Public Relations

Dr. Phillip Less to lead April 9 cultural diversity workshop

            BENTONVILLE (Monday, March 31, 2008) - Dr. Phillip Less will lead a cultural diversity workshop 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, in White Auditorium at Burns Hall on the campus of NWACC. Dr. Less is the ESL Program Advisor for the Arkansas Department of Workforce Education. The goal of the presentation is to increase participants’ awareness of and sensitivity to other cultures.

            Program topics include a definition of culture, the effect of culture on behavior, four building blocks of culture, non-verbal communication, and cross-cultural perspective. The workshop is very interactive in nature – participants will be engage in exercises to help them discover their own cultural backgrounds.

            Recently, NWACC has seen phenomenal growth in its minority student population, with Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders as the two fastest growing groups. “We welcome the increased diversity at the College,” observed Dr. John Tuthill, Associate Vice President for Student Learning at NWACC. “The whole worldwide economy is globalizing, and northwest Arkansas plays a key part in that process, so it’s especially important that all of our students get first-hand experience interacting and working productively with peoples from all different cultures.”

            The workshop is open to students, staff, and faculty as well as members of the northwest Arkansas community. The program is being sponsored by the Teaching Excellence group and the Global Communities Center. Refreshments will be served. See the attached flyer, Cultural Diversity.

For questions/comments on this content, please contact Jim Hall