The physical affects of buildings, classrooms, signs and symbols on visitors and members of the campus community will be the topic of a forum at the University of Colorado at Boulder on April 20 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in conference rooms 3 and 4 at the Recreation Center.
Professor James Banning of CSU, who studies the relationships among people and the university environment, will give a slide presentation on the impact that these spaces, including graffiti, art, posters and access, may have on diverse groups and the spirit of multiculturalism.
Banning captures the nonverbal messages of the artifacts through photography with particular emphasis on messages that speak to the issues of welcoming, belonging, safety, equity and stereotypes. His work takes on a multicultural focus by giving emphasis to the issues of disability, gender, religion, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Banning's presentation will include examples from numerous campuses across the United States and Canada that send positive and negative messages about campus climate, with a focus on photographs from the ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder campus.
"The campus messages we send intentionally or not are very critical to the sense of community," said Ron Stump, interim vice chancellor for student affairs. "Jim Banning will help us to recognize and to understand the subtle signals via art, pictures or symbols that can be offensive or inclusive for our campus."
Banning is a professor in the School of Education and holds a special appointment in the department of psychology at Colorado State University. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder in the field of clinical psychology.
Banning is frequently called upon as a consultant to higher education on the topics of campus assessment, physical environments, planning of classroom buildings and residence halls, ethical communities, campus climate and institutional racism and sexism.
The ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder Building Community Committee, a group of faculty, staff and students who are developing strategies to promote diversity, community and civility on the Boulder campus, sponsors the presentation. The committee's proposed initiatives include a climate assessment, a draft protocol for responding to bias-motivated incidents and the development of a "University 101" course for freshman and transfer students about the attitudes, beliefs and skills needed to be a ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä student.
The presentation is free and open to the public.