The 11 new recipients of the Chancellor's Feinstone Grants for Multicultural
Initiatives are working on projects aimed at advancing campus dialogue on cross-ethnic
relations at Syracuse University.
This is the fifth year the awards have been granted to students, faculty
and staff to support projects that encourage SU to move beyond tolerance and
create community through diversity.
Grants of up to $1,000 were awarded to individuals whose projects met certain
criteria, including the following: discussing strategies for building alliances
across ethnic identities; proposing methods for individuals and groups to break
out of learned patterns of prejudice; highlighting specific skill-building components;
and providing a summary of goals achievable by the end of the semester.
Proposals were submitted last fall and will be implemented this semester.
Eleven of the 15 proposals submitted received grant awards.
The Conflict Management Center Diversity and Multicultural Working Group
(Katherine Baker, George Farag, Pedro Martin and Alia Nankoe) and Michael Nobleza
of the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts (PARC) in The Maxwell
School, received a grant for pilot programming to develop a multicultural and
diversity training curriculum, specifically on the topics of identity, privilege
and status.
The Department of Sociology, in collaboration with the Department of African
American Studies in The College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded a grant for
"Exploring Assimilation and Identity Issues in Immigrant/International
Populations," a film series and panel discussions to explore identity and
assimilation issues confronting non-Western immigrant groups in the United States,
with a particular emphasis on the SU campus and the Syracuse community.
Jordana Cohen, a senior in the School of Management, received a grant for
"Bridging the Gap: Cultural Diversity Awareness Fair," an evening
of cultural representation in music, dance, poetry, art, speech and food. Proceeds
will go toward a scholarship to fund a protégé for the P.E.O.P.L.E.
(Peers Eliminating Oppression and Prejudice by Learning and Educating) Together
Program.
Margery Connor, associate dean in the College of Law, was awarded a grant for
"Separate and Unequal: Using Diversity Education and Conflict Resolution
for Issues that Divide Us," a training workshop for student leaders on
the Cultural and Ethnic Affairs Committee of the Student Senate in the College
of Law. The grant will be used to provide food for the workshop day.
David Coryell, student services coordinator with SU's Honors Program, was
awarded a grant for "Honors--Onondaga Tree Planting." Seventh- and
eighth-graders from the Onondaga Nation School, together with Honors Program
students with whom they are currently working, will plant 150 seedlings on a
hillside to continue cross-cultural conversations.
Cynthia Fulford, associate director of the Center for Career Services,
and Paul Buckley, associate director of academic achievement in the Center for
Academic Achievement, received a grant for "Project C.O.D.E " (Coalition
on Diversity and Equity), a training program geared toward encouraging students
to learn about multiculturalism and the psychological effects of the marginalization
of targeted groups.
Prasanta Ghosh, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer
science in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS)
received a grant for the development of a Web-based diversity and ethics information
resource.
Molly Voorheis of The College of Arts and Sciences Writing Program; Robert
Wilson, associate director of supportive services; and members of the SU Writers
Guild received a grant for the "Syracuse University Writers Guild Diversity
Literary Volume," a short volume of literary works by SU students that
touch on ethnicity, racial awareness, diversity and tolerance.
Stacey Riemer, associate director of the Center for Public and Community
Service, was awarded a grant for a "Reflective Workshop for the Syracuse
University Literacy Corps Facilitators," a one-day, in-depth pilot workshop
focused on issues of diversity for undergraduates who volunteer with the Literacy
Corps.
Sudha Raj and Bradley Beran, assistant professors of nutrition and hospitality
management in the College for Human Development, received a grant for the development
of three courses: World Cuisines (NHM 217) and Food, Culture and the Environment
(NHM 555), both to be offered in Fall 2001, and Multicultural Cuisine Catering
(NHM 300), to be offered in Spring 2002.
Peter Gray, associate director of the Center for the Support of Teaching
and Learning (CSTL); the Phi Beta Delta Honorary Society (of which Gray is president);
and the One World Celebration Committee received a grant for "One World
Celebration," a weeklong celebration sponsored by Phi Beta Delta to celebrate
multiculturalism on the SU campus.
The award recipients will be honored at an April 9 luncheon in the home
of Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw and Mary Ann Shaw, associate of the Chancellor.
