SHARE:  
Join Our Email List
Dear Friends of the UNC Asheville Center for Diversity Education,

In 1988, Salman Rushdie wrote a book called Satanic Verses . The Ayotolah of Iran issued a proclamation that called for Rushdie's assassination due to characterizations of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.  Rushdie received around the clock protection by the British Government, where he had made his home from many years, from his native Bombay, India. In the current academic world where free speech is held in tension with trigger warnings, respectful speech, and offensive speech Rushdie asks the provacative question "What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist."

This event is hosted by the UNC Asheville Cultural and Special Events and is a rare opportunity to listen to a courageous literary figure who thinks critically about the deepest values of our country and human rights.  Please spread the word of Mr. Rushdie's visit, including the activities that lead up to the visit.

Warmly, Deborah Miles



March Exhibit

Feb. 29 - March 25, 2016

Karpen Lobby, UNC Asheville
Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 9:00pm
Opening Reception and Lecture
March 1, 5:30 - 7:00
Karpen Lobby and Laurel Forum



Emergency, Citizenship, and Democracy Lecture Dr. Peter Haschke, Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department


"I was born here, and I had the Bill of Rights that should have backed me up. . . . How can they do that to an American citizen?"- Robert Kashigawa

During World War II 120,000 ethnic Japanese on the west coast, two-thirds of them American citizens, were forced into a series of camps to live under armed guard. Japanese-American confinement was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and supported by Congress and the Supreme Court. Authorities feared that Japanese residents were disloyal and might aid in a Japanese invasion of the United States. Japanese Americans contested these charges throughout the war and later sought formal redress.

In 1983, a bipartisan congressional committee concluded that confinement was based on war hysteria, failure of government and military leadership, and racism against those of Japanese ancestry. "The Tragedy of War" revisits the injustice of Japanese-American confinement by telling their stories and asking a question that resonates today: At what point should the rights of citizens be limited or denied to ensure our nation is secure?


 

Teaching the Holocaust

Tuesday, April 5 
8:30am - 3:30pm 
Western Carolina University
FREE; SUB PAY (for Public School Teachers) CEU's provided 
(parking in the Coulter Parking lot) 

Through the   N. C. Council on the Holocaust and the   UNC Asheville Center for Diversity Education, a professional development day-long workshop for 5th - 12th grade teachers (with a special focus on History and Literature) will be offered in the Spring in WNC. 
 
The workshop will include a lecture by   Dr. Eric Roubinek   in the morning and a witness testimony by  Dr. Walter Ziffer  in the afternoon along with excellent resources from experienced  Holocaust
 educators. This workshop will count towards required hours for the NC Global Educators Badge.  
 
The Center for Diversity Education has additional free resources for teaching about the Holocaust as does the N. C. Council on the Holocaust

For more information, contact  dmiles@unca.edu   and register here

Good Fortune and the Lunar New Year
 
Good Fortune is the last Road Show of the Year. Hard working CDE educator, Amanda Silverman, is visiting 14 schools in Buncombe and McDowell County some 1,4000 students and teachers. A highlight this year was discovery the inside of a Jack Fruit  with seeds as big as stones. Thanks to the Sharon at Foreign Affairs who is a big help in gathering the necessary food items during her weekly visits to Atlanta markets for all three of the Road Show Programs. 

Traveling Exhibits

 The Center has 12 traveling exhibits that are available for a FREE month long loan to K-12 schools. This month exhibits are in the following locations:
  • Mi Historia: Contemporary Latinos in WNC- Owen High School
  • With All Deliberate Speed: Buncombe County Desegregation - Vance Elementary
  • Choosing to Remember: From the Shoah to the Mountains - Eblen Intermediate 
  • An Unmarked Trail: Stories of African Americans in Buncombe County - New Mount Olive Baptist Church
  • Bending the Arc: Healthcare Parity in Buncombe County - Mission Hospital
These exhibits are available at a modest fee community institutions for $100 which helps support the programming of the Center (especially feeding high school students in the summer social justice conference).  Email dmiles@unca.edu to reserve an exhibit for your business, house of worship, university, or community center.