Multicultural Consciousness Series

The Multicultural Consciousness Series includes lectures, debates, panel discussions, films, videos, performances, and other events open to the larger UVA Community. The series features topics in diversity and multiculturalism within the University context and within the nation and world.  The goal of the series is to present thought-provoking topics that allow students to engage in thoughtful dialogue with one another, participate in discussions that may often involve controversy, and engage in thoughtful and critical dialogue along lines of difference. 

Fall 2022 Series

• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Beauty - Subjects of Desire: Documentary and Discussion - November 1st at 7pm

Spring 2022 Series

• Healing Through Performance Open Mic: In Celebration of Women's History Month - March 31st, 6 PM - Multicultural Student Center
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Consent - March 31st, 5 pm - Multicultural Student Center
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Mental Health - February 24th, 4:30 PM - Multicultural Student Center 
• MSC & Black Muslims at UVA: Nana Asuma'u & Vision Board Workshop - February 16th, 5 PM - Multicultural Student Center

Fall 2021 Series

• Filipino American History Month Takeover! - October 22nd, 3:30 PM - Multicultural Student Center
• Clarity for Curly Heads! With Annazette Allen - October 20th, 7 PM - Multicultural Student Center
• Mental Health & Flourishing as a Person of Color - September 28th, 4 PM - Multicultural Student Center  
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Bilingualism - September 27th, 3 PM, Multicultural Student Center

Spring 2021 Series

• Racial Legacies: Asian American Histories & Narratives in American Culture - April 20th, 5:30 PM - Zoom 
• A Chat about Self Expression - April 6th, 7 pm - Zoom 
• Approaching Women's History Month through a Decolonial Lens - March 17th, 6 PM - Zoom 
• From Blues to Radical Thought with Professor Janée Moses - February 22nd, 7 PM - Zoom

Fall 2020 Series

• Distant Relatives: Exploring Indigenous Community & Deconstructing Pan-Indianism - November 27th, 6 PM - Zoom 
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Disability ft Imani Barbarin - November 10th, 5 PM - Zoom 
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Mental Health ft Dean Michael Mason - October 30th, 1 PM - Zoom 
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Care ft. Professor Lisa Woolfork & Professor Ashon Crawley - October 27th, 5 PM - Zoom 
• Religion & Spirituality in the Hispanic/Latinx Community - October 15th, 6 PM - Zoom 

Spring 2020 Series

• Prison Activism during the Pandemic - April 20th, 3 PM - Zoom 

Fall 2019 Series

• Gentrification & Classism in C'ville - Tuesday September 30, 6:30 PM - Multicultural Student Center 
• Mixed Matched: Multiculturalism & Bone Marrow Donations - Tuesday, October 1, 8:00 PM - Multicultural Student Center
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Gender: Intersectionality of Black Womanhood - Tuesday, November 5, 7:00 PM - Multicultural Student Center 
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Sex: Let's Talk about Sex! - Tuesday, November 12, 5:00 PM - Multicultural Student Center 
• #RaceAnd Series: Race & Mental Health - Tuesday November 19, 7:00 PM - Multicultural Student Center

Spring 2019 Series

• Black Music and Black Histories - Thursday February 21, 5:30 PM - Multicultural Student Center

Fall 2018 Series

• MSC Education Collaborative with SHHO (Student Hip Hop Organization) - Global Evolution of Hip Hop - October 2, 7PM
• Race and Capitalism - Wednesday, October 17, 5pm - Media Activities Center / U-Guides Office, Lower Level Newcomb Hall (across from the LGBTQ Center)
• Space and Memory - Tuesday, November 6 - Multicultural Student Center
• Crazy Rich Asians, Movie Screening & Discussion - Friday, November 16 - Newcomb Theater, with discussion in the Multicultural Student Center

In Spring 2018, the series featured Intersectionality Dialogues: Real life people, real life experiences, with professors and students from intersectional themes of feminism, sexuality, race, class, and Islam.

Generously funded by the UVA Parents Fund.

Things I Wish I Knew 

TIWIK is speaker series where faculty and staff share personal experiences on their identity and background, their career path or field of work, or another topic of their choosing. This series of programs features UVA faculty and staff sharing life experiences within the context of things they wish they knew within a given moment or experience of their life and career. In an effort to showcase many of the diverse identities and experience of our faculty and staff, this program aims to provide insight for students as they navigate a diverse and ever changing world. As the saying goes, "Hindsight is 20/20".

• October 6th, 2022 at 1pm - Dr. Habashi is UVA Engineering’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. She joined UVA after serving as Clinical Associate Professor of Management at Purdue University. Dr. Habashi is an expert in social and workplace behavior, and led Purdue’s Center for Women in Management. She is passionate about advocating for underrepresented minorities in STEM.
• February 22nd, 2022 at 5 pm - Kevin McDonald is the University of Virginia’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships. He joined UVA after serving as the chief diversity officer and vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity, and equity at the University of Missouri System and the University of Missouri – Columbia.
• November 17th, 2021 at 6:30 pm - UVA’s Vice President & Chief Student Affairs Officer, Robyn Hadley, VP Hadley joined UVA on June 1st, 2021 and leads approximately 300 student affairs professionals supporting students across the University, from enrollment through graduation. She oversees a diverse portfolio, including the Office of the Dean of Students, Housing & Residence Life, the Department of Student Health & Wellness, the Office of African American Affairs, the University Career Center and administration of the Rotunda.
• April 28th, 2021 at 7 pm (Zoom) - Continuing with this series, we will have Anri Yasuda with us. She is the assistant professor of Japanese Literature and has researched modern Japanese writers, discourses about cosmopolitanism, gender, and visual arts such as film. Come listen to Professor Yasuda speak about how she navigates her identity through her work and as a professor at the University. There will be a Q&A afterward so please come to listen and ask questions!
• February 24th, 2021 at 5 pm (Zoom) - Come listen to Professor Kevin Everson speak about his experiences as a director, filmmaker, and professor at the University.  
• November 17th, 2020 at 7 pm (Zoom) - Professor Lilian Feitosa
• October 8th, 2020 at 7 pm (Zoom) - Professor Federico Cuatlacuatl 
• September 17th, 2019 at 6pm - Ricardo Padrón will share his experiences with matters of ethnic identity as an undergraduate at U.Va. in the ‘80s, a grad student in the ‘90s, and a professor at U.Va. since 1997. Mr. Padrón is a native of Ecuador whose father was Cuban, and who grew up in the United States. He has been teaching in U.Va.’s Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese for 21 years.Things I Wish I Knew is an initiative for faculty to share personal experiences on their identity and background, their career path or field of work, or another topic of their choosing. Come join the discussion. Catering will be provided.

Diversi-TEA Career Conversations

Diversi-Tea Career Conversations - a collaborative initiative with the University Career Center -  is a series of informal chats with alumni and friends of the university around topics including: personal identity and career exploration, navigating recruitment and applications, and building community through mentors and networks.  

• April 28th, 2021 at 5 pm (Zoom) - Justin Trinidad - Come get to know Justin Trinidad - Currently pursuing a Master's. in Business Administration at the Darden School of Business and a Master's in Education at the UVA School of Education and Human Development, Justin graduated in 2015 with a B.A. in Foreign Affairs. He served as President of the Organization of Young Filipino Americans during his time at UVA, and now also has experience doing social justice work advocating for AAPI communities in the White House, OCA, and other non-profit organizations. Such experiences include serving as an Advisor at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders where he planned the 2nd White House Filipino American History Month Celebration. 
• November 28th, 2020 at 7 pm (Zoom) - Taylor Leigh Lamb - Communications Manager at Baltimore Center Stage, Taylor graduated in 2018 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Drama. She is an actor, marketing producer for Black Enough, and was a Career Peer Educator for the university. Come and chat if you’re interested in the intersection of creative fields and diversity! Diversi-TEA Career Conversations is a series of informal chats with alumni and friends of the university around topics including personal identity and career exploration, navigating recruitment and applications, and building community through mentors and networks.
• November 12th, 2019 at 6pm - Dr. Irene Mathieu, UVA Pediatrics - Dr. Mathieu shares insight into what it's like being in the medical field as a person of color and as an activism poet. She delves deeper into how to navigate identity in the medical field and how she came into the position she is in now specifically focusing on her dual career in the creative arts and medicine. 

Pathways: Multicultural Leadership Series

Fall 2019 Series

September 23, 7:00pm - Multicultural Women Student Leadership Panel 

October 29, 6:00pm - Let's Talk about Identity! Student Leader Panel 

November 14, 3:30pm - MSC Pathways & SYC Present: Cake with Comm & Chattin' w/ Batten

Spring 2018 Series

February 5, 5pm - Natalie Romero, Student Director, Multicultural Student Center

March 5, 6:30pm - Ibtisaam Amin, Chair, Minority Rights Coalition

Fall 2018 Series 

October 3, 5pm - Alex Cintron, President, UVA Student Council

November 7, 7pm - Derrick Wang, Honor Committee

November 28, 7pm - Joe Malasa, President, Organization for Young Filipino Americans (OYFA)