The Department of Anthropology has recently created a Diversity Initiative - a group of staff, graduate students, and faculty - who meet regularly to work on issues related to diversity and inclusion in the Department of Anthropology.

One of the aims of the Initiative is to increase dialogue in our Department on these issues. In order to achieve this, we are instituting a regular Happy Hour discussion on a variety of topics where diversity and inclusion are central themes. Rather than academic discourses, we would like to focus on topics and issues in popular media, as a way to broaden our thinking and discussion on what diversity means, how to be more inclusive in our thinking, and how to apply what we learn to our everyday lives. These discussions are intended to be a safe space to talk and exchange ideas, and we invite everyone in the department to attend.

Our next Diversity Initiative Happy Hour will be on Wednesday, August 31, beginning at 5 p.m. at Mamma Lucia Pizza & Pasta, 4734 Cherry Hill Road, College Park. Wednesday is half-price bottled wine night! Please see the website for menu options: http://mammaluciapizzaandpasta.com/22118

RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_lN7JghKfOwic5zizAYikJo2g1HrolbOKFPOcu_-ExKmGdg/viewform

Many of us have been watching the Rio Olympics and following the accompanying news stories dealing with issues of diversity and inclusion. The Olympic Games are a microcosm of what is happening in our world with regards to equality and civil rights for all. Some of the topics in the media have highlighted: race relations, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender norms, people with disabilities, identity politics, Nationalist ideologies, immigration and refugee policies, and representation, to name but a few. Discussions surround who currently participates in certain sports and how this has changed over time, the history of exclusion of certain groups from sports, how representation of athletes in the media is influenced by race, gender, National origin, and other characteristics, and also debates over limitations on participation (e.g. intersex athletes).

Some reading material to begin the conversation is included below:

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/fc55f6db-899b-72e8-8864-4f4ce198e491/1/CS%2015%20Race%20and%20Ethnicity%20in%20the%20Olympic%20Games.pdf

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/im-black-and-i-cant-swim-simone-manuel-showed-america-why-it-must-change/2016/08/12/138f8b6c-6086-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html

http://www.vox.com/2016/8/5/12369420/rio-2016-womens-gymnastics-simone-biles-diversity-race-relations

http://qz.com/760321/south-africans-turned-an-athletes-record-breaking-olympic-victory-into-a-debate-about-racial-politics/

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/08/the-olympic-quote-that-should-be-heard-round-the-world/495653/

http://www.poynter.org/2016/whats-behind-sexist-reporting-at-the-olympics-lack-of-newsroom-diversity-and-experience/426564/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/top-10-most-sexist-things-to-occur-at-the-2016-rio_us_57a88bfce4b0c94bd3c9fb86

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/08/why-the-olympic-refugee-team-is-so-important.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/08/16/490236620/south-african-star-raises-sensitive-questions-about-intersex-athletes

If you have additional links you would like to share, please email them to nadine [at] umd [dot] edu and they will be added here.