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Brown Bag Lecture Series Highlights UW Faculty

Thanks to the Diversity Research Institute’s Brown Bag Lecture Series, members of the University community can take a break during the noon hour, grab lunch, and listen to UW faculty members – who are leaders in their respective fields – present lectures on a variety of diversity-related research topics.

Lectures take place on a frequent basis each quarter and are held in Parrington Hall Forum.

Dr. Ralina Joseph, assistant professor of communication, and Dr. Rosa Solorio, assistant professor in the Department of Health Services in the School of Public Health, were among the featured lecturers in January.

Dr. Joseph is working on her second book project, Speaking Back: How Women of Color Resist Post–Identity Culture, an examination of women of color’s resistance to “post-identity,” the ostensibly “after” moment of race and gender. Her lecture centered around the topic of fighting post-identity in the new millennium, with a focus on actress and daytime television talk show host Whoopi Goldberg. Dr. Joseph used clips of Goldberg from her role as host of “The View” to examine and deconstruct the idea of post–identity.

Dr. Solorio’s lecture was entitled “Community–Partnered Interventions to Address Health Disparities in Latinos.” In addition to serving as an assistant professor at UW, Dr. Solorio also practices family medicine one day a week at Sea Mar Community Health Clinic where she serves a patient population that is over 80 percent Latino. She spoke about several ways in which these health disparities can be broken down including improved communication, putting a greater emphasis on patient-centered care, removing access barriers and helping patients self–manage their care through education.

View photos from these featured lectures.

The Diversity Research Institute was developed in 2004 by the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. The DRI focuses on generating new, interdisciplinary knowledge about diversity, social justice, and institutional transformation. In 2007, the DRI was brought under the leadership of Dr. Luis Fraga, associate vice provost for faculty advancement. In addition to the Brown Bag Lecture series, the DRI hosts an annual research conference and an invited lecture series, and supports a number of diversity-related events across campus.

Read more about upcoming Brown Bag Lectures here when information is available.