Degree Name

MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management

First Advisor

Aleksandra Nesic

Abstract

This capstone focuses on a diversity initiative designed for higher education institutions in the United States and it targets students of all levels and degrees. The theme selected for this capstone is: “Diversity Training Workshop Series: How to Learn and Interact within a Diverse Community” and it will be a co-curricular program that follows the interests promoted by Affirmative Action. Due to the wide range of intersectionalities and the abstract definition of Diversity, in this paper, diversity is defined solely as the “composition of the student body”.

The trainings outline the needs for students to recognize and acknowledge non-visible identity characteristics and the contextual factors that shapes it that includes but it is not limited to: ethnicity and race, age, learning ability, social class, cultural heritage, military status, athlete status, student with children, sexual orientation, inmate and others. The goal of this capstone is to foster understanding, social interaction, and integration while promoting inclusiveness and active collaboration among the student community.

Online research, inquiries, and literature review concentrate on identity groups and their social interactions, the pros and cons of transmitting specific values and information for a single identity group, and the social identity development of the student throughout emerging adulthood. This three part workshop series is designed for an interactive self-identity exploration including social class, class culture, and advocacy along with inter-group assignments for integration and collaboration. The program planning and the curriculum is based on Social Identity Theories and interactive training methodology by David Kolb (1984) and Paulo Freire (1998).

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Educational Leadership

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