Students and professors from more than 30 different universities across the country will gather Saturday to present findings in their respective fields regarding diversity.
Ball State is hosting the third annual Diversity Research Symposium from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. The event is sponsored by the Office of Institutional Diversity and the Department of Psychological Science.
The symposium will include works that deal with diversity of students and faculty from different disciplines. Different sessions and workshops will be held on the third floor of the Student Center while the keynote speaker lecture will take place in the Ballroom.
Linh Littleford, associate professor of psychological science, said more than 220 people are expected to attend the event.
"I think it really brings diversity to the forefront," she said. "And when you talk about research, it has significant parts to it: it highlights the many aspects of diversity, it gives students and professors the idea that the time put into their research will actually pay off."
The keynote speaker for the symposium, Erin Crawford Cressy, will give her presentation "Swimming Upstream: Connecting to ‘Real World' Anti-Racism Work" during lunch at noon. Other presentations and workshops will be occurring throughout the day, including topics such as diversifying faculty, multicultural responses to immigrant students and diversity in businesses.
This is the second time Ball State has hosted the symposium, but the event is planning to change hosts each year.
Charles Payne, assistant provost for diversity and director of the Office of Institutional Diversity, said he initially talked with Littleford about holding an event in which people can discuss diversity across the fields.
Because the first symposium had a good turnout, Ball State decided to make it an annual event.
"I have been pleasantly surprised not only by the support from the faculty but also by the different departments on campus," Payne said. "We have different departments sponsoring and donating for the cause."
Payne said he was also surprised by the interest from faculty and staff.
"I have been amazed that people have been so interested," he said. "It's really nice to see that people like to learn from one another and sharing the knowledge too. It's been great to be a part of this."
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