CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND APPRECIATION
With Dr. Ashmi Desai
December 14, Wednesday, 5:30-7:30pm PST | Online via Zoom
Join Dr. Ashmi Desai, Assistant Professor, Conflict Management and Public Dialogue, at San Francisco State University to learn and unlearn ways to respectfully engage across difference.
Dr. Desai will guide participants in a conversation about real-life examples related to cultural appropriation and appreciation that are not easily answered. Leave with a set of tools to help navigate these issues in life and work.
In her mediation clinic, Dr. Desai's key topics will include:
- An introduction of the continuum of cultural appreciation and appropriation.
- Learning intent vs impact when it comes to appropriating and/or appreciating cultural practices and relationships to power.
- Practicing self- reflection and empathy, instead of shame, blame or fact-finding exercises about cultural symbols and acts.
TRAINER
Dr. Ashmi Desai
Ashmi Desai (she/her), Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University Department of Communication Studies, and also directs the Conflict Resolution Certificate Program there. Dr. Desai completed her Ph.D. in Communication from University of Colorado Boulder and her MA in Development Communication from India.
Dr. Desai is certified to facilitate dialogue from Essential Partners and Intercultural Development Institute. As a South Asian, she foregrounds matters of power, identity, cultural (mis)understandings and marginalization in all her research, teaching, and community engagement work. Ashmi recently co-edited a book titled, “Global Perspectives on Dialogue in the Classroom: Cultivating Inclusive, Intersectional, and Authentic Conversations,” published by Palgrave MacMillan.
Dr. Desai’s forthcoming publications include articles on research with international students, media representations of violence, and dialogic pedagogy. By centering community cultural wealth, and dialogic approach in conversations, she aims to cultivate critical and transformative connections across divides.