New seminar series to highlight marginalized ethnic groups

“Hollywood’s Depiction of Race: How It Influenced Systemic Racism” is the first in a new monthly seminar series aimed at bringing to light the untold history of marginalized ethnic groups in the United States.

The seminar will be presented via Zoom at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and feature a presentation by Cynthia Robinson, PhD, chair of the department of black studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Access the Zoom presentation here.

The seminar series is being launched by Jan Tompkins, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.

“We have become familiar with the terms implicit bias and structural/systemic racism, but they can become pretty academic,” Tompkins said. “I found that it was the stories about groups of people and individuals that really spoke to me. Stories that had a significant influence on the historical evolution of our country but that I had never heard before or seen in a history textbook.”

Other seminars in the series include a March presentation by the UNO Office of Latino/Latin American Studies and an April presentation focusing on Native Americans.

“I hope this series will give us a better understanding of how we got to where we are and give us tools to plan strategically for actions that will lead to the resolution of the critical, racially-charged situations in our society and country,” Tompkins said.

3 comments

  1. Dr. Sheritta Strong says:

    We have lots of opportunities to engage with the campus or various units in difficult conversations about race. How do we attract folks that still don’t see there is a problem?

  2. William Hay MD says:

    I have a conference at that time. Will this be available for viewing later?

  3. UNMC Today Editor says:

    Plans are being made to record the presentation, and it should be available for later viewing.

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