How have you developed or demonstrated this competency this semester?
Questions to consider (you don’t need to answer them all!):
Socio-cultural self-awareness
Can you give an example of a time you faced an unfamiliar social or cultural situation? How did you navigate it?
Can you give an example of how a social or cultural assumption you held affected your decision making?
Engage different perspectives
Can you give an example of a time you took the initiative to learn about the perspective of someone whose background was not like your own?
During this semester, I went to an Ethnic Studies workshop which educated the Wesleyan community on some history of Ethnic Studies programs and helped us reflect and advocate for an Ethnic Studies program here at Wesleyan. This workshop was a great opportunity for me to think about my own education and whether I feel like I am being well represented in the curriculum and courses at Wesleyan and at my past schools.
During this workshop, I got to learn more about other students of color’s perspectives on how their education shaped their lives and whether they felt represented and heard in the conversations during classes. We talked about how we felt our race or ethnicity was being taught in the classroom, and what we wished we saw more of in the classroom. We talked about how Wesleyan has a lack of classes to choose from that do include people of color and how when there are these classes, they are often a white space with students of color that are seeking out more knowledge about themselves. It was very interesting and moving to see the intersection that I have with other people of color and how our struggle is shared.
I also enjoyed hearing from other students who did not share my racial background and what they thought about their experience. In particular, those students of mixed race and how did not see themselves in the classroom at all because the mixed experience is a relatively new perspective and education that has yet to be taught. I never thought about this outlook much and I appreciated their willingness to share with the group.
Can you give an example of a time you identified a social or cultural assumption held by someone else? How did you address and negotiate it?
