CAMPUSPEAK

If you’ve been looking for a truly different and effective way to get your students engaged in the topic of diversity, Brian C. Johnson is one of your best choices!

• Keynotes

• Reel Diversity
• Reel Greek: Where Hollywood Boulevard Meets Greek Row
• Reel Diversity: Move Over Chuck & Larry
• We’ve Scene It All Before: College Life in the Movies
• LEAD: Leadership Excellence Acknowledges Diversimilarity

Reel Diversity

Understanding diversity, multiculturalism and social justice is a hallmark of the current higher education experience. Engaging students about diversity is a moral, educational and strategic mandate for colleges and universities who desire to produce global citizens in an interconnected world. “Diversity” is also one of the most challenging subjects for many students to grasp. Exploring the “difference that difference makes” can be difficult because there are so many perspectives and opinions about how it can be presented.

Most campuses see diversity from a deficits base (a problem to be solved) rather than as an opportunity. Many campuses are about counting the pepper in the salt, instead of harnessing the power of creative communities. We shine a spotlight on those who are different, who then resent being used as tokens. We neglect to critically examine the campus climate and dig deep to understand what it’s like to live, work and study there. Non-minority students withdraw from the conversation about diversity because there is no personal benefit, and conflicts, tensions and communication barriers grow. We struggle to find a way to frame the conversation about tough issues without dissolving into personal attacks.

Brian’s creative keynote, “Reel Diversity,” frames the diversity conversation through modern film. By sharing clips of well-known films and discussing the messages they consciously or unconsciously give, Brian allows every student to see himself or herself as diverse. Students laugh and remember some of their favorite movies, and from there, an interactive keynote about multiculturalism can begin.

Students learn about the concept of “diversity”—its associated values, expressions of identity, similarity, and the devaluation of “different.” They are asked to consider the concept of “culture”—its symbols, language, norms and values in American society. The audience is challenged to care about “social justice”—power, oppression, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. Students are asked to make personal judgments about these issues and recognize that the opportunity for change exists within each of us.

In addition to race, the keynote addresses these issues with regard to sexual orientation, socio-economics, religion and disability.

If you have been looking for a truly different and effective way to get your students engaged on these topics, Brian is a wonderful choice. His keynote is enjoyable, interactive, thought-provoking and based in the common experience of popular media. “Reel Diversity” is a wonderful choice for any campus convocation or educational observance, but is especially popular for new student orientation, MLK celebrations, Black History Month and other community appreciation events. Be sure to book early for popular times.

Reel Greek: Where Hollywood Boulevard Meets Greek Row

Most fraternities and sororities were founded upon the exemplary principles of scholarship and achievement, service, philanthropy, and leadership; yet today, the popular perception of Greeks is anything but! As more and more first generation students go to college, fraternity and sorority members must come face-to-face with the Hollywood mirror where beer guzzling, lewd behavior, hazing, cheating and destruction are the order of the day for fraternities, and sororities are little more than havens of bitchiness and exclusivity (not to mention being pictured as the willing servants and concubines of frat boys!).

Brian Johnson’s keynote Reel Greek: Where Hollywood Boulevard Meets Greek Row uses film clips from popular films like Old School, Animal House, Stomp the Yard, and College (and many others) to explore the influence of Hollywood on how we view ourselves as members of the Greek community as well as the impact these images have on how/who we recruit, the traditions and rituals we uphold, how we act in public and private, our town/gown relationships, and how we interact on with others on campus.

By examining these images, audiences (Greek and non-Greek) will be challenged to question what it really means to live in community with others, and to think critically about counteracting the negative public perceptions and promoting the true ideals of these organizations.

Reel Diversity: Move Over Chuck & Larry

How many viewers of movies find themselves questioning heterosexual identity and behavior on screen? Not many, because it’s usually perceived as the norm; their reactions change, though—mostly in a negative way—when homosexual identity and behavior is portrayed on film. This also creates a psychological impact on LGBTQ viewers, who must cope with this negative reaction, overt or not, from the majority audience.

Homophobia is, unfortunately, coded into the fabric of our society and one of the most common places is in mainstream Hollywood film. In fact, as detailed in the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, films that include homosexual acts of sex will more likely receive the dreaded NC-17 rating, whereas similar acts by heterosexuals will receive more favorable ratings (R or PG). This is one clear example of how our film-going society favors heterosexuality as normal and homo/trans/bisexuality as not.

Brian explores the societal issues of sexual orientation in his new keynote Reel Diversity: Move Over Chuck & Larry, using this particular movie as one example of how film can reinforce ideas of heterosexism and homophobia, and magnify the stereotypes and prejudices of each. By viewing and discussing films, such as The Birdcage, Brokeback Mountain and The Talented Mr. Ripley, students will examine concepts of “hetero-normativity” and its influence upon popular movies, and how young people may readily accept these images as truth. They will leave this keynote with the challenge to define their own sexual orientation in terms that are non-sexual, and a better understanding of how people’s ways of lives deserve acknowledgement and respect.

We’ve Scene It All Before: College Life in the Movies

This fun and interactive keynote opens the door for first year students to discuss their pre-college conditioning and temper these images with real campus life.

Using clips from popular films set on college campuses, Brian will deconstruct the Hollywood myth machine and empower students to make positive choices regarding the challenges they will face on a daily basis.

This keynote will get students laughing as they remember their favorite scenes and are challenged to be critical thinkers about how to make positive, informed decisions about success in college as well as how to be a productive citizen within the campus community.

LEAD: Leadership Excellence Acknowledges Diversimilarity

One of our most compelling challenges is the encouragement of student leadership, on- and off-campus. This type of leadership entails building relationships and communication with people who have divergent beliefs and values. Campus conversations about diversity are often messy, sensitive and, for many, down right scary. How can we build effective personal relationships across (and in spite of) differences when people are afraid and unable to talk to each other?

Brian will help students expand their relationship—building skills by becoming more culturally self-aware, finding common ground and harnessing the benefits of living and learning in community with others.

In this keynote—perfect for new student orientation and leadership development—Brian frames diversity as a leadership issue, making it an appropriate discussion for students of different backgrounds. Brian directs students toward a journey of cultural competence—helping them acquire a factual knowledge base about different cultures, and giving them the confidence and comfort to generate communication between cultures.

Brian C.'s Bio

Brian honors the struggles and accomplishments of the ordinary citizens who launched the Civil Rights Movement by committing himself personally and professionally to the advancement of multicultural and inclusive education.

He serves as a faculty member in the Department of Developmental Instruction at Bloomsburg University and is the Director of the Frederick Douglass Institute for Academic Excellence. He is a founder of the Pennsylvania Association of Liaisons and Officers of Multicultural Affairs, a consortium that promotes best practices in higher education. He is a former trainer with the National Coalition Building Institute and was certified in their prejudice reduction and controversial issues process modules. He is a featured columnist on the Antiracistparent.com website. He also has professional experience in social and human services.

Brian earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from California University of Pennsylvania, and has completed the necessary coursework toward a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University. His research is in the area of white student racial identity development. Brian is the author of We’ve Scene It All Before: Using Film Clips in Diversity Awareness Training (2009) and co-author of Reel Diversity: A Teacher’s Sourcebook (2008).

Brian, an ordained minister, serves on the ministry team at Revival Tabernacle in Watsontown, PA where he is a church elder, youth minister and a team leader for the Tabernacle Players, the church’s performing arts troupe. In August 2009, his book, Sintimacy: The Christian’s Love Affair with Secret Sin, was published by Revival Nation Publishing.