Toni Alexander is a professor in the Geology Department doing diversity research for Auburn University. Alexander has been doing research mostly in the Asian communities in American and how they migrate from their home countries and even across the United States. She has been doing quite a bit of research with in the Hispanic population here recently as well and has found that as the United States Asian population would tend to migrate toward cities, the Hispanics tend to migrate and settle in smaller towns. She said the Southeast is seeing a lot of this type of trend right now and has for the past couple of years. Alexander studies how the immigrants adapt to their surroundings and how their surroundings adapt to the immigrants.

Here at Auburn University she and others doing diversity research on campus are being asked the age old question of what is diversity? She said it's still a question she asks herself. The answer depends on the person asking and the context of the situation when the question is being asked. It can be determined as race, religion, sex or even region. The list can continue, but these are the main ones we all deal with on a daily basis. How you feel about an issue or a goal you are trying to accomplish can change your view on the idea of diversity.

Alexander said Auburn University would like to expose its students to different kinds of diversity. The goal is to make Auburn University students well rounded in different cultures and ways of doing things.

She said she is happy about the diversity conference being held at Auburn University this year. Alexander said this is a great way for others on campus to see what everyone else is doing and how their research is going. This could be a way for some to find great collaborations on similar subjects of research. She is excited to see what other kinds of research different departments are doing or rather just individuals too. Alexander thinks this is a great opportunity for Auburn University to gain publicity about the different areas of diversity that is being researched at the university.

The conference means a good deal to Alexander as well. She thinks it is a great idea and way for teachers to tell their students about the research they are doing.


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