Is Multiculturalism Dead? Experts Talk at Lewis & Clark Seminar Nov. 9 – 11

Gary Younge of The Guardian, Professor Geneva Gay, Gary Okihiro and more…

Helen Silvis Of The Skanner News

November 08, 2011

Kemiyondo Coutinho

Behring Breivik, the right-wing fanatic who gunned down 93 Norwegian teens last June cited multiculturalism as his motivation. And earlier this year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany’s effort to form a multicultural society had ‘totally failed.’ "Multiculturalism is dead," she said, adding to the debate that is tearing some European countries apart.

That’s not the case in the United States, where individual religious and political freedom is enshrined in the constitution and vastly different communities have lived side by side since its birth.

But what exactly is multiculturalism? What’s going wrong in Europe? And what place does it have in our own education system?

See for yourself, Nov. 9-11 at Lewis & Clark's Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium. Experts from Portland and beyond will consider these questions in a series of panel discussions and lectures.

Keynote Speakers include:

Gary Younge

Gary Younge, the Chicago-based columnist for The Guardian, a highly respected British news source. Younge will speak about differences in the Occupy movement at home and abroad. Nov.9 at 7 p.m.

Geneva Gay, an award-winning professor from the University of Washington, Seattle, will speak about what's NOT working in multicultural education. Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

Professor Geneva Gay

 Gary Okihiro, one of the founders of the field of ethnic studies will speak to the future of these specialized departments. Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

Jan Campbell from Portland's new Office of Equity and Jilma Meneses, PSU's first chief diversity officer, will be part of the panel Beyond the Word: Exploring the Meaning of Multiculturalism Today. Nov.9 at 3:30 p.m.

Professor Gary Okihiro

Karen "Kemi" Coutinho, student, accomplished playwright and coordinator of the symposium's Race Monologues,
which explore race, ethnicity and identity through poetry and prose. Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

Don’t miss this chance to see a student-curated art exhibition built around the theme mul-ti-cul-tur-al-ism: defined, It features work by campus and community artists. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule, visit

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