I hope that they will take part in some of the amazing programs that they are lining up.”

Education graduate student Clara Ng-Quinn, an Understanding Race Theme Semester graduate intern and an Understanding Race Student Steering Committee adviser, said 133 courses in the LSA Winter 2013 semester will incorporate race and relate the theme to a variety of topics.

“The ultimate goal of the steering committee is to engage as many students as possible in this theme of understanding race through big events, through small events, through discussions, bringing speakers in, bringing performances in,” Ng-Quinn said.

She would not release specific details for events because they are still in the planning stages and there are no definite details yet. However, she did say there will be three to four major events that will relate to a wide variety of audience members in addition to smaller niche events and collaboration with cultural student organizations.

The steering committee is analyzing how sexuality, class and gender relate to race. They are trying to relate those sub-themes into the courses offered as part of the winter 2013 semester. Ng-Quinn said though some subjects obviously relate to race, other topics, such as women’s studies, will incorporate aspects of race through their relative topics, such as gender and class.

“My hope, at least, is that this theme semester will provide opportunities for students to engage in discussions about race in a positive environment and to hopefully chip away that stigma about talking about race,” Ng-Quinn said. “I really think that race is something that is useful to talk about; it doesn’t matter what race you are.”

Ng-Quinn said any student interested in joining the collaboration effort is welcome to join the student steering committee.

Noel Gordon, an LSA senior and student steering committee member, said the committee is looking to incorporate race into various aspects of student life, from medicine to sports to art.

“One of the things that I would like to achieve is to really make issues of race salient to people as they sort of understand it,” Gordon said. “It’s equally important to make sure students find conversations about race very accessible to them and relevant to them.”

Gordon said students might refrain from having conversations about race in fear of saying something wrong or offensive, and promoting open dialogue is important to removing stigmas.

“If we don’t have these conversations in sort of genuine and authentic ways, while admitting that some people will probably say the wrong thing in the process, then no one’s ever going to learn anything,” Gordon said. “It’s important for me ... to help students understand that it’s okay to make mistakes while talking about race because that’s the only way we’re ever going to get to a better understanding.”