Diversity Resources
The College of Education and Human Development is committed to creating and sustaining a caring environment that welcomes diverse learners and ideas. We strive to make continuous improvements in that environment by encouraging scholarly activity, thoughtful reflection and the courteous exchange of ideas and information leading to greater understanding of and appreciation for those things that make us different as well as alike.
To encourage this research and dialog, the college has created a library of reading and viewing materials available to students and faculty. We’ve also compiled a list of useful websites below that contain information on a variety of topics related to diversity. These listings represent only a sampling of pertinent resources, and we intend to update these collections continuously with relevant and useful additions as they become available.
On-Campus Resources
- College of Education and Human Development Diversity and Difference Committee Reading List (Updated Summer 2020)
- Office of Multicultural Student Life
- Student Heritage Alliance Council
- American Indian Student Association
- African Student Association
- Black Student Union
- Latin American Student Organization
- International Student Association
- UMaine Hillel
- Asian Student Association
- South Asian Association of Maine
- Iranian Graduate Student Association
- Muslim Student Association
- UMaine LGBTQ+ Services
National Resources
Race/ethnicity
NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.
Teaching Diverse Students Initiative (TDSI)
A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance program, TDSI provides educators with research-based resources for improving the teaching of racially and ethnically diverse. A free internet professional development program, TDSI includes resources that are embedded in tools and resources.
Gender
National Women’s History Project
National Women’s History Project, founded in 1980, is an educational nonprofit organization whose mission it is to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and programs.
Sexual Orientation
GLAAD (Gay, Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)
With offices in Los Angeles and New York City, GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network)
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.
Best Colleges Guide for LGBTQ Students
For prospective college students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ), it is extremely important to find a college that will provide a supportive environment where they can thrive.
Language/Geography
Global Teacher Education (GTE) website and virtual community. The purpose of this website is to support teacher education programs in the United States that are working to provide global perspectives to the next generation of teachers. It is inspired by the report Teacher Preparation for the Global Age by the Longview Foundation and funded by Crosswalks Foundation.
CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics)
CAL promotes the improvement of communication through better understanding of language and culture. It has numerous publications of interest to those in bilingual education, ESL, foreign language education, literacy, refugee integration, and other related topics.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA)
NCELA collects, coordinates and conveys a broad range of research and resources in support of an inclusive approach to high quality education for English Language Learners. To fulfill its mission NCELA supports high quality networking among state level administrators of Title III programs.
Internationals Network for Public Schools
International Network for Public Schools is a non-profit that offers support services for educators of recently arrived immigrant English language learners.
Socio-economic Status
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.
Exceptionalities/Abilities
Family Diversity Projects
Family Diversity Projects educates students, educators, and the public about family diversity to help eliminate prejudice, stereotyping, and harassment based on sexual orientation, race, mental or physical disabilities, and other differences. They have developed a number of prize-winning photo exhibits about diverse families.
General Multicultural Education Resources
Western Washington University
The Center for Education, Equity and Diversity supports the Woodring College of Education in its commitment to an education that promotes cultural understanding and social justice in a pluralistic, democratic society. The center focuses on issues related to equity, diversity, self-exploration and identity, inter-group relations, multicultural education and democratic empowerment and civic engagement; particularly focusing on issues of retention and success for historically underrepresented populations. The mission and goals of the center are based on the belief that all children and adults can learn and develop in a psychologically supportive and culturally affirming environment. The center is committed to an intercultural dialogue that will lead to a vision of the kind of sustainable community we want to create with the next generation.
Diversity Teaching Tools
Multicultural Pavilion
www.edchange.org
Rethinking Schools
www.rethinkingschools.org
Teaching for Change
www.teachingforchange.org
Teaching Tolerance
www.tolerance.org