Diversity and Difference Committee

The Diversity and Difference Committee serves as a clearinghouse for activities, expertise and curriculum materials related to diversity and difference. The committee enhances communication, scholarship collaboration, coordination of professional development and sharing of resources among those engaged in learning about diversity and difference. It also works to promote diversity in all aspects of the College of Education and Human Development. Each school elects one member to serve on the Diversity and Difference Committee, and one additional member is elected as an at-large member.

Goals and responsibilities

To educate our students and ourselves to:

Understand and appreciate differences among people
Comprehend the impacts of privilege and difference in his/her own life and educational experience
Be skilled at communicating and collaborating with people different from herself/himself, particularly in the context of his/her work as an educator or other professional
Be skilled at mediating conflict and misunderstanding among children and adults based on privilege and difference
Be adept at shaping teaching, curriculum, educational policy, and institutional culture in ways that honor and celebrate difference and diversity
Understand the origins and dynamics of attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral patterns that create inequities based on difference
Understand the ways in which organizations and systems, often unintentionally institutionalize privilege and disadvantage among groups

Diversity and Difference Committee:

Catharine Biddle, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Faith Erhardt, Academic Advising and Support Services Coordinator
Sara Flanagan, Assistant Professor of Special Education
Silvestre Guzman, Director of Multicultural Student Life
Leah Hakkola, Assistant Professor of Higher Education
Tammy Mills, Assistant Professor of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction
Asli Sezen-Barrie, Associate Professor of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction