“Student Perspectives on: Inclusion, Intentionality, Equity, & Diversity,” through September 8

Through Friday, September 8

University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery, 2255 Bennett Street, Dubuque IA

An insightful exhibition aimed at fostering dialogue about how University of Dubuque students practice and promote the tenets of IIED, the university's Bisignano Art Gallery is housing Student Perspectives on: Inclusion, Intentionality, Equity, & Diversity through September 8, the exhibit displaying framed questions posed to 15 students from a variety of vocational pathways and their responses to those queries.

“I was excited to have the Bisignano Art Gallery mount the results of the inclusion, intentionality, equity, and diversity project," stated gallery director Alan Garfield. "This subject, much like modern art itself, can be rather confusing and cumbersome. That’s why it is important for students, staff, and faculty to see what the subject actually means. In some caustic environments, these terms are in the crosshairs. Unduly. But as you will see in this exhibit, inclusion, intentionality, equity, and diversity is about ending discrimination and building learning and work places that work for everybody."

Garfield continued, "Clearly, in academia, we have our job cut out for us to find and to fix those root causes of inequity and potential discrimination. Sometimes it is intentional and overt. But other times there are biased policies, incomplete processes, and even accidental exclusions. This exhibit documents UD’s examination of inclusion, intentionality, equity, and diversity by calling for the common sense goal of building a learning and work place free from discrimination. Sometimes common sense isn’t so common until you point it out.
Student participants who are active on campus were introduced to the student exhibit project by faculty and staff from the master in management–organizational diversity and inclusion-leadership program.

“As a campus community," said Amy Baus, chair of the Department of Psychology and associate professor of psychology, "we gather every academic year to support students in their learning environments, such as the classroom settings, living and study spaces, as well as their co-curricular activities and commitments. This gallery project offers us another platform to reflect on terminology and concepts of their distinct meaning for students. As we view the gallery, let us challenge each other in our own area of discipline, expertise, and interest among our global networks to broaden our scope, utilization, and meaning for each term within our everyday lives. Let us embrace our similarities and differences, as we lean in to create a better space for understanding, as well as promote the prosocial attitudes and behavior of curiosity. As curiosity can broaden our self-knowledge, leading us to new interpretations of the human experience, while keeping us engaged to move forward in this life."

The exhibit is supported by UD’s Wendt Character Initiative, which is devoted to promoting a campus culture of excellent moral character and purposeful lives characterized by integrity, justice, and compassion. Presented in cooperation with UD’s Office of Academic Affairs, Student Perspectives on: Inclusion, Intentionality, Equity, & Diversity is also sponsored by the Network for Vocational Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), a nationwide network of nearly 300 colleges and universities formed to support and enrich vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students. A program of the Council of Independent Colleges, NetVUE is supported by Lilly Endowment, Inc. and member dues.

Student Perspectives on: Inclusion, Intentionality, Equity, & Diversity will be on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery through September 8, with regular gallery hours noon to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. The gallery is also open in conjunction with all major events held in the John & Alice Butler Hall of the university's Heritage Center. Admission is free, and more information is available by calling (563)589-3267 and visiting Dart.dbq.edu/gallery.