Tania Israel of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School is Lead Coordinator for the 2009 National Multicultural Conference and Summit

Tania Israel of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School is the Lead Coordinator for the 2009 National Multicultural Conference and Summit (NMCS), which will take place in January 15-16, 2009 in New Orleans. This is the 10 year anniversary of the bi-annual conference, and the theme will be “Advancing Our Communities: The Role of Social Justice in Multicultural Psychology.” NMCS is co-hosted by four divisions of the American Psychological Association (Division 17, Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 35, Society for the Psychology of Women, Division 44, Society for the Psychology Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues , and Division 45, Society for the Psychology Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) thus deals with a broad range of diversity issues. It’s a unique conference as it includes novel elements, such as honoring elders in multicultural psychology (for example, Manny Casas of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School was honored at the 2007 NMCS), difficult dialogues on challenging matters in our field, and the 2009 NMCS will offer community service opportunities for conference attendees.

The mission of the National Multicultural Conference and Summit is to convene students, practitioners, and scholars in psychology and related fields to inform and inspire multicultural theory, research, and practice. We envision multiculturalism as inclusive of experiences related to ethnicity/race, sexual orientation, gender, physical ability, social class, age, and other social identities. The objective of the 2009 NMCS is to promote social justice and psychological wellbeing for historically marginalized communities, as well as to explore links and tensions between social justice and multicultural psychology. To this end, participants will exchange knowledge, engage in dialogue, develop skills, and honor the wisdom within our fields and cultures.

Tania Israel says, “Since the first NMCS in 1999, the Summit has been a unique opportunity for learning, skills-building, dialogue, and celebration in multicultural psychology. I’m thrilled that the 2009 NMCS will be in New Orleans, where we can put social justice principles into action through community service.”

[Tania Israel is available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]
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Tania Israel of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School is Lead Coordinator for the 2009 National Multicultural Conference and Summit