Diversity Festival Features Boxes & Walls

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 22, 2010) – The upcoming week of the University of Kentucky Cultural Diversity Festival events features music, exhibits, lectures, movies and one event so unique that it's a little hard to explain.

Boxes & Walls has been described as an impactful experience … a thought- provoking project … an interactive museum. But the explanation Rebecca Comage likes the best is "a unique approach to diversity."

"This interactive diversity museum – Boxes & Walls – project has been developed exclusively by our UK students to help others learn about different cultural experiences and to understand how their generation feels about diversity issues. I can't tell you how proud I am of how our students have stepped up to share their experiences and their feelings about those experiences," said Comage, assistant director for diversity education and community building, in the Division of Student Affairs' Office of Student Involvement.

The UK CATalyst Coalition, a group of social justice peer educators; the Student Activities Board and Student Government Association have partnered to create and present Boxes & Walls March 26-27.

While Boxes & Walls programs have been displayed at several universities across the country, including the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin, the event is always unique because it is created by the local students. It is not a cookie-cutter program transported from one campus to the next.

At UK, Boxes & Walls will be an interactive museum organized into five rooms, each depicting different cultural experiences and social justice with historically oppressed groups: LGBTQQIA, African American, Latino/Latina, violence and intervention/feminist awareness, and unity. UK partnerships are the NAACP, the Black Student Union (BSU), Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Delta Phi Mu (a multicultural sorority), the Gay Straight Alliance, OUTSource, Feminist Alliance, and the VIP Center.

Boxes & Walls will be erected in the Center for Student Involvement offices in the basement level of the Student Center. The tours run from 4 to 7 p.m., leaving every 30 minutes and lasting about 90 minutes. Boxes & Walls will be repeated April 23-24. For more information, contact Comage at (859) 257-0179 or at Rebecca.Comage@uky.edu.

"It was just time," said Anna Edwards, UK director of graduate school multicultural affairs and this year's director of the one-act play "WOMANSPEAK."

In honor of Women’s History Month and in conjunction with the Cultural Diversity Festival, the diversity office in The Graduate School is presenting "WOMANSPEAK" at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, March 25, in the Hospital Auditorium and at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, in the Student Center Theatre.

"WOMANSPEAK" is a play by Gloria Goldsmith about the lost history of American women. A contemporary woman, played by UK social work major Dana Ahmadi, is in search of her roots. Female personalities of the past, such as Abigail Adams, Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony, share their stories with Ahmadi, giving life to the history books.  

Edwards felt that it was time to put on the production again "to remind students of the well-known, but also the unknown women that helped them achieve the freedoms they have today."

Events for the rest of Cultural Diversity Festival week include:

• March 22-26, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Rasdall Gallery: "Katrina Submerged," an exhibit of photographer Valerie Clay's images from her three trips to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

• March 22, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kentucky Clinic: Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer, offering handmade jewelry, home decor and gifts from around the world.

• March 23, 6:30 p.m., Cat’s Den: "Hip Hop: Role of Women," a discussion to explore the role of women in the Hip Hop industry.

• March 23, 7:30 p.m., Singletary Center for the Arts: Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi will discuss the prospects of peace in the Middle East, based on her leadership positions held in recent years. Tickets are available through the Singletary Center.

• March 24, noon, Worsham Theater: “Diversity of Native American Tribes,” JJ Kent, an award-winning speaker, educator, story-teller and musician of the Lakota Tribe, will discuss the various cultures of Native American tribes.

• March 24, 5 p.m., Worsham Theater: JJ Kent presents a concert of the Native American courting flute, all enhanced by traditional stories and dance. Kent was honored as Flutist of the Year by the Native American Music Awards in 2009.

• March 25, 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Kentucky Theatre: One World Film Festival, “Lemon Tree” a drama based on a true story about a Palestinian widow who fights to keep her lemon grove from being destroyed.

• March 25, 5:15 p.m., UK Hospital Auditorium, 6th floor: "WOMANSPEAK," a contemporary woman in search of her roots.

• March 25, 7 p.m., Worsham Theater: International Film Series, “City of God,” a 2002 Brazilian crime drama film, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund.

• March 26-27, 4-7 p.m., Center for Student Involvement, Student Center: "Boxes and Walls" is an experiential alternative museum built by students for students, taking an interactive, emotional approach to opening minds.

• March 27, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Natural Bridge State Park: Cross-Cultural Workshop (application deadline has expired) is an interactive experience between international and American students.

• March 28, 2 p.m. and 4:30 pm, Lexington Public Library, Central Branch: One World Film Festival, “Good Hair,” Chris Rock travels the world to comb through the mystery of African-American hair.

More information and upcoming events are available at www.uky.edu/DiversityFestival.

The 2010 Cultural Diversity Festival, Feb. 22 to April 10, features many cultures with events including concerts, performance theatre, interactive workshops and scholarly lectures. The festival promotes cultural awareness, highlights the wealth of diversity represented at UK and strives to engage all students, faculty and staff as well as the Lexington community, by fostering dialogue, encouraging new experiences and promoting unity. Both UK and Lexington communities are invited to experience these cultural and educational programs. All festival activities are open to the public, and most are free. For details, visit the Cultural Diversity’s Web site at http://www.uky.edu/DiversityFestival/ or follow the CDF on Twitter at UKCDF.