This just in from the Music School (how cool is this?!?):

“Creating Culturally Affirming Education for Students of Color: Integrating the Performing Arts and Academics”

This is a very special opportunity to hear, learn from, and interact with national leaders, researchers, authors, and experts working to address this critical issue! All of the following keynote addresses and events are free and open to the public!! We very much hope interested people from the community will attend


Friday, March 27 – in Hockett Recital Hall, Whalen Center, Ithaca College Campus
9:00 - 10:15 a.m. -- Dr. Geneva Gay, University of Washington – The Power and Practice of Culturally Responsive Teaching. (Dr. Gay is recipient of many national awards and author of: Expressively Black: The Cultural Basis of Ethnic Identity; At the Essence of Learning, Multicultural Education; Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Practice & Research; and Becoming Multicultural Educators.)

1:00 - 2:15 p.m. -- Mr. Aaron Dworkin, President of the Sphinx Organization --
Breaking the Sound Barrier: The Sphinx Organization and Classical Music. (Mr. Dworkin, a passionate advocate for diversity in music education and performance, is a McArthur “Genius” grant recipient and was named one of Newsweek’s “15 People Who Make America Great.” He has also been featured in People Magazine and on NBC’s Nightly News and Today Show, Anderson Cooper’s 360, NPR’s The Story and Performance Today, and more.)

6:00 - 7:15 p.m. -- Dr. Gail Thompson, Claremont Graduate University --
Expect a Miracle: How Educators Can Help America’s “Stepchildren” Succeed in School and Life. (Dr. Thompson is author of five books: African American Teens Discuss Their Schooling Experiences; What African American Parents Want Educators to Know; Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know but are Afraid to Ask About African American Students; Up Where We Belong: Helping African American and Latino Students Rise in School and Life; and Exposing the Culture of Arrogance in the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction.)

7:30 - 8:30 p.m. -- Mr. Alejandro Jimenez, Hartford Connecticut Public Schools --
“Spicy, Picante”: Afro-Spanish- Caribbean Styles and Rhythms as a part of the African Diaspora and Multiculturalism – a performance workshop with a band. (Mr. Jimenez has presented at many national conferences, has contributed to a number of music textbooks, and was named Connecticut’s 2006 Elementary School Music Teacher of the Year.)


Saturday, March 28 – in Emerson Suites, Ithaca College Campus Center
9:00 - 10:15 a.m. -- Dr. JoBeth Allen, University of Georgia -- Diverse Families, Welcoming Schools. (Dr. Allen is author of Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home-School Partnerships with Diverse Families; Literacy Research for Political Action; and With the Best Intentions: Agents, Impetus, and Consequences of Placement Decisions.)

8:15 p.m. -- High School Gospel Music Festival -- 250 young gospel singers from six high schools in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, and New York will join for the fourth annual Ithaca College Gospel Invitational Music Festival. This event gives deserving underrepresented students a rare opportunity to be taught by and work with luminaries of gospel music and to take part in gospel music’s rich heritage.


For more detailed information about speakers and other conference events, please go to the conference website at: www.ithaca.edu/music/education/conference

Thank you -- we hope to see you there!!