Assessing the scope, role, & impact of the new directions in diversity symposium: Portraits of engagement, 2007-2010

The New Directions in Diversity Symposium seeks to contribute to the campus “teaching commons,” what the Carnegie Foundation describes as a “conceptual space in which communities of educators committed to inquiry and innovation come together to exchange ideas about teaching and learning and use them to meet the challenges of educating students for personal, professional, and civic life.” Our efforts build on the feedback and experiences of each preceding year; support the University’s core values, specifically to “achieve multicultural understanding as a priority of educational and civic life”; guided by the university’s strategic goals, specifically Goal 5, “Inclusion, Civility, and Respect.” The purpose of the Symposium is to engage faculty in an interdisciplinary forum that will ultimately have an impact on the teaching and scholarship faculty pursue.