We were pleased to continue the National Collegiate Dialogue on Race for the 2nd year. During the 2011-2012 academic year, we look forward to having even more professors and students participate in this much needed conversation.
During last year, we received many expressions of support of the mission and goals of the dialogue from both professors and students alike. They confirmed that we had embarked upon something that is greatly needed. And, as we continue to see an increase in racial strife and division in cities across America and the world, we know race relations is still one of the most important challenges facing contemporary society.
We are committed to providing a “gathering place” for future generations to learn, gain a better understanding, and come up with ways we can close the racial divides in our communities and daily lives.
We received a lot of feedback from students who participated in the dialogue. Below are several. In their own words:
White male student: “By participating in the Dialogue and this class, I feel that I have a firmer grasp on issues of race and ethnicity than I ever did before. It has caused a change in my cognitive processes by making me think outside of the box from perspectives of other people and of other races. . . Moreover, I felt commenting on the articles to be extremely important…by seeing what other people have to say about the article, and how they [give] rebuttal to your own comments, it makes you respect other people’s opinions.”
White female student: “I thought the extra credit was a good extra credit opportunity. I don’t read the newspaper so it kept me up on current events that were going on. I think it correlated great with the class. Many topics we discussed in class were debated or talked about in the articles. I liked that I was anonymous when I expressed my opinion. I felt comfortable saying whatever I believed in. Most of the articles were interesting to read. . . I learned a lot of interesting things by reading the articles. It opened my eyes about a lot of important topics that I had not thought about before until I took this class. I look at these important topics in a different was now and am more sensitive when people say racist or inappropriate things compared to before when I would just laugh with everyone else.”
White male student: “The creators of this website are accomplishing something that many have failed to do. The discussion of race is an important topic in our nation and especially in our schools. This usually is accomplished by classes such as ours but the NCDR website is a step in a new direction. The 21st century is already ten years old and just now we are starting to see technology used more in the discussion about race. Students in college today have been using computers since the turn of the century. Speaking from personal experience, this is the first widespread discussion on race that I have ever come across. Using the NCDR website was usually pretty easy and comments were easily created and edited. It was easy to set up in the beginning and I could start to post immediately. The site’s username system was a good indicator of who was posting the comments and it was nice to be able to reply to someone in our own classes’ comments."
White female student: “This experience was interesting and, at times, insightful. Each issue of the week focused on a different issue involving race. In many instances it was difficult to relate to the articles because I myself never grew up within a place that had race issues…. The most interesting part was seeing other people’s views on specific subjects along with people arguing their points and downgrading other people. It got a little steamed up at times!”
White male student: “My experience of the website was an overall good experience but there would be many things that I would change. The way in which topics were posted was a bit confusing. Instead of having week 1, week 2, etc., they were listed by Roman numerals, which made quick referencing challenging unless you are a Roman numeral expert. The addition and variety of the posted topics was troubling. Many articles dealt with Barack Obama and the border crisis. Now, these are pertinent topics but they are not the only ones! It would have been nice to see more diverse and well-written articles. Many of the articles were short and not very informative. They had more to do with opinions than actual facts and public statements. These drawbacks took away some of the credibility in what the site was posting. Overall it was a positive experience. Although the articles did not leave much room for learning or debate, it was nice to be part of a grassroots organization. . I learned a lot from some of the articles and being able to discuss them with others my age was a big plus. I’m definitely glad I took part in this dialogue.”
White female student: “Throughout the semester I took part in the online magazine forum on usariseup. It really has affected the way I live my life now. To be honest, I decided to write a journal once a week online for the extra three points I would receive at the end of the semester, but that doesn’t even matter anymore. I wrote at the very least six journal entries and every one of them I learned something new. For the majority of my life I have been classified as “privileged” and to learn how unfair and small-minded people are really surprised me. This entire class actually opened up my eyes to that, but this online magazine really made me think about it. . . This publication just made me view our country in a different way and try to understand things from a different perspective than my own. When this semester is over, I will no longer write a journal entry on the website, but I will definitely read the articles and check out what the new topics are every now and again, I enjoyed it very much.”
While we are very gratified by the positive comments, we are even more mindful of the areas identified that can be improved. We are committed to making the subject and content areas in the dialogue even better this year. Our weekly issues and conversations will focus on:
- Education: Achievement gap/disparities, opportunities, trends across racial/ethnic groups.
- Sociology: Stereotypes and social norms, intergenerational issues regarding perceptions about race, and ethnicity.
- Work Place: How race plays in job placement, career growth, wealth accumulation, etc.
- Community: Physical lines of demarcation, housing, home ownership.
- Family Values: The ever changing roles, and traditions, as well as the short-term/long-term impact.
- Politics: The potential influence of the Changing Face of America; by 2050, America will be a nation of minorities. What are the implications?
- Other areas that will shed enlightenment, stimulate conversation, and increase understanding.
We are looking forward to having an informative, enlightening, and inspiring conversation.