Milwaukee Area Technical College launched a monthly forum in November called “Diversity Dialogues.” The forums are held from 10 to noon on the second Saturday of each month in the cafeteria at Washington High School, 2525 N. Sherman Blvd. Inspired by efforts to rebuild relationships in the Sherman Park community after the violence broke out last summer, the free, public forums are designed to gather the community to learn and share ideas about race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, age, religion and other forms of cultural diversity. The next forum, titled "Privilege and Implicit Racial Bias" will be held on Saturday, Feb. 11.
“We hope these sessions can be used as a model for an ongoing, community-wide discussion that could be a catalyst to transform lives and our community,” said Dr. Vicki J. Martin, MATC president. “It is my hope that these monthly discussions will lead to substantive changes, not just in Sherman Park, but throughout Milwaukee.”
The community workshops will be led by MATC sociology instructors and are based on topics discussed in MATC’s “Introduction to Diversity Studies” course. Participants will receive an introduction to each topic, discuss questions in small groups and then gather to share insights. Attendees who participate in the full series will receive a certificate of completion from MATC.
Sponsored by MATC’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, remaining discussions include:
- Feb. 11 – “Privilege and Implicit Racial Bias”
- March 11 – “Institutional Racism and its Effects”
- April 8 – “Social Movements of Yesterday and Today”
- May 13 – “Celebrating Diversity”
Pre-registration is not required. For more information, call Jennifer Mikulay, MATC associate dean of liberal arts and sciences, at (414) 456-5325.