The Identities Project is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Student Life-sponsored cross-campus collaboration with the Social Justice and Equity Committee, Breaking Barriers Diversity Club, and other campus entities that provides opportunities for our community to explore and discuss gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, social class, ethnicity, and other facets of identity through intentionally-reflective civil dialogues, lectures, documentaries with discussions, and other programs. All are welcome and encouraged to attend these free events.
Spring 2023 Identities Project Schedule
Mon, Jan 16 All Day
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MLK Day of Service, Learning, & CelebrationClick here to review the schedule of our day. |
Tue, Feb 28, 3p Location: Brophy 124 |
Debrief and processing "Celebrating Resistance with Resilience" by Dr. Carolyn Colleen - Tue, 2/28, 2p-3p - Brophy 122Viterbo University celebrates this year’s Black History Month by inviting Carolyn Colleen (Bostrack), Viterbo alumna, to speak about celebrating resistance with resilience. She published her first book F.I.E.R.C.E.: Transform Your Life in the Face of Adversity 5 Minutes at a Time in 2016. Carolyn Colleen is a fierce mother of three, author, international speaker, founder of Fierce Foundation and Acton Midwest. *Identities Project Reflection Conversation: 3p-4p in Brophy 124 immediately following event* Attend the event hosted by Viterbo’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team above and join a group to reflect on what resonated, challenged, and validated from Dr. Colleen’s message. Snacks provided! |
Tue, Mar 7, 8p Location: Brophy 124 |
Debrief and processing "Haudenosaunee Daughters, Mothers, and Grandmothers: Healing and Lacrosse" by Dr. Sharity Bassett - Tue, 3/7, 7p-8p - Brophy 122Dr. Sharity Bassett is currently at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee as Visiting Assistant Professor of Women & Gender Studies and Manager of the American Indian Student Center. She has been involved in collaborative research with Haudenosaunee communities in New York, Ontario, and Montreal since 2011. Prior to that, she worked with urban American Indian communities in Denver as an activist and ally. Her manuscript, Haudenosaunee Women Lacrosse Players: Making Meaning through Rematriation, is forthcoming with Michigan State University Press. *Identities Project Reflection Conversation: 8p-9p in Brophy 124 immediately following event* Attend the event hosted by Viterbo’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team above and join a group to reflect on what resonated, challenged, and enlightened from Dr. Bassett's message. Snacks provided! |
Thu, Mar 23, 8:30p Location: FAC 116 - Hospitality Suite |
Debrief and processing Peter Feigl, Holocaust Survivor - Thu, 3/23, 7p, FAC Main TheatrePeter Feigl, the only child of Ernst and Agnes Bornstein Feigl, was born on March 1, 1929, in Berlin, Germany. His father, a mechanical engineer, worked for a multinational company selling automotive equipment throughout Europe while his mother stayed home to raise Peter in an upper middle class environment. When the family, who were non-practicing Jews, moved to Vienna in 1937, Peter was baptized in the Catholic Church in the hope he would be shielded from the virulent antisemitism in Germany and Austria. CLICK HERE to read Mr. Feigl's detailed background. *Identities Project Reflection Conversation: 8:30p FAC 116 - Hospitality Suite immediately following event* Attend the event hosted by the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership Lecture Series and join a group to reflect on what resonated and challenged you from Mr. Feigl's experiences and perspective. Snacks provided! |
Thu, Apr 13 Location: Weber Center theater back rows |
Debrief and processing James Bowey, Photo Media Artist & Professor - Thu, 4/13, 7p - Weber Center"Searching for Empathy: Human Connection in Divided Times" James Bowey's work explores the challenges and possibilities of human connection. He creates multidisciplinary artworks that combine documentary photography, poetic storytelling, academic research and live programs to narrow our social divisions and deepen understanding. In this multimedia presentation, Bowey will share photographs and reflections from his work covering some of society's most intractable problems, including war, poverty, gun violence, refugees and racial division, and the compelling lessons they reveal about the nature of empathy and roots of peace in our lives and communities. The talk will be followed by a community conversation about how we can strengthen social connection in our personal and civic lives. Bowey's work and insights will take you on a journey of compassion and renewal; and open your heart and mind to new perspectives on being human in a contentious world, and suggest how we can build a healthier and more peaceful society at this critical time. This lecture is part of the A Conference of the Virtue of Peace and is free and open to the public. No tickets necessary. PLEASE NOTE: THIS LECTURE WILL BE IN-PERSON ONLY. *Identities Project Reflection Conversation: Back rows of theater immediately following presentation* Attend the event hosted by the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership Lecture Series and join a group to reflect on what resonated and challenged you from Mr. Bowey's lens. Snacks provided! |
Wed, Apr 19, 7p Location/Time: San Damiano Chapel |
Theology on Tap - Christian NationalismJoin the Viterbo Religious Studies department as we explore the history and contemporary appearance of Christian Nationalism to help us make sense of rising trends in our communities today. Conversation and interactive discussion will be facilitated after the presentation. |
Tue, May 2 12p-1:30p Reinhart 134 |
Identities Project LuncheonJoin the Identities Project team to break some bread and reflect on some of the lessons we've learned this semester, sharing each other's takeaways, and shifting our lens for the next steps to continue serving & learning together. |
The Identities Project committee members ask you to take time to think critically about the unacceptable, but very real, racist behaviors and beliefs in our country. We'd also encourage you to learn more about actions you can take to move towards justice.
We've compiled a list of books, films and more for you to explore over the summer. Thank you to those folx who have added their suggestions! Please reach out if you have more resources you'd like us to add.
Want to do more than just learn? Start by joining your local SURJ chapter to connect to resources in your community (La Crosse area SURJ).
Books - Nonfiction (consider purchasing from independent bookstores!)
- "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nahesi Coates
- "Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X Kendi
- "How to be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi
- “How We Fight For Our Lives” by Saeed Jones
- "Me and White Supremacy" by Layla Saad
- “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
- “From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America” by Elizabeth Hinton
- “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
- "When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir" by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
- “Waking Up White” by Debby Irving
- "Minor Feelings" by Cathy Park Hong
- "Are Prisons Obsolete?" by Angela Davis
- “I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” by Austin Channing Brown
Books - Fiction
- "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
- "We Cast a Shadow" by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
- "On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong
- "Copperhead" by Alexis Zentner
- "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee
- “Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid
- "There There" by Tommy Orange
Films
- 13TH (free on YouTube!)
- 20 Documentaries About Black Women To Watch All Year
- Self Made – Madame CJ Walker
- When They See Us
- Mudbound
Other
- “Visit” America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, WI online
- Take the Implicit Bias test
- Peruse this Catholicism, Christianity and Racism resource guide
- Viterbo library list of antiracist resources
- A guide to "calling people in" when talking about violence
- Ethics Today: how should white people talk about race?
- WPR Newsmakers interview with leaders working to improve diversity in the La Crosse area
- The Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council's multicultural resource guide
- Resources for Black healing
- Viterbo library list of common read resources (our common read this year explores Japanese internment camps)
- National Resources List
- Explore the National Museum of African American History & Culture's resources for talking about race.