Part of LaGuardia’s commitment to transforming our understanding of the causes and effects of marginalization, the Center’s 2021 “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Across Curriculum and Campus” seminar offers faculty and staff an opportunity to systematically reflect upon and increase knowledge about multiple aspects of identity that include race, class, culture, abilities,  ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and age. The CTL Bulletin’s recorded Zoom conversation with seminar members Vanessa Bing, Tuli Chatterji, Belkis Gonzalez, and Wendy Nicholson serves as an educational resource for faculty and staff seeking to deepen DEI classroom and co-curricular practices.

Scholar-practitioner, co-founder of Faculty and Staff of Color Collective, and DEI seminar architect and co-facilitator Dr. Vanessa Bing (Social Science) has long served the college as a guide in facilitating dialogue designed to better understand the experience and impact of exclusion and identity. In a riveting, bell-clear conversation of just under an hour, she and Professors Tuli Chatterji and Belkis Gonzalez (English) and seminar co-facilitator and doctoral student Wendy Nicholson (Student Affairs) define DEI, discuss the seminar’s purpose, goals, and foundational texts, and describe a whole-campus perspective that confronts racism, fosters an equitable environment, and generates joy.