The University of Lethbridge, City of Lethbridge and Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination hosted the Discover Diversity Conference at the Coast Hotel in Lethbridge Feb. 3-4.

The conference aims at communicating ways to deal with discrimination issues in southern Alberta.

 

Mickey Wilson is the president of Outreach Southern Alberta Society. He says they’re seeing an increase in homophobic violence as well as discrimination in our region against people of different cultures moving into Lethbridge.

 

The conference was originally scheduled to take place in October, but was postponed due to conflicting events throughout the province.

 

Building diversity in Alberta parks, bullying among older adults, diversify and respect, and living together differently were just a few of the sessions held at the conference.

 

Adam Seligman was the keynote speaker for the Discover Diversity conference.

 

Seligman is a research associate at the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture and a professor of religion at Boston University. Seligman has also taught abroad at universities in Israel and Hungary as well as Canada.

 

Seligman has written several books including, The Problem of Trust, Innerworldly Individualism and The Idea of Civil Society.

 

During his speech, Seligman shared how diversity is not accepted in the states.

 

“In the United States, a big way to deal with difference is to privatize it,” said Seligman who lives in Newton, Mass.

 

Seligman said that we are all the same – no matter the way we look.

 

“Everything came down to yes we’re different but it doesn’t really matter because at the end of the day were all the same,” said Seligman.

 

Currently, with funding help from the Ford Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts, Seligman is working on the issue of religion and toleration.