USU Religious Inclusive Excellence Symposium
November 30th and December 1st | 9 am to 3 pm | USU Eccles Conference Center
In collaboration with several campus and community partners, Inclusive Excellence & Inclusion is proud to present the USU Religious Inclusive Excellence Symposium. The Religious Inclusive Excellence Symposium will include TedED-style presentations and workshops available on Zoom and in-person to invite all USU community members to learn more about Religious Inclusive Excellence.
- Identify, define, and recognize religious inclusive excellence and its practices to research, teaching, interfaith-skills building, cultural humility, leadership, and academic excellence through panels and TED-Ed style talks (i.e., invite USU scholars and practitioners/faith-leaders).
- Facilitate and recognize collaborative efforts that advance religious inclusive excellence at USU through formal workshops that highlight cultural humility and interfaith work across campus and in the community.
“The university is operated for the common good which depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to teaching, research, and service… The community also values diversity and respect, without which there can be no collegiality among faculty and students. In addition, the university community values individual rights and freedoms, including the right of each community member to adhere to individual systems of conscience, religion, and ethics. Finally, the university recognizes that with all rights come responsibilities.” (See USU Policy 403)
Symposium Schedule
Please feel free to come for any and all sessions that make the most sense for you. Questions? Reach out!
| Thursday, November 30 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Session Title | Presenter | Title and/or Affiliation |
| 9:00 am | Keynote | Jeffrey G. Cannon | Laura F. Willes Research Associate, BYU Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship |
| 9:20 am | How to Be Simultaneously Inclusive of Religious and LGBTQ+ People | Tyler Lefevor | Assistant Professor, Combined Clinical/Counseling Specialization, Psychology |
| 9:40 am | What is Religion? | Ravi Gupta | Department Head, History |
| 10:00 am | What is Mormonism? | Patrick Mason | Professor, Religious Studies & History, Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History & Culture, and Director, Religious Studies Program |
| 10:20 am | The Intersection of Indigenous Spirituality and Being LDS | Darren Parry | Author, Storyteller, and Shoshone Tribal Leader |
| 10:40 am | Social Justice and the Common Good | Harrison Kleiner | Associate Professor, Communication Studies & Philosophy, and Associate Vice Provost |
| 11:00 am | Jewish Inclusive Excellence | Ronen Sebag | Senior Advisor, University Inclusive Excellence |
| 11:20 am | Inclusive Excellence in Islam | Mustafa Banister | Assistant Professor, History |
| 11:40 am - 12:00 pm | Inclusive Excellence and Interfaith | Interfaith Student Association | USU College of Humanities & Social Sciences |
| 12:00 - 1:00 pm | Lunch on Your Own | ||
| 1:00 pm | Interfaith Ally Training | Room 205 | Bonnie Glass-Coffin | Zoom Link |
| 2:00 pm | Cultural Humility Workshop | Room 205 | Chris Babits | Zoom Link |
| 3:00 pm | End of Day 1 | ||
| Friday, December 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Session Title | Presenter | Title and/or Affiliation |
| 9:00 am | Welcome | Isaiah Jones | Senior Director, Inclusive Excellence |
| 9:05 am | Religious Inclusive Excellence in the Church and Community | Reverend Jason Samuel | Vicar, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Logan, UT |
| 9:25 am | Our Role in Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs and Sense of Belonging at USU | Crystal Giordano | Assistant Vice President, Office of the Executive Vice President |
| 9:45 am | Religious Inclusive Excellence and Respectful Communication | Tanisha Barker | Prevention Specialist, Office of Equity |
| 10:05 am | Religion, DEI, Community | Kathy Chudaba | USU Associate Professor Emerita and Cache Community Connections Leadership |
| 10:25 am | Catholic Inclusive Excellence | Beth Buyserie | Assistant Professor, English & Director of Composition |
| 10:45 am | Building Community with Religious/Non-Religious Identities | Bonnie Glass-Coffin | Professor, Cultural Anthropology & Director, Interfaith Leadership Certificate Program |
| 11:05 am | Sustaining Our Common Home | Maggie Mace | President, USU AIS Chapter and USU Student Sustainability |
| 11:25 am | Religion and those in Need in the CV Community | Richard West | Emeritus Professor, Utah State University and former Director of Bear River Communication Council, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| 11:45 am - 12:05 pm | Institute of Religion & Inclusive Excellence | Institute Students & Staff | Institute of Religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| 12:00 - 1:00 pm | Lunch on Your Own | ||
| 1:00 pm | Interfaith Ally Training | Room 205 | Bonnie Glass-Coffin | Zoom Link |
| 2:00 pm | Cultural Humility Workshop | Room 205 | Chris Babits | Zoom Link |
| 3:00pm | End of Symposium | ||
Inclusive Excellence
College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Office of Global Engagement
USU Student Association
University Libraries
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services
Division of Student Affairs
Department of Psychology
Department of Sociology
Social Work and Anthropology
University Marketing & Communications
The Center for Intersectional Gender Studies & Research
USUSA Graduate Senator