Let's Talk Friday!

Between May 29 to July 24, 2020, the English Language Program at Chatham University organized and hosted eight virtual events open to students from all over the world. The topics of the events ranged from cities around the world, yoga and meditation, food and cuisine, and racism in the U.S. Participants had the opportunity to hear from not only all of the staff from the Office of International Affairs at Chatham University, but also guest speakers, including Ms. Sue Finegold and Dr. Randi Congleton. Especially, the participants enjoyed making connections, talking with one another in the Zoom breakout rooms, and playing Kahoot and Jeopardy games. We'd like to share some of the pictures and resources from the events below.Let's Talk Friday, July 24, 2020: Summer Experiences and MoreHosted by Ms. Kate Emory, Office of International AffairsLet's Talk Friday, July 17, 2020: StorytellingHosted by Ms. Karin Chipman, Office of International AffairsMs. Karin Chipman led the students in the discussion of fictional stories and what makes a good story. Participants did some storytelling activities and learned more about parts of a fictional story and story transitionsLet's Talk Friday: July 10, 2020: A Conversation with Dr. Randi Congleton about Racism and Other Social Justice TopicsHosted by Dr. Linh Phung, Director of the English Language ProgramDr. Randi Congleton and the participants talked about the history of of racism in the U.S. and the recent social justice movements and issues, including:

• Black Lives Matter
• Black in the Ivory Tower
• Say Her Name
• DACA (Children of Undocumented Immigrants)
• Dakota Access Pipeline
• International Students in U.S Higher Education

Dr. Congleton also suggested the following additional resources:

• Netflix Documentaries
  • 13th
  • Living Undocumented
  • When They See Us
• Reading
  • An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States by: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by: Ijeoma Oluo
  • Between the World and Me by: Ta-nehisi Coates

Dr. Congleton is the Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Chatham University. Dr. Congleton has been at Chatham University for 3 years and has spent the past fourteen years advocating for inclusive excellence in higher education. Prior to coming to Chatham, Dr. Congleton was the Director of Multicultural Programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University. She is a proud parent of a Fashion Design student and is a very proud alumna of The Pennsylvania State University, Michigan State University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When she is not enacting strategies for campus inclusion, Dr. Congleton can be found watching a great movie, cooking, relaxing with friends, or traveling.Let's Talk Friday: June 26,  2020: JeopardyHosted by Ms. Sylvia Shipp, ELP LecturerParticipants played a round of Jeopardy (based on the TV trivia game) and had a great time.Let's Talk Friday: June 19,  2020Hosted by Ms. Kate Emory, Office of International AffairsParticipants talked about food and cuisine and recommended dishes from different countries.Let's Talk Friday: June 12,  2020Hosted by Ms. Sylvia Shipp, ELP LecturerParticipants talked and played the online Zoom/Skribbl.io game.About skribbl.io: skribbl.io is a free multiplayer drawing game to play on your laptop. A game consists of 3 rounds. In each round someone must draw their chosen word and others have to guess it to gain points. The person with the most points at the end is the winner!How to Play: When it’s your turn to draw, you choose a word from 3 options and draw that word in 80 seconds. When someone is drawing, you type your guess into the chat to get points. The faster you guess a word, the more points you get!Here's an example:https://youtu.be/PA9TUH_Gm8ELet's Talk Friday, June 5: A conversation with Ms. Sue FinegoldHosted by Dr. Linh Phung, ELP DirectorParticipants had the opportunity to hear from Ms. Sue Finegold, Chatham President's wife and community Yoga instructor at Chatham. We practiced a breathing exercise and talked about how important exercising is for our physical and mental health.Sue's introduction:Susan Finegold grew up in the north of England, near Manchester.  She studied English Literature at Oxford University, and then taught it in a sixth-form college (a school for students aged 16-19, as you might know from the Harry Potter books).  After she had moved to America and had two children, she retrained as a yoga teacher.  She teaches community classes at Chatham’s three campuses, and at some other places in the city.Let's Talk Friday: May 29,  2020: Cities Around the WorldHosted by Dr. Linh Phung, ELP DirectorParticipants visited the Chatham's Shadyside campus before the event. They then shared a picture and some information about their home city. We concluded with a fun Kahoot game.

• A virtual tour of Chatham's campuses: https://chatham.edu/admission-and-aid/next-steps/virtual-tours.html
• Read about the city of Pittsburgh: https://pittsburghpa.gov/pittsburgh/pgh-about