Hello all,

Many apologies for this late call, but I am proposing a session for the ARLIS/NA + VRA joint conference that seeks to define and discuss issues of diversity and social identity in our daily professional lives.  It is my hope that attendees will come away with a better understanding of these issues, and with a set of tools and resources for continuing education and making positive changes in their home institutions.  A session about the use of exhibitions and collections to promote dialogue and cultural understanding is also being proposed, so the focus of this session will be on presenting and discussing the principles of diversity and inclusion and how they manifest themselves in our daily professional lives.

Some questions to inform the session:

• What is privilege? Do our institutions (museums, libraries, VR collections) perpetuate systems of power and privilege?  In what ways?
• How can we become better informed as professionals in our fields when it comes to issues of diversity, social justice, and inclusion?
• What specific actions can we take to promote diversity and social justice in our departments, campuses, or institutions?

Topics for presenters could include (but are not limited to):

• Defining our terms: what do we mean by “diversity", “privilege", “inclusion", "social identity", etc.?
• Case studies of diversity initiatives within a VR department or art library.
• Working with patrons from a wide spectrum of social identities; what to expect, how to be inclusive.
• Examples of unintended micro-aggressions in terms of library policy, staff relationships, collection development, etc. (This could include issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, age, etc.), and how they were addressed and alleviated.
• Diversity resources (on campus, in print, online) for continuing education.