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NIU Office of Public Affairs


News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

March 21, 2005

NIU’s Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute
to include instructors, keynote speaker Paula Rothenberg

DeKalb — When the 20 participants in this year’s Northern Illinois University Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute gather this May, their ranks will – for the first time – include instructors.

Originally conceived 12 years ago as a program for faculty, the doors opened in 2003 to members of the Supportive Professional Staff with teaching responsibilities. That change prompted NIU’s instructors to seek entry.

“I’m especially excited. Many of our instructors teach large, lower-level general education courses, so we hope that we will be able to reach more students as they first come into the university,” said Amy Levin, director of Women’s Studies and chair of the MCTI task force.

Scheduled for May 16 to 20, MCTI brings together teachers from across campus to learn more about multiculturalism and discuss how to weave its ideals into their courses.

Paula Rothenberg, director of the New Jersey Project on Inclusive Scholarship, Curriculum, and Pedagogy at William Paterson University, is the keynote speaker. Rothenberg will lead a plenary workshop from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday, May 17, that is open to non-participants.

Other sessions open to the public include a panel on disabilities (10:45 a.m. to noon Monday, May 16), a panel on race (9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, May 18), a panel on class (9 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 19), a video titled “A Class Divided” (10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Thursday, May 19), a panel on sexual orientation (9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 20) and a panel on religion (10:45 a.m. to noon Friday, May 20).

All sessions are held in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Levin, who also is a professor of English, said NIU students who enroll in transformed courses gain inclusive and diverse perspectives and experiences. The enhanced syllabi also help to attract a wider range of students.
More than 150 faculty and Supportive Professional Staff are MCTI alumni.

“We can teach our subjects more comprehensively by focusing on different cultures, classes and sexual orientations in our courses. We can teach better,” Levin said. “Being involved in Women’s Studies and being a scholar in African-American literature, I for a long time have had an interest in the intersection of race, class and gender in the classroom and in the curriculum.”

Multiculturalism is defined as the inclusion of scholarship, theory, concept and fact of cultures that historically have been under-represented in all educational arenas.

Task force leaders envision an enriched academic environment where faculty address multicultural perspectives in their teaching and curricula, accommodate the needs of a diverse student population and engage in activities that promote scholarship of multicultural curricula.

Rothenberg, whose most recent book is titled “Invisible Privilege: A Memoir about Race, Class, and Gender,” has spoken at colleges and universities across the country. Hundreds of NIU students have used Rothenberg’s edited collection “Race Class, Gender in the United States.”

A reception in her honor will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, May 16, in the Presidential Suite of the Holmes Student Center.

“We chose Rothenberg because she has a reputation for developing materials relating to multiculturalism in the classroom,” Levin said. “She will lead the participants to develop their awareness and understanding of multicultural issues.”

Sixteen of this year’s participants will receive awards of $1,000: Abu Bah, Sociology; Lisa Baumgartner, Counseling, Adult and Higher Education; Hans Beck, Biological Sciences; Edward Cancio, Teaching and Learning; Mayra Daniel, Literacy; Kenneth Elliott, Management; Eric Jones, History; Chang Liu, Operations Management and Information Systems; Christine Malecki, Psychology; Sherrill Morris, Communicative Disorders; Charles Peterson, OMIS; Lesley Rigg, Geography; Thomas Roberts, Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations; Maribel Valle, Allied Health Professions; and Angela Odoms-Young, Allied Health Professions.

Also participating are Margaret Cook, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources; Donna Martin, LEPF; Deborah Pierce, Division of International Programs; and Mary Shelden, University Libraries. All participants will hold workshops this fall based on their MCTI projects.

For more information, contact Levin at (815) 753-1038 or via e-mail at alevin@niu.edu. More information also is available from Tara McDonald, task force assistant, at (815) 753-8557 or via e-mail at multicultural_institute@niu.edu.

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