Canceled for 2020
Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 institute.
Thank you for a profoundly valuable week. You have made ripples that will travel around for many years and will change many lives."Conference Participant
Are you struggling with how to engage students in discussions about race, class, gender, sexuality, and other aspects of identity?
How about privilege, power, inequity and injustice?
Are you looking for materials and strategies that will help you incorporate concepts related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in your classroom or school?
The Exeter Diversity Institute (EDI) extends the Harkness principles of collaborative, student centered learning, and enables educators to help students learn about themselves as they are learning about others. Additionally, you will learn skills and acquire resources to have engaging dialogues with your students and colleagues; dialogues that offer academically rigorous, and personally challenging, yet potentially transformative experiences.
Participants will experience a week of Harkness discussions, self-reflection, experiential learning, and collaboration, to gain powerful insights about educating students in environments that are ever more diverse and intercultural. At the Exeter Diversity Institute, you will learn:
- How to select course materials that present social justice themes and principles.
- How to use cultural studies vocabulary and texts to discuss themes that deal with race, class, gender, sexuality, and other identity issues, in history, literature and in our daily lives on campuses.
- How to use cultural studies literacy to engage students and colleagues in discussions about privilege, and other power dynamics
Who Should Attend?
Public and independent school educators from all disciplines, including Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Life Sciences, and Language Studies.
A Closer Look – What You Will Learn
You will experience and analyze the sometimes messy process of conducting a productive discussion on topics that may be difficult to discuss.
- You will experience a "Harkness" classroom as a student, studying literary and historical texts; leaders will model classroom approaches that facilitate in-depth conversations about privilege, race, equity, and belonging.
- You will engage as a professional with other participants, leaders, and guests analyzing and brainstorming specific topics, including the following: adapting Harkness principles for different types of classrooms; handling resistance--from students and adults--constructively and creatively; coping with personal challenges for educators, such as how to find ways to "belong" at an institution, while still maintaining a sense of integrity to oneself.
Professional Development Credit
Participants will earn 40 clock hours toward professional development goals. At the conclusion of the conference, you will receive a clock hour letter addressed to your school as well as a certificate of completion.
Large Group Sessions
Each morning participants will begin in a session with the whole EDI cohort. The purpose of these sessions is to provide some context, framing, and vocabulary for unpacking identity, power, and privilege.
Morning Harkness Classes
Morning sessions will focus on discussions of the short stories, personal essays and excerpts from memoirs. We will talk about the various approaches the writers take in speaking to divergent readers, either in their portrayals of their own lives or their creations of their characters. We will strive to answer these questions:
- How do we use the text in our curriculums?
- How do we arrange these texts to engage students in on-going conversations about the value of multicultural approaches to understanding their own experiences and the writers' perspectives on the world?
- What cultural studies and literacy terms are useful in helping students develop maps to form their own informed interpretations of multicultural literature and historical texts?
Afternoon Workshops
Afternoon workshops will include movies and discussions, guest lecturers and special topics. These workshops will focus on how to teach and identify related topics in a discussion-driven classroom. Participants will receive materials, handouts, and resources to aid in their preparation for teaching Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at the Harkness table.
Home Groups
Home Groups are core to the EDI experience. Participants will meet in these groups daily to reflect on their learning, think about questions they still have, and build their professional network.
Sample Daily Schedule
This is a sample of how your day is organized. A final scheduled will be emailed to all registered participants one week prior to the conference.
| Sunday | Events |
| 8:00 - 3:00 | Conference Registration / Dorm Check In |
| 3:30 - 4:00 | Welcome and Introductions |
| 5:00 – 6:30 | Opening Dinner |
| 8:00 - 11:00 |
Evening Social Hour |
| Monday - Thursday | Events |
| 7:00 - 8:30 | Breakfast |
| 8:30 - 9:00 | Large Group Session |
| 9:15 - 10:15 | Harkness Class |
| 10:15 - 10:45 | Break |
| 10:45 - 12:00 | Harkness Class |
| 12:00 - 1:00 | Lunch |
| 1:15 - 2:15 | Afternoon Workshop |
| 2:15 - 2:30 | Break |
| 2:30 - 3:45 | Home Group |
| 5:30 - 7:30 | Dinner |
| 9:00 - 11:00 | Evening Social |
| Friday | Events |
| 7:00 - 9:00 | Conference Checkout / Breakfast |
| 9:00 - 10:00 | Morning Classes |
| 10:00 - 11:45 | Conference Conclusion / Evaluations |
| 11:45 - 12:45 | Lunch |
| 1:00 | Conference Departure |
CONTACT US
Stephanie Bramlett, Directory of Equity and Inclusion
sbramlett@exeter.edu
603-777-3237
Rachel Hanson, Conference Manager
rhanson@exeter.edu
603-777-4471
Mailing Address
Phillips Exeter Academy
20 Main Street
Exeter, NH 038