Program aims for cultural awareness

It will take a lot of work, but next semester students will have the opportunity to become certified as cultural awareness trainers. In a program sponsored by the Greenfield Intercultural Center, students will spend a semester of rigorous training in order to become an on-campus cultural resource team. Once students are certified, they will hold informative cultural discussion sessions and role-playing workshops for University groups and will assist with New Student Orientation. The program is called PACE – Programs for Awareness in Cultural Education. "I think somewhere along the line 'diversity' became a buzzword – it conjured up connotations of thought-policing and personality reorientation," said Navneet Khera, the program's director. "What this program is setting out to do is recapture the spirit that has to be shown. "Difficult but necessary dialogues have to be reopened," he added. The program's objectives, Khera said, include addressing cultural, race, gender and sexual orientation issues, increasing self-esteem and self-awareness skills and providing opportunities for working with leading professionals in workshops and forums. Khera, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Education, said many program ideas have come from students. "I know from living and working with the undergraduates that they are the most warm, intellectual and renaissance people in the world," he said. "I learned more from them than from my 22 courses at Penn." Participants will attend a weekend retreat in January and weekly two-hour sessions at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, in addition to maintaining a weekly journal. Khera said some students may also be able to obtain course credit as an independent study for completing the program. A number of faculty members and administrators – including Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta – have volunteered to be faculty advisors for the independent study, he said. Moneta said last night he is excited about the program. "It plays to one of the strengths at Penn which is peer education," he said. "It's one of the best things we do – DART, FLASH, GUIDE, RAPLine and STAAR are examples of very well-respected efforts at Penn and they're all peer-based. This is an idea that is absolutely complementary to those." Khera stressed that the program is for all students – not just minorities – and he simply wants people in the program "who enjoy being peer educators." Greenfield Interim Director Joe Sun said the program is not designed to provide opinions about diversity, just information. "This program is not about promoting certain views," he said. "We're here to provide a basis for understanding the complexity of diversity." Khera said he hope the certified trainers will "act as facilitators to create the sort of environment where the difficult but necessary dialogues can take place." Interested students should send a cover letter and resume to Khera at the Greenfield Intercultural Center, 3708 Chestnut Street by November 15. Applicants will be interviewed and selected by November 24.