Dr. Mark Orbe is an internationally known educator, author, and consultant/trainer. He coined the well-respected Co-cultural theory, which is a framework to provide insight into the communication process, behaviors, and attitude of individuals with little societal power, within the societal structure. 

Dr. Orbe is Professor of Communication & Diversity in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University where he also serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of Institutional Equity. In 2017, he was honored as the first Intercultural Communication Research Fellow in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He is also the past Secretary-General for the World Communication Association and past Editor of The Journal of Intergroup Relations and The International and Intercultural Communication Annual.

His academic work often focuses on interracial communication, microaggressions, communicative process among dominant group members and co-cultural (historically and socially marginalized) group members. His workshop/speech provides communicative practices to promote social justice. 

He will provide a lecture in the department of communication, workshop for the staff and faculty, public address as the keynote speaker for the Cultural Harmony Week, meet with students working towards inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, and potentially give interviews on WGSU and to the Lamron. At these various events, attendees will learn more about how culture and power affect us all. At the end of the workshop/speech, participants can gain awareness of different strategies to negotiate cultural identities as well as promote social justice. 

What Dr. Orbe will bring to the Geneseo community will help further foster our core values: creativity, belonging, civil engagement, learning, and sustainability.