Joshua Ceballos/ Contributing Writer
Dr. Kathryn Kominars, Associate Director of Clinical Operations at CAPS, said of FIU, “Though this university is very diverse, we have people from around the globe and from different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, the opportunities to engage in dialogue and to come to understand more about each other and ourselves is often… it falls short of what we would hope.”
Documentary filmmaker and social activist Lee Mun Wah will visit FIU’s main campus as part of the “Let’s Talk Community” day-long event.
In an effort to “create space and safety so that people can open up about their experiences,” the office of Counseling And Psychological Services (CAPS) is hosting this event for students on Thursday, February 2nd on the second floor of the MARC building says Dr. Kominars.
“We have invited Lee Mun Wah, internationally known filmmaker… to come spend the day here at FIU,” says Kominars, “It’s going to be a long day, [but] he has lots of energy and stamina.”
“Let’s Talk Community” comes out of a desire to educate faculty, staff, and students at FIU about compassion and diversity in an environment that doesn’t feel like another responsibility, says Kominars. Many years ago, FIU’s President Madique sponsored four day diversity training sessions yearly for university, but this eventually began to feel obligatory, so this upcoming event is an effort to bring back the training in a more natural and holistic manner.
The day will begin with a keynote address entitled “What Stands Between Us” by Lee Mun Wah from 9 to 10 a.m. The keynote will be followed by a two-hour space for only students which Dr. Kominars says will allow them to have a safe and scrutiny-free dialogue about their experiences in diversity, and what they hope for in the community of FIU.
After the student dialogue, CAPS will have a faculty and staff training session, and then the day will round off with a screening of Lee Mun Wah’s film, “If These Halls Could Talk” about nurturing safety and communication in high schools and college campuses.
CAPS’ associate director believes that the ability to have conversations that are constructive rather than divisive is an essential one, and one of the purposes of this event is to facilitate the honing of just such an ability.
“Many people [have] the sense that though we’ve come a long way, we’re not nearly as far along in having a cohesive, coherent, respectful community in the broader sense,” says Dr. Kominars. “We can’t do anything about that nationally or internationally per se, but one person at a time, one group at a time, we’re really wanting to create opportunities for people to have… more understanding of moving beyond our perspectives and coming to understand more about other people’s perspectives.”
Dr. Kominars, Lee Mun Wah, and the CAPS office hope that students will register online at tinyurl.diversityfiu and attend the “Let’s Talk About Community” event on February 8 to enjoy free refreshments and a safe space for dialogue and community building.
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