The Rio Salado Steering Committee presents a monthly series of brown bag lunch sessions focusing on current issues and concerns relating to diversity and multiculturalism. The Brown Bag Lunch Series for 1999 included the following topics:

"African-American Contributions To American History From A to Z"

We Shall Overcome - This site, subtitled "Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement National Register Travel Itinerary," is presented by the National Park Service. Useful as either a virtual tour or to plan a physical tour of forty-one houses, schools, churches, and buildings that were the stage for civil rights activism and events. There is also a reading list, a list of Web resources, and supplemental information on key events and people. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/

Afro-American Studies on the Web - Links to scholarly sites in seven categories, including electronic texts and historical texts documenting the African American experience.
http://afroam.aas.wisc.edu/places.htm

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library - Developed by the Library of Congress for the study of Black history and culture, this site includes African-American Odyssey, African-American Mosaic, and African-American Perspectives. All are searchable collections of documents, photographs, maps, sound clips and film clips. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

The Martin Luther King JR. (MLK) Center for Nonviolent Social Change - The official MLK historical site, providing links to the King Papers Project at Stanford, a 2,700 item bibliography, photographs, and more. http://www.thekingcenter.com

  Museum of Afro-American History, Boston - provides links to 12 other museums of African American collections, in addition to an excellent collection of general links. http://www.afroammuseum.org/links.htm

AMISTAD Links is a comprehensive listing of links to pages about the history of the AMISTAD, the AMISTAD incident which gave rise to the film, and the legacy of the episode.
http://www.amistad.org/

A Deeper Shade of History - contains a link to "This Week in Black History" where you can find facts about this particular week in Black history, updated weekly.
http://www.ai.mit.edu/~isbell/HFh/black/bhist.html

Africans in America - a resource on the history of slavery in America, presented in four parts. For each era, you'll find a historical Narrative, a Resource Bank of images, documents, stories, biographies, and commentaries, and a Teacher's Guide for using the content of the Web site and PBS television series in U.S. history courses. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html

"Lifelong Learning: A View of Rio's Senior Education"

Rio Institute for Senior Education: "A grassroots community-based organization created for and by seniors to afford them the opportunity for stimulation, enlightenment and interaction with peers in an environment that encourages lifelong learning and friendship." http://www.riosalado.edu/services/community/rise/

Elderhostel Institute Network: R.I.S.E. is one of the Institutes for Learning in Retirement (ILR) in association with of the Elderhostel Institute Network. http://www.elderhostel.org/

TraveLearn - International learning vacations for small groups of adults. The trips include seminars, onsite lectures by local resource specialists, cultural learning, meeting the people who live in the area, and various field experiences.
http://www.travelearn.com/

"The Ethnic Identity of Racially Mixed People"

The Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) seeks to promote positive awareness of interracial and multiethnic identity. http://www.ameasite.org/

Beginning Library Research on ETHNIC IDENTITY in the United States - This site from Stanford University Libraries presents helpful research resources and information about useful subject heading, indexes, and websites relating to this subject.
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/adams/shortcu/ethi.html

Hapa Issues Forum - A non-profit organization "that celebrates the mixed race Asian American experience." They have drafted a Bill of Rights for Persons of Racially Mixed Ancestry. http://www.hapaissuesforum.org/org.html

Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity - The Federal Register Notice from the Office of Management and Budget. The new standards will be used by the Bureau of the Census in the 2000 census. Contains background information, a summary of the review process, and information about what is being done to address the issues arising from the changes.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/fedreg/ombdir15.html

Selected Readings on Racial and Ethnic Identity - An extensive bibliography from the Populations Studies Center at the University of Michigan. http://www.psc.lsa.umich.edu/~drharris/595_racid_addread.html

"Cinco de Mayo Celebration"

Mexican Art and Culture Links - From Alegria web pages sponsored by Los Danzantes de Alegria, a California dance organization. Click on the link for the Directory to find the addresses and contact information for Folklorico groups throughout Arizona, and elsewhere. In the Regional Dance pages you can hear music used in dances in various regions of Mexico. http://www.alegria.org/mxother.html

A Timeline of Mexican History, with links to other sites covering the many aspects of the history of Mexico. Parallel columns briefly compares the timeline with events in Europe an the rest of the world. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history.html

It May Be History, but Women As Leaders will Be Herstory"

The National Women's Hall of Fame - Located, of course, in Seneca Falls, New York, the Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring women who have made significant contributions to the development of the United States. http://www.greatwomen.org/

4000 Years of Women in Science - Brief biographical information, with references for further reading. From the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Alabama.
http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/4000WS.html

Gifts of Speech - Use this site from Sweet Briar College to find quotes taken from women's speeches from around the world.
http://gos.sbc.edu/

"Men's Issues: A Jerk Reaction"

American Coalition for Fathers & Children - This organization works for equal rights for children, father, mothers, and grandparents, with the understanding that all family members are affected by divorce. Resources include studies, legislature, legal resources and organizations.
http://www.acfc.org/

Men's Health Network - Dedicated to increasing the lifespan and the quality of men's lives by collecting information, providing resources, and actively contributing to national education campaigns about men's health issues. Excellent reference library.
http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/

"A Woman's Place Is…In The Mountains"

About.com's Guide to Climbing - Information on climbing, clubs, avalanche awareness, training, clothing and equipment.
http://climbing.about.com/sports/climbing/mbody.htm

Climbing Dictionary - Put together by an enthusiast named Carl Ockier, with contributions from many climbers, including several women.
http://www.fm.bs.dlr.de/misc/climbing/climbing_dict.htm

Arizona Mountaineering Club - The AMC offers beginning classes, monthly outings, a monthly newsletter, and a member accessible library of climbing books, magazines and videos.
http://www.AzMountaineeringClub.org/

"Teens and Education"
Awesome Library: Virtual books, book reports, lesson plans, and World Wide Wed sites. Also provides internet resources for activities, and games.
http://awesomelibrary.org/student5.html

WordSmiths:
New York Public Library's Teen Link includes writing by teens and tells you how to submit your own creations. Links to current and past issues are included.
http://www2.nypl.org/home/branch/teen/WordSmiths-Current.cfm

Teens: The Arizona Republic offers teens links to several teen magazines, alt. Teen News, information about colleges and career planning. A homework link leads to the paper's Kids page with links to a wide variety of homework aids. http://www.azcentral.com/community/res/teens.html

Teaching Tolerance: The Southern Poverty Law Center provides helpful book reviews and offers suggestions for classroom activities related to Asian Americans, African Americans and black history, Native Americans, Hispanic heritage, women's history and religious freedom. http://www.splcenter.org/teachingtolerance/tt-index.html

Rivendell Educational Archive: Curriculum resources relating to Botany, Drama, History, Literature, Math, Philosophy, Science and Art. Links are provided to biographies of authors and leaders in these fields as well as subject related online texts and articles.
http://www.watson.org/rivendell/

"De-Mystifying Jews and Judaism"

Judaism 101 - Well written general information about Judaism. There is a searchable glossary of Jewish terminology and the lessons are interspersed with links to definitions of terms.
http://www.jewfaq.org/

The Gates to the Talmud - A replication of the Vilna Talmud is presented in 15,000 PDF file pages. The interactive pages include children's lessons, search capability, quizzes and games, and translations into other languages. http://www.talmudworld.com/proj/proj.html

Project Genesis: Torah on the Internet - The weekly Torah readings (Parsha) are listed and a related illumination or spiritual lesson is presented. Free classes are offered in "Jewish philosophy, liturgy, ethics and law." http://www.torah.org/

Judaism and Jewish Resources - Since 1993 Andrew Tannenbaum has been providing this excellent guide to the on-line resources relating to Judaism. Presents a wealth of possibilities available for learning and enjoyment. http://www.shamash.org/trb/judaism.html

Chabad-Lubavitch in Cyberspace - "The major thrust of Chabad-Lubavitch focuses on observing for one's self and transmitting to others the beauty, depth, awareness and joy inherent in the Torah-true way of life." The site presents weekly Torah lessons as well as many other links about Judaism and Jewish life.
http://www.chabad.org

Reform Judaism - From the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. This website contains links to information about the nature of Reform Judaism, links to affiliated organizations, and learning resources.
http://rj.org/

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism - Includes links to programs and publications, position papers and synagogue resources, education and an on-line Jewish bookstore.
http://uscj.org/index.html

Jewish News of Greater Phoenix - Home page of a weekly newspaper with local and international news, calendar of events, and community directory.
http://www.jewishaz.com/

"Do You Yearn to see the World? Do You have a travel Adventure to Share?"

About.com's Guide to Adventure Travel - Spotlight articles include safety tips, destination of the week and other travel suggestions. Links are provided to information about bicycling, camping, senior travel, walking and a variety of other adventures.
http://activetravel.about.com/travel/activetravel/mbody.htm

Yahoo! Travel - A great place to begin searching for airline ticket pricing and general travel information. http://travel.yahoo.com/

The Family Travel Files - A good source for vacation ideas, this site has an extensive archive of articles written about family vacation experiences in various locations.
http://www.thefamilytravelfiles.com/

Passport Services and Information - From the U.S. State Department. You can print out a passport application here.
http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html

Bureau of Consular Affairs - Access to travel information, visa services, and important phone numbers related to overseas citizens services. Find out about entry requirements for various countries.
http://travel.state.gov/index.html

National Center for Infectious Diseases: Travelers' Health - Information about health concerns when traveling to different regions, traveling with children, special needs, vaccination, safe food and water, and preparation for emergencies.
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/

Outward Bound - This leading wilderness educator offers skills training, expeditionary education, solo camping, team dynamics and environmental stewardship. "Through these adventures, students discover strength, confidence, compassion and responsibility within themselves."
http://www.outwardbound.org/

"Diversity in the Newsroom"

Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc.. - An alliance, formed in 1994, of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).
http://www.unity99.org/