This site is part of a funded project to assist teachers, students, scholars
or any activists who wish to promote equity and the acceptance of differences
within schools and communities.
The broad umbrella under which I operate is social justice*, but this work
covers a large and diverse range of approaches, interests, and fields of
study and action.
This site offers a variety of on-line resources, funding sources, glossaries,
examples of projects, and selected readings to help you get started. For
those already deep into the field I hope this site provides a useful portal
to further information.
My name is Darren Lund and I am a faculty
member at the University of Calgary.
In 1987 I helped found a student action project called Students
and Teachers Opposing Prejudice (STOP) that lasted for a remarkable 20 school years. My experiences working with students to challenge discrimination
led me to want to collect resources for other people doing this kind
of work.
Feel free to read my biography or visit my university
web-site to find out more about my research and teaching interests.
*A note regarding terminology:
I realize that some might find the term “diversity” to be
a bit light and fluffy. After all, we are dealing with critical approaches
to counter racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of discrimination
and oppression.
My own research has shown me that the conceptual and practical distinctions
between specific terms are important, and the debates around different
approaches and fields of study are a valuable element of this work.
Without collapsing them all or ignoring important distinctions between
them, I refer to several terms here on this site that relate to this
broad issue of fairness. This field of inquiry is a living, growing thing,
and the claims to specific areas of study are always shifting and negotiated.
Whether your focus is on gender, age, physical or mental challenges,
sexual orientation, “race,” religion, ethnicity and/or other
categories, or whether you consider yourself antiracist, multicultural,
counter-hegemonic, peace-promoting, feminist, human rights protecting,
or simply culturally sensitive, I believe we may be moving in the same
direction.
If you have an interest in social justice and fairness, I hope this site
offers some support and meaningful assistance to your work.
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