Deconstructing diversity: Summer Reading Group
We want to think critically about what ‘diversity’ means in our work and within our everyday lives through academic readings on race, gender, class, sexuality, disability and intersectionality. In the context of the University we want to consider how we make the University accommodating for all regardless of gender, age, sexuality, race, class or disability? Topics that could be discussed include thinking about the extent to which diversity is currently mapped into our course programmes, ensuring diversity in the workplace and in our everyday lives, and considering the question of training staff in areas relating to diversity and equality. All staff and students are welcome in the reading group. Come to any or all sessions. We aim to create a friendly, supportive and collegial atmosphere. Provisional themes and authors for each session are given below, but we want to create an inter-disciplinary and ‘undisciplined’ reading group where participants can choose which specific chapters/readings to engage with or any other articles or books by those respective authors. The last sessions remain open for further topics that emerge from the group. There will be eight group sessions over this summer. We will meet every two weeks on Tuesdays from 1.15-3.15pm. Here are the dates for the meetings with room information provided below:
- 12 June - Race – Frantz, F. (2008) Black Skin, White Masks (available as e-book in the University library) We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 26 June - Gender – Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. Retrieved from Ebook Central. We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 10 July - Disability - Davis, L. J. (2013). The disability studies reader (4th;4; ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. (available as e-book in the University Library) We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 24 July – Queering Sexuality - Keilty, P., & Dean, R. (2013;2012;). Feminist and queer information studies reader. Sacramento: Litwin Books. (available as e-book in the University library) We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 7 August - Intersectionality - Audre Lourde (1984) Sister Outsider. We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 21 August – De-colonising Science – Harding, S. (1991) Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women’s Lives by Sandra Harding (paper copy in Library) We will be meeting in EK2/12.
- 4 September – Open Session. We will be meeting in EKG/01.
- 11 September – Open Session. We will be meeting in EKG/01.
- 18 September – Open session. Room information tbc. Email Anna or Alex for where we will be meeting.
If you wish to book to any of the events or if you want to ask any questions, then do email both Anna and Alex .
