtable in 2008, and it has covered issues like intimate partner violence, international human rights and human trafficking.
Judith McKay, associate professor and chair of multidisciplinary studies in CAHSS, said that the purpose of the roundtable is to provide an environment for students to examine social justice issues and share their experiences and opinions with each other.
“One of the wonderful things about this university is that we are so multicultural,” she said. “We all come from our own backgrounds, families, cultures and experiences, and that makes up who were are. But isn’t it nice to be able to actually talk with people and to share, ‘This is who I am. Who are you?’”
McKay emphasized that the talking circle is a physical circle.
“When you have people coming together in a circle, you don’t have some people on the short end of the table or on the long end of the table,” she said. “You have everyone coming together in equality.”
Nekeisha Bascombe, conflict resolution studies graduate student, participated in the roundtable last fall. At the event, she shared her experiences with racism while living in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Hopefully, students will walk away with a sense of tolerance for other people’s views and diversity,” she said. “In the program I’m in, we try to stress that.”
Suzette Henry-Campbell, conflict resolution studies graduate student, also attended the roundtable last fall, and said that the event is supposed to provoke thinking about how social issues can be solved at first the individual level and then the global level.
She said that, as an international student from Jamaica, the social issues that Jamaicans deal with are different from what people in the U.S. deal with.
“Our focus is more on social class,” she said. “Here you have stories about social class, gender issues, race issues. So it’s much more varied, and it lends an appreciative lens in terms of what major issues are confronting the U.S. today.”
McKay said at the previous roundtable on inclusion and diversity, participants had talked about difficult issues.
“For people who haven’t shared that experience, it can be illuminating,” she said.
McKay remarked that the purpose of a university is not simply to advance students academically but also socially.
“It’s helping students ask, ‘What are other values and other people’s experiences that can help make me a more informed and compassionate person?’” she said.
The next roundtable is in the planning stages. For more information, visit cahss.nova.edu/community-outreach/sjr.html, or contact McKay at 954-262-3060 or mckayj@nova.edu.
