International Day for Tolerance
November 13, 2019
— from the Student Health and Counseling Center
The International Day for Tolerance is celebrated annually on Nov. 16. It was declared
by UNESCO in 1995 to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance. So what
is tolerance?
In its Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, UNESCO defined tolerance as “respect,
acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms
of expression and ways of being human.”
In recognition of this day, Student Health and Counseling is sharing information to
raise awareness about privilege, bias, inclusion and pronoun usage. Please take some
time this week to watch these videos.
First up is a powerful video showing a privilege walk. Anthropologist Justin D. Garcìa defines privilege as "certain social advantages,
benefits or degrees of prestige and respect that an individual has by virtue of belonging
to certain social identity groups.” Privilege is often invisible to those who have
it. The privilege walk is an activity that attempts to make it more visible. Still
a bit unclear? This article can help.
Next is a video explaining implicit bias. Implicit bias occurs when we unconsciously
hold certain attitudes or stereotypes towards others. Watch this informative video, then get some tips for busting our unconscious (or implicit) biases.
The Oxford dictionary defines inclusion as “the action or state of including or of
being included within a group or structure.” Watch the following video for real, honest discussions of inclusion among a wide variety
of people.
Personal pronouns and pronoun usage can be an important part of how individuals interact
with the world and each other. Learn more about their importance and how to use them.
We hope you have found this information useful in your daily life at UAF. And we hope
you all remember — you belong here.