The Inclusive Culture Book Club creates intentional space and time for employees to engage in conversations about DEI-related books. This remote book club meets about monthly.
The goal of this book club is to create a more inclusive culture by:
- Building and enhancing professional relationships and trust among colleagues.
- Expanding knowledge, skills and perspectives related to DEI:
- Cross-cultural/intercultural communication
- Perspective-taking
- How to have difficult conversations
- Cultural competency and cultural humility
Schedule
April 25, 2024 | 11 a.m. | Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin | Register here |
Book Selections
April 2024 Selection
Giovanni’s Room
By James Baldwin
In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality.
David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni’s curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella’s return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy.
David struggles for self-knowledge during one long, dark night—“the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life.” With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin’s now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a deeply moving story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.
February 2024 Selection
Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally
By Emily Ladau
People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us—disabled and nondisabled alike—don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on the important disability issues you need to know about, including:
• How to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability
• Recognizing and avoiding ableism (discrimination toward disabled people)
• Practicing good disability etiquette
• Ensuring accessibility becomes your standard practice, from everyday communication to planning special events
• Appreciating disability history and identity
• Identifying and speaking up about disability stereotypes in media
Authored by celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience.
Books are chosen by the inclusive culture sub-group of the DEI Committee. Members of the book club and the broader UWS community are also invited to make book suggestions by sending ideas to [email protected].
How to Get a Book
- Use a copy you already own or borrow from a friend/ colleague
- Reach out to your local library, including the UWS library
- Check out used or inexpensive options at a local or online bookstore
- The DEI Committee will have a limited number of copies for employees to borrow. Contact Bola Majekobaje for more information.
Sponsored by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Partners:
- DEI Committee
- UWS Library
Inclusive Culture Sub-Committee members: Alec Torres, Bola Majekobaje, Johnny Kang, Jordan Elston, and Ritah Parrish
Community Agreements:
- Foster a co-learning environment. We are all on a path of learning and are striving to do the best we can. Gaining cultural competence and practicing cultural humility is a life-long process.
- Correct gently, but do correct. If participants say something that is incorrect or offensive, politely address what was said. One method is to use curiosity and inquiry if there are questions about intent. For example… “Tell me more about what you mean when you say…?”
- Make space, take space. Participants should be aware of how much they are speaking. If they feel they are speaking a lot, they should let others speak, and if they find themselves not talking, they should try to contribute some comments, ideas, or suggestions.
- Assess your individual safety and use discernment. Your individual safety is important. Please only share as much as you feel comfortable. The intent is that learnings from the book club will be shared, but please refrain from using names or personal stories of colleagues.
- At the same time, lean into discomfort. Book club topics can sometimes be challenging. Be willing to experience some discomfort in discussions, and learn from that experience.
- Take care of yourself. If the discussion is too intense or makes you feel too uncomfortable, please feel free to step away.
- Use “I” statements. Everyone should speak from his/her/their own experiences.