Dean for Institutional Diversity

Community Reading Project

The primary objective of each Community Reading Project is to support the academic mission of the college. On occasion the Office for Institutional Diversity will host a major scholar or public intellectual whose work we believe will benefit the entire community. Such visits will include a reading component, a public lecture, and when appropriate, a workshop led by the special guest with targeted members of the community. It is our goal that every constituent group within the college be included and encouraged to participate. Each Community Reading Project will also seek to provide an enduring service to Portland’s non-Reed community.

Academic Year 2011–12

Dr. Claude Steele

Claude Steele, preeminent social psychologist and I. James Quillen Dean of Stanford's School of Education

Claude Steele will discuss his seminal work on stereotype threat and his book Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. Steele received a BA from Hiram College and a PhD from Ohio State University. He served as the twenty-first provost of Columbia University and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. His book Whistling Vivaldi provides an essential roadmap for understanding the link between identity and performance, and how those of us involved in education can make significant strides in mitigating the effects of negative stereotypes in our communities. Co-sponsored by the multicultural resource center and by Reed's Student Senate.

speaker small

Listen to the lecture.

October 7

First Friday Conversation topic: Claude Steele's 1999 Atlantic article, Thin Ice: Stereotype Threat and Black College Students.
Noon–1, Aspen Room

November 2

Public lecture: "Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we can do—in schools and the workplace."
4:30–6 p.m., Eliot Hall chapel
Public reception: 6–7 p.m., Vollum lounge

November 4

First Friday Conversation topic: Claude Steele's Whistling Vivaldi.
Noon–1, Aspen Room

Community Cross-Talk

Occasionally, the Dean for Institutional Diversity will invite five randomly chosen members of the Reed community to lunch. The goal is to engage members of the community in cross-talk about matters to do with inclusivity at Reed.

The New Scholar Series

In an effort to support Reed’s academic program and introduce our students and colleagues to emerging scholars from underrepresented groups, the Office for Institutional Diversity supports proposals from academic departments to bring exciting new scholars to campus.

The goal of this program is to complement the host department’s curricular offerings, introduce our students to distinctive ideas and scholarship in their fields of study, and bring to Reed some of the country’s most exciting, thought-provoking emerging scholars. It is a secondary hope that this program will help Reed’s extraordinary academic program become better known among the nation’s diverse cross-section of new scholars.

First Friday Conversation

Each First Friday Conversation happens on the first Friday of the month during the academic year. Ours is a brown-bag lunch series open to all community members. We gather from noon to 1 p.m. to discuss reading materials of relevance to the work promoted by the Office of Institutional Diversity. The goal of these conversations is to engage all members of the Reed community in a congenial conversation that we hope will spark new ways of thinking about inclusivity and diversity. Bring your lunch and join us!

With the exception of books, most reading materials will be available through Reed's library system. If they are not available, or if you cannot access the library's electronic resources, copies can be obtained in the institutional diversity office. In the case of articles available through the library, we have noted so after the article's title.

Academic Year 2011–12

Friday, October 7, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Stereotype Threat,
Article: Claude Steele's 1999 Atlantic article, “Thin Ice: Stereotype Threat and Black College Students”

Friday, November 4, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Claude Steele’s, Whistling Vivaldi.

Friday, December 2, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Microaggressions
Primary Articles:

  • "Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Implications for Clinical Practice," by Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, and Esquilin, Teachers College, Columbia University (library)
  • "Racial Microaggressions and Difficult Dialogues on Race in the Classroom," by Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, Rivera, Teachers College, Columbia University (library)

Secondary Articles (short):

  • "Racial Microaggressions? How Do You Know?," by Rafael S. Harris Jr., University of Florida (library)
  • "What's Missing From The Dialogue on Racial Microaggressions in Counseling and Therapy," by Renee Goodstein, St. Francis College (library)
  • "Racial Microaggressions and the Power to Define Reality," by Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, and Torino, Teachers College, Columbia University (library)

Friday, January 6, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Class
Primary Essay: "Saturn Is the Biggest Plant on Earth," by Frances Lefkowitz, The SUN, issue 428

Friday, February 3, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Gentrification in NE Portland, YouTube Video Series

Auxillary videos on Vanport:

Friday, March 2, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Gender & Leadership
Video: "Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders," TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer

Friday, May 4, Aspen Room, noon–1 p.m.

Topic: Comparison
Article: "Envy Up, Scorn Down: How Comparison Divides Us," by Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University (library)