April is “Celebrate Diversity” Month. It has been observed since 2005, when two diversity companies, the Minneapolis-based ProGroup, Inc. and the Washington, D.C.-based Diversity Best Practices, created a proclamation for the observance. It is a time to recognize and understand our differences — by gender, race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability and other factors — while honoring our common humanity.
Voices-visions.org, a website about art and Jewish culture, recommends several ways to participate in the celebration:
We can help you with the “read a book” part, and books can provide the basis for discussion and enlightenment. Diversity is at the core of what www.DiverseBooks.net and our parent publication DIVERSE: Issues In Higher Education (www.diverseeducation.com) do. DiverseBooks.net offers many resources – all at discounted prices — for teaching and learning about diversity.
Among them are:
Encountering Faith in the Classroom, by Miriam R. Diamond and Art Chickering, $62.95, (List Price: $69.95), Stylus Publishing, ISBN: 9781579222369, pp. 242.
When students bring up issues in the classroom that are related to religious ideology, faculty members may feel apprehensive or unprepared to deal with the encounter. This book explores ways to handle discussions in which students’ religious values might be challenged or pose a threat to the learning process. It also offers suggestions for religious inclusiveness.
