University celebrates Diversity Month with a series of mini-lectures

Led by the Estonian Human Rights Centre, Diversity Month is celebrated in Estonia in May. The university takes part in its activities for the first time. 

On 20 April, the university signed the Estonian Diversity Charter. At the charter signing event, Academic Secretary Tõnis Karki said that the university is one of Estonia's largest organisations and one with the most diverse membership, and we work every day to ensure a good learning and working environment for our members. This year, the issues of diversity and equality are even more in the spotlight, and during Diversity Month, several mini-lectures on the topic are held. 

• On 4 May at 11:00, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Aune Valk (PhD in Psychology) gives an online lecture on cultural diversity. The lecture is in Estonian. All those interested are welcome to register. 

  • Aune Valk will briefly describe how cross-cultural psychology compares people from different countries. Values, personality traits, information literacy and communication in different cultures will be discussed. The focus is both on how others differ from us and how other nations perceive the Estonian culture and Estonians.

• On 11 May at 11:00, Wolfgang Wagner, visiting professor at the Institute of Psychology, speaks about stereotyping. The lecture is delivered in English at Lossi 36–103. All those interested are welcome to register.

  • Stereotyping the members of a social group is often considered reproducing an unfavourable image of that group. It rarely features a positive image. In any case, stereotypes are often considered biased. However, like in most cases of conflict, there are two sides to the coin of prejudice and stereotyping. In many cases, the stereotype that an outgroup maintains of another group somehow has to do with the group's self-image and identity that the members project outside, and vice versa, in the process of mutual perception.  

• On 17 May at 14:15, Lecturer in Sociology Tarmo Strenze discusses generational renewal. The lecture is in Estonian. All those interested are welcome to register. 

  • Generations are a very important source of social diversity. In every society, several generations live side by side. Generational renewal is one of the main causes of social change. At the lecture, Tarmo Strenze speaks about the concept of generations and the most well-known generations. He also looks at what can be said about the present and the future of society, for example, in Estonia or Russia, based on generations.

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