In July, 2020, the two of us met for the first time as inaugural co-directors of the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine’s new Health Equity, Social Justice, and Anti-Racism (HESJAR) curricular initiative. Beginning with our initial conversations it became clear that addressing speech — physician speech, patient speech, medical school speech — … Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 31: Health Equity – by Carlos Cortés and Adwoa Osei→
A Difficult Conversation about Difficult Conversations forDeveloping Medical Educators of the 21st Century: New Ideas and Skills for Adaptable and Inclusive Learning Environments Conference February 4, 2022 (Revised, February 6, 2022) Let’s start with today’s ground rules. None. No rules; no powerpoints. But three hopes. That you speak honestly without obsessing about maybe saying the … Continue reading Challenges of Teaching about Diversity and Health Equity – by Carlos E. Cortés→
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 … Continue reading Diversity and Speech No. 26: Trends in Student Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés, Steven Petkas→
Many diversity trainers tell me that they steer clear of religion. Not me. Faith discussions are always welcome in my workshops. I love talking about religion. Maybe that’s because of how I grew up. Some people are reared in a strong religious tradition. Others with none. I grew up in a home with two faith traditions. To … Continue reading Diversity and Speech #25: Growing Up Bi-Religious – by Carlos E. Cortés→
It certainly would be easier if everybody used words the same way. Clearer communication. Fewer misunderstandings. But no such luck. Words mean what people make them mean. And people make meaning differently. Sociolinguists refer to the idea of floating signifiers: words that mean more than one thing. For example, when one person says X … Continue reading Diversity and Speech No. 24: Curse of the Floating Signifiers – by Carlos E. Cortés→
Edward A. Dickson Lecture University of California, Riverside In February, 2018, I began a new scholarly odyssey. I became an inaugural fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. In my fellowship application I proposed the following question: “over the past fifty years, why have so many diversity advocates … Continue reading Speech vs. Diversity, Diversity vs. Speech – by Carlos E. Cortés→
