Category Archives: Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion

Advisors, Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

Black History: A Personal and Historical Reflection – by Gail Dawson

Origins and Significance of Black History Month

In February 1926, Carter G. Woodson initiated the celebration of Black History Week to honor the achievements and contributions of Black Americans, which had largely been overlooked in mainstream history. Woodson specifically chose February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, which fall on February 12th and 14th, respectively. Fifty years later, in 1976, the observance was officially expanded to cover the entire month of February. Subsequently, in 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-244, formally designating February as National Black History Month.

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Levine articles, Teams & Leaders

Leadership in Our Challenging Times – by Deborah Levine

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I often hear that leadership is greatly needed in these challenging times. But what does leadership mean? Is it a matter of personality? Is leadership defined by mission and goals? Are leaders inspirational figures who leave the nuts and bolts to others? The more we try to define leadership, the more the concept undefinable. “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept,” said Ralph Stogdill, a Professor of Management Science and Psychology known for his research and publications on the Personal Factors Associated with Leadership.

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Around the world, Authors I-Q, Education, Holocaust/antisemitism, Religious Diversity

Holocaust Ethical Implications – by John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D.

The academic study of ethics, in light of the experience of the Holocaust, has witnessed rapid development in the last decade. In addition to research into ethical decision making during the Holocaust itself in such volumes as Rab Bennett’s Under the Shadow of the Swastika: The Moral Dilemmas of Resistance and Collaboration in Hitler’s Europe, more general reflections on the significance of the Holocaust for contemporary ethics have come to the fore from Jewish and Christian scholars alike. There have also been voices such as Herbert Hirsch who have questioned whether we can learn anything from the Holocaust in terms of the moral challenge facing us today given the sui generis nature of that event as well as the immense complexity of a modern, global society.

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Advisors, AI, Authors A-H, Inclusion, Trends 2026

Renewing Diversity Part 12:  Diversity and the AI Frenzy – by Carlos Cortés

During 2025 few trends, if any, received more attention than developments in artificial intelligence.  You can hardly pick up a magazine or listen to a newscast without hearing something about AI.  However, I have encountered relatively little addressing the intersection of AI and diversity. 

What might AI mean for diversity?  What can diversity advocates do to address the implications of AI?  Questions range from the ethical to the practical.  In this column I will focus on one question: what are some of the diversity implications arising from the creation of AI databases and the resulting “information” that they supply when prompted?

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Levine articles, Religious Diversity

Sacred Calendars and Holidays Define Us — by Deborah Levine

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Religious diversity and holidays are challenging regardless of the time of year with deeply held beliefs regarding food, sacred texts, and worship traditions. Yet, there is no season like the end of the year for demonstrating cultural differences linked to religion. The differences can be glaring, giving rise to culture clashes and political controversies. It’s astonishing that there was ever a planetary-wide agreement on a calendar that named the months, determined their length and decreed when one year ends and the next begins. How did that calendar happen and can we capture the global mindset that created it for today’s “Holiday Season”?

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Authors R-Z, Books, Religious Diversity

The Art of Resilience. From Pain to Promise: Book Review – by George Simons

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Deborah LevineFar from being abstract research on the dynamics of resilience, Deborah Levine has provided us with a life story, and highly relevant biography, an ethnography if you will, of the struggle for resilience lived out, day by day. It is filled with the challenges to resilience from health, work, environments, and relationships. Today we speak of the cost of intersectionality on oneself. The term is extremely relevant here, as Deborah herself is bundled into her white female identity, her Jewish ethnicity, the cultural marks of her places of upbringing, her immigrant status, her health vulnerability, and her religious belongings. Each of these shows up repeatedly both as a liability and an asset in her resilience narrative.

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Authors A-H, Race & Ethnicity

20 Interview Questions I Should Have Asked – by Sharon Hurley Hall

More than 300,000 Black women have lost their jobs this year. As a Black woman who’s navigated similar systems, it’s made me think about the interview processes I faced: extremely stressful, multiple rounds, and not a person who shared my identity at any of them. I know from my own experience that there are double-takes as you walk in the door. There’s extensive questioning about birth, nationality and my right to be there, and extreme scrutiny of my qualifications. And even if I then get the job, there’s no guarantee it’s a safe place to work. 

I know I’m not the only one to experience this. But what if you could use the interview process to get the answers you really need as a Black person? You might not get the job, but you’d be a whole lot clearer about whether it was the right workplace for you.

Here are 20 questions I wish I’d been able to ask.  Continue reading 20 Interview Questions I Should Have Asked – by Sharon Hurley Hall →

Authors A-H, Education, Religious Diversity

Faith, Science and the First Amendment – by Richard Foltin

What to Know About Religious Beliefs in the Classroom

This article was originally published by Freedom Forum

Among 2025’s marquee U.S. Supreme Court cases was Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which a group of Maryland parents claimed a First Amendment right to opt their children out of certain LGBTQ+-inclusive readings in local public school classrooms. The parents argued that mandatory exposure to the books’ themes, which contradicted their religious beliefs, undermined their First Amendment right to direct their children’s religious upbringing. The court ultimately ruled in favor of the parents, saying that the schools’ lack of an opt-out option interfered with the parents’ right to the free exercise of religion.

While the case did not deal with the teaching of science, it has much in common with a long history of parents’ concerns about public school science curricula and health classes that conflict with their religious beliefs.

This article explores these teachings that may conflict with religious beliefs and how the First Amendment comes into play. It also discusses key court cases on this issue.

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Authors I-Q, Inclusion, Of Women, Social Issues

The Psychology of Displacement and Projection – by Olya K-Mehri

In professional and organisational settings, the word “aggressive” is often applied in response to tone rather than conduct. What is described as aggression in these moments seldom concerns hostility; instead, it reflects an emotional defence mechanism in which discomfort is projected onto the speaker. Through processes of displacement and projection, the listener redirects their unease rather than examining its source. subsequent labelling of their expression as “aggressive” functions less as an objective observation and more as a psychological strategy to preserve equilibrium and reaffirm dominant notions of professionalism.

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Advisors, Authors A-H, Gender

Renewing Diversity Part 10: Unpacking the Inclusivity Dilemma in Health Care – by Carlos Cortés

I recently received an invitation to attend the national conference of the Society for Intercultural Education, Teaching, and Research.   The conference theme was “Inclusive Interculturalism.” The implicit message was simple: in order to be inclusive, interculturalists need to make a conscious effort .  Inclusivity doesn’t come naturally.

In my last month’s ADR column I addressed a similar issue about the development of multicultural education. I argued that multiculturalists need to be cognizant about whom they may be excluding as well as including. The more that you exclude categories of people, the less inclusive the curriculum becomes. 

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