Students talk on diversity

At Civic House on Wednesday night, several dozen Penn students were brought face to face with their perceptions about individuals with cultural and ethnic differences in a cultural awareness workshop. The workshop, moderated by student facilitators of the Program for Awareness in Cultural Education, began with the introduction of all participants and continued with a role-playing exercise, an educational video and a discussion session. From the outset of the program, the participants were informed about the cultural presuppositions, stereotypes and biases that may come into play when challenged by a new experience involving people with a different background than their own. During the introduction, the students were asked to state their birthplace and their name. The next participant was then required to discuss his or her impressions about that place. In the role-playing exercise, small groups were formed to stage mock tutorial sessions with the participants assuming various identities. The objective of the exercise was to create an awareness of a variety of personal qualities in confrontation with each other. The video, titled "Blue Eyed," featured American educator Jane Elliot. The video itself was a role-playing exercise in a cultural awareness workshop conducted by Elliot. A blue-eyed segment of the participants were challenged in a manner similar to what disadvantaged socio-economic groups may experience in their daily lives. The discussion session helped the Penn students bring to focus their ideas about the workshop and the issues raised. "I have gained more of an understanding of what students may feel when coming to a tutoring session," College senior Peggy Hanefors said. For some of the facilitators, it was their first time in a workshop outside their training program. "I grew up in a sheltered environment," Wharton senior Ryan Robinson said. "In high school, I had my first opportunity out of the norm and have ever since wanted to transcend that experience and share that information." The evening at Civic House ended with a shake of hands among the participants, who left saying they are now in a position to better understood the many differences between people in an increasingly multicultural society.