What does it mean to be truly inclusive? What are some of the invisible barriers that impact whether some students, faculty, and staff feel a sense of belonging at Georgia Tech, and how can we as a community work together to help eliminate those barriers?

These are all topics that will be covered at the 2022 Georgia Tech Diversity Symposium, scheduled for Wednesday, September 14, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the John Lewis Student Center Atlantic Theater.

The theme for the 14th annual Diversity Symposium, “Illusions of Inclusion: Invisible Barriers to Belonging” will feature national scholars, in addition to Georgia Tech students, faculty, and staff who will shine a light on how various factors such as culture, language, and systemic and institutional barriers affect an individual’s ability to feel as if they belong in a community.

“We were blown away by the community response to our first annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event this past April, and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to continue the conversation and better understand their experiences,” said Archie Ervin, vice president for Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The program will feature two keynote speakers – Jennifer Ho, Ph.D., director for the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Evelyn Hu DeHart, Ph.D., professor of history, American studies, and ethnic studies at Brown University.

Jennifer Ho, Ph.D. is the daughter of a refugee father from China and an immigrant mother from Jamaica, whose own parents were immigrants from Hong Kong. Ho’s work centers around issues of race and intersectionality, anti-racism, and how to talk about race in our current social climate.

Evelyn Hu DeHart, Ph.D. immigrated from China to the United States with her parents when she was 12 years old. As an undergraduate at Stanford, she became fascinated with Latin America, eventually leading her to a Ph.D. in Latin American history. Much of her research focuses on the Asian diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Other sessions will address issues of cultural understanding, empowering students to build a culture of inclusive excellence, and media representations as cultural perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The symposium will be presented in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance being limited to allow for social distancing.

For more information about the schedule or to register, visit b.gatech.edu/3yZOso7.