The Office of Diversity and Human Resources is presenting a three-part dialogue series focusing on cross-cultural communications. Facilitated by Director of Diversity and Assistant Professor of Social Work Diane Elliott and Peacemaker-in-Residence Jonathan Rudy, the series seeks to help Elizabethtown College faculty and staff establish a more meaningful and honest understanding between Etown’s diverse groups.
The program hopes to do this by helping its participants become more aware of how they interact with other members of society, no matter how similar or dissimilar their lives may be.
Each of the program’s three sessions will last two hours. The first session, entitled “Exploring My Identity,” was held on Thursday, Oct. 30 and the second session, “Conflict,” will be held tonight, Nov. 6. The third, “Context,” will wrap up the series on Nov. 20. Each session will last from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Bowers Writers House.
This series hopes to encourage participants to become aware of the connections and disconnections between groups and individuals and especially to take note of the impact of their words and actions.
The plans for this program were put in motion several years ago, and the Diversity Dialogue Series held in 2008 served as a precursor. That dialogue series emphasized recognizing diversity on campus and focused on inclusion by touching on topics such as immigration reform.
According to Elliott, the ultimate goal is to have a more inclusive campus. She believes the best way to accomplish this is to hold cross-cultural, also called inter-group, dialogues. These dialogues aim to help participants recognize how they see issues differently and legitimize different points of view.
The series is not exactly a workshop. “It is more an opportunity to create a safe space where participants feel comfortable engaging in honest and authentic conversations about some difficult subjects,” Elliott said. When participants reach Bowers Writers House, they will break into small groups. “We’re looking for honest conversation,” Elliott said. “We want the participants to feel comfortable, relaxed and like they can make themselves vulnerable, so we felt small groups would work best.”
According to Elliott, attendants will participate in warm-up exercises which aim to help them relax and feel comfortable opening up to the other members of their group. At this time, rules for the program will be established, not by Elliott and Rudy, but by the participants.
Elliott and Rudy may frame a question to the participants, but they will not tell them from what angle to approach it nor how to answer it. “The participants will provide the context needed to answer the question,” Elliott said. She believes the conversations will be more meaningful that way because “the group then owns that information.”
While it is not mandatory, participants are encouraged to complete all three sessions. Elliott and Rudy hope to provide a similar program for Etown students sometime early in the spring semester.
“Overall, there has been a lot of interest in the Cross-Cultural Dialogue Series. Hopefully, the topic will continue to spark interest among participants, and the sessions will grow and expand to reach a larger portion of the campus community,” Elliot said.
