‘Courageous Conversations about Race: An Australian Story’
HERDSA Scholarship Profiled Seminar Series 2013
HERDSA Scholarship Profiled Seminar Series 2013
The WA Branch presents
‘Courageous Conversations about Race: An Australian Story’
Presentation by Mr Malcolm Fialho
Thursday 22 August 2013 3.30-5.00pm
Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
Love House, 28 Broadway, Nedlands
Central to the vision of UWA is the development of Cultural Competence, with a strong emphasis on Indigenous cultural awareness, as a key graduate and staff attribute. In recent years, UWA has implemented a mix of strategies to address this goal e.g. the Cultural Diversity and Inclusive Practice (CDIP) Toolkit, Language and Cultural Exchange (LACE) Program and the Inter-Faith Calendar. In this context, Malcolm was awarded a UWA Teaching Fellowship in 2008 to further develop the Cultural Competence Agenda. A key strategy was the implementation of ‘Courageous Conversations about Race’ , based on the Pacific Educational Group (PEG) Model, to engage the University community in a meaningful dialogue around race, and challenge them to think through the various ways race affects their life and professional practice. More than 2000 staff and students participated in the CCAR Program, and a comprehensive evaluation of the Program in 2010 indicated a high level of university engagement with the issues raised. This presentation will describe the process of transformation that has occurred across all facets of UWA, and scope both the challenges and opportunities in the Australian context. In doing so, Malcolm will provide a snapshot of Race in contemporary Australia, scope the UWA ‘journey’ and provide highlights of his recent US study tour.
About the presenter:
Malcolm Fialho has more than 20 years of experience in the diversity and human rights education sector in Western Australia. His work was recognised nationally in 2012 with an OLT Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Prior to taking on the position as Senior Diversity Officer at University of Western Australia in 2000, Malcolm held leadership positions in the diversity area across the Commonwealth and community-based sectors. Malcolm holds postgraduate qualifications in cross-cultural psychology and is passionate about further developing and deepening an informed understanding of ‘race’ through enquiry, dialogue and debate.
Please RSVP to Lee Partridge for catering purposes