Carlos E. Cortés, Steven Petkas, Author at American Diversity Report

All posts by Carlos E. Cortés, Steven Petkas

Carlos E. Cortés is a retired history professor who has been a diversity speaker, educator, trainer, and consultant for nearly fifty years. His books include: The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity (2000); his memoir, Rose Hill: An Intermarriage before Its Time (2012); and a book of poetry, Fourth Quarter: Reflections of a Cranky Old Man (2016), which received honorable mention for the best book of poetry in the 2017 International Latino Book Awards. He also edited the four-volume Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia (2013). Steven Petkas is the recently-retired Associate Director of Residence Life at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he developed a number of student dialogue programs.

A Co-Authored Interview

Carlos: Steve, now that you’ve retired as Associate Director of Residence Life at the University of Maryland, College Park, I would love to get your thoughts about the changing nature of student speech. In the twenty-five years that I worked with your department, I saw many changes.

Steve: You’re right. The two of us certainly had fun designing our Common Ground program back in the 1990s. That program would bring together diverse groups of students – sometimes more than a dozen – to discuss current equity dilemmas. A series of four, 90-minute dialogue sessions, all framed around a single provocative question. Should laws governing abortion be changed? Should universities use intentional methods to diversify their student populations? Rousing and illuminating conversations.

Continue reading Diversity and Speech No. 26: Trends in Student Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés, Steven Petkas →

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