PULLMAN, Wash. — Bernardo Gallegos, professor of multicultural education at Washington State University’s College of Education, said that the conference on globalization and diversity, planned for the WSU campus March 3-5, has exceeded all of his expectations.
The International Globalization, Diversity and Education Conference has already attracted more than 200 attendees, four internationally-known keynote speakers and more than 100 symposiums, panels and individual presenters, said Gallegos, the conference organizer.
“I had no idea it would get this big,” Gallegos said. “This is great for a first-time conference in a place that is not easy to fly into. We have people coming in from all over:
The four keynote speakers are scholars who represent both geographic and thematic diversity. They include Cynthia Dillard, a scholar of African and African-American education, Ohio State University; Kathryn Herr, an authority on gender issues, Montclair State University, New Jersey; Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., an expert on bilingual and Mexican-American education, University of Houston; and Joel Spring, a scholar of Native American education, City University of New York.
The conference will be a homecoming for Dillard, who graduated from WSU with a master’s degree in 1987 and a doctorate in education in 1991. From 1991-93, she served as an assistant professor at the WSU College of Education.
Dillard’s experience in
Dillard’s activities in globalization, diversity and education embody “the spirit of this conference,” Gallegos said.
“One common thread at this conference is imagining possible worlds,” he said. “Many of our presenters are imagining breaking down barriers and borders. They want to create a world that is better for more people. We would like to see educational systems that foster communities where people who are different can interact in peace and with dignity.”
More information on the conference, including late registration, is available online at https://www.emmps.wsu.edu/globalization/.
