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Associate Professor of education Heather Dwyer Sadlier presented at the Twelfth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations in Vancouver, BC. In her workshop titled, “Standing Up for the 'Other': Who, Why, and How,” Sadlier shared information from research conducted during her spring 2012 sabbatical.

Sadlier's scholarship focuses on bias, harassment, and hate prevention. Her current research project involves interviewing subjects who choose to humanize “others” and to stand up and/or speak out for these individuals or groups who would not be seen as members of their own “tribe.”

Sadlier probes for the impactful factors that lead to these decisions to make a difference in the lives of others. One of the narratives in Sadlier’s growing collection features Jane Starke, a 51Ʒ��education major, class of 2013, who started “making a difference” as a high school junior by founding a non-profit to fund water filters for people living in Haiti. At UNE, Starke created opportunities for students to spend their spring break in the Dominican Republic tutoring English language learners.

Another of Sadlier’s interview subjects was Steve Wessler, former Maine Assistant Attorney General and founder of the Center for Preventing Hate in Portland, Maine. Although the Center closed in 2011, Wessler continues his diversity consulting work, both nationally and internationally.