Marquette Announces Grants for Diversity Initiatives Released: Aug. 30, 2006 Marquette University announces its 2006-07 Diversity Grant recipients.  The grants were given in three categories: Ralph H. Metcalf, Sr. Chair, Excellence in Diversity and Curriculum Enhancement.  The grants, awarded through Marquette’s Associate Provost for Diversity, were created to promote a richer and more diverse community on campus. The Ralph H. Metcalfe, Sr. Chair is an opportunity to bring prominent faculty, scholars and professionals of diverse backgrounds to campus, to highlight their contributions and/ or professional scholarly work.     Dr. Michael Monahan, assistant professor of philosophy, and Dr. Anthony Peressini, associate professor of philosophy, were awarded $3,500 to bring Dr. Lewis Gordon, a professor of philosophy at Temple University, to Marquette in November.  Currently, Gordon holds Temple’s most distinguished chair as the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy.  He is also the director and founder of Temple’s Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought as well as the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies.  He works in the areas of Africana philosophy, philosophy of human and life sciences, phenomenology, philosophy of existence, social and political theory, postcolonial thought, theories of race and racism, philosophies of liberation, aesthetics, philosophy of education and philosophy of religion.   The Excellence in Diversity Grants are available to all faculty, staff and administrators and are designed to contribute to projects that increase Marquette’s commitment to diversity. Dr. Richard Taylor, assistant professor of philosophy, and Dr. Irfan Omar, assistant professor of theology, have been awarded $2,500 for a symposium on understanding Islamic thought.  Dr. David Krause, director of the Applied Investment Management Program in the College of Business Administration, was awarded $2,500 for recruitment in Milwaukee Public Schools and helping students to develop an interest in pursuing investing programs in college.   Dr. Maura Jones Moyle, assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology, received $2,500 to support the Reading Acquisition Program (RAP).  Located at Marquette University, RAP is an intensive literacy clinic for at-risk African-American preschoolers.  The program, which currently serves 16 children from local Head Start programs, was started to address concerns about reading acquisition in African-American children.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2002), 60 percent of African-American children are unable to read on a basic level, and 88 percent are below proficiency level. Curriculum Enhancement Grants are awarded to support faculty research and introduce new courses or revise continuing courses that address issues of cultural diversity.    Dr. Howard Fuller, director and distinguished professor of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning, and Dr. Robert Lowe, professor in the School of Education, were awarded $3,000 for the development of a course that will examine educational developments during the Civil Rights Era in relation to the Black Freedom Movement.    Dr. Jodi Melamed, assistant professor of English, received $3,000 for the development of a course in Literature and Race after World War II in Milwaukee and the United States.  The course seeks to understand racialization as a complex factor that has deeply shaped the social and cultural fabric of Milwaukee, the Midwest and the United States.  Dr. Marie Hoeger-Bement, assistant professor of physical therapy, and Marnie Vanden Noven, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy, were granted $3,000 for the development of a course in Cultural Competence for Health Care Professionals.  The purpose of the course is to discuss cultural issues in health care, including racism, discrimination, access to health care and the significant disparities in health outcomes. Office of Marketing and Communication Contacts Anne Broeker Senior Media Relations Specialist Phone: (414) 288-0286 Send e-mail