Communicating as a Cross-Cultural Ally
By Marsha Houston, professor of communication studies, University of Alabama
A white woman professor has worked for months on a proposal for a new concentration in her departmental major. The faculty will vote next week, and because the vote promises to be close, she needs to ensure herself of every possible supporter. She encounters the only woman of color in the department in the mailroom and makes a special effort to engage her in a friendly, casual conversation without mentioning her proposal. As she walks back to her office, her colleague of color reflects on how unusual it is for her and this particular white colleague to exchange more than a cursory “good morning". . . .

Women's Multicultural Alliances in a Global Context: An Interview with Linda Martín-Alcoff
Conducted by Michèle Leaman, program assistant in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives at AAC&U
Linda Martín-Alcoff, professor of philosophy and director of women’s studies at Syracuse University, has written extensively about the philosophical implications of identity politics and alliance building across difference in works such as Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self (2006). During the 2007 Feminism, Sexuality, and Return of Religion Conference at Syracuse University, AAC&U staffer Michèle Leaman met with Dr. Martín-Alcoff to discuss her views of multicultural alliances. . . .