Undergraduate research symposium examines local and global diversity issues
The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech will host its second annual “Undergraduate Research Symposium on Diversity: Examining Difference, Power, and Privilege in Local and Global Communities.”
The all-day event, which will be held in the Brush Mountain Room in Squires Student Center on Friday, March 28, highlights the college’s dedication to diversity and international initiatives and its emphasis on undergraduate research.
The symposium will kick off at 9:30 a.m. with a keynote address by Rachelle Brunn, who will speak about the experiences of underrepresented students at predominantly white institutions. Brunn is an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at Fairfield University.
Student panels will then address issues that examine power and privilege across the world.
“These presentations will set the stage where symposium attendees can have candid conversations about identity formation, equitable access to goods and services, and the deconstruction of privilege and social hierarchies as they pertain to diversity,” said Ryan Rideau, director of undergraduate diversity initiatives in the college.
This symposium of student scholarship is free and open to the public.
Sponsors include the college’s diversity committee and the Undergraduate Research Institute, which serves to familiarize undergraduate students with investigation, inquiry, and creative expression in the liberal arts and human sciences. The institute publishes Philologia, an annual research journal written and reviewed by students in the college.
