Spring Break
Conference focuses on social issues, diversity
Faten Husni Odeh
Issue date: 10/21/08 Section: News
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The event was split into four sessions starting with a welcome from the local host and introductions of faculty, community art leaders, non-profit organizations, and the media.
"Around 10 o'clock we had a good amount of students; many came with their professors for credit," said Gloria Bailey, director of Diversity and Outreach in the College of Fine Arts and Communication, who assisted with the event. "The goal was to bring faculty, students and staff together to create a dialogue about diverse images."
"In my class we were required to come but I didn't mind because it was interesting [due] to all the different speakers that came," said sophomore elementary education major Stefanie Hallock.
Students, professors and many panelists, including community leaders and local news reporters, attended the event in a casual but informative environment. The event had an open-mic in which attendees were able to speak freely, comment and question openly.
The presidential election was a widely discussed topic at the event. One attendee pointed out how the media focused on Obama's race and religion while also focusing on McCain's age and health problems, noting that not only was race a constant factor in the election but ageism as well.
Other topics that were covered included how certain minority groups were depicted in the media such as Hispanics, African-Americans and Middle Easterners.
"This event is a nationwide attempt to broaden and deepen our understanding of diversity," said Dr. Alice Arnold, associate art education professor.
One student expressed her feelings toward the way the media presented the Middle East and Muslims after 9/11 and how it has affected her everyday life. There was a general agreement among the audience that American viewers tend not to question authority and believe in the images presented in the media without question.
The panel participants included Dr. Linda Kean, Dr. Eric J. Bailey, Dr. David Conde, Dr. Ylce Irizarry, Assistant Professor Ken Wyatt, Christine Kennedy of WITN-7, Dr. Susan Back-Frazier, Dr. Cindy Elmore, Holly Garriott, Jane Austen Behan and Annette Newell of Eyewitness News 9.
"This program is about creating conversation that will advocate and create dialogue and diversity within the arts," Bailey said about the conference.
This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.
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