By Hannah Shirey
A new immersive experience is being offered to students.
Since summer, Catherine Romagnolo, a professor of English, has been training eleven students in discussion techniques and dialogue about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The immersive experience is called “DEI Teaching Fellows.” DEI Teaching Fellows receive training in basic classroom management strategies, inclusive classroom instruction and generating civil dialogue. They also learn about the FYE companion lesson plans offered on diversity, equity and inclusion.
In addition to summer training sessions, students who take part in this immersive experience must attend planning meetings in the fall and assist in running discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion in FYE companion courses.
The purpose of the immersive experience is to increase coverage of DEI content in FYE companion courses. The immersive experience hopes to deepen student comprehension and engagement with that content.
As a participant of the immersive experience, Isabel Campbell, a social justice and civic engagement minor, has already led three discussions in FYE companion classes.
“We asked students questions about identity and then had the students share the identity that best fit the question for them,” Campbell said. “We discussed the importance of learning about our peers identities as well as the privilege and oppression of certain identities.”
The immersive experience is meant to assist first-year students in having difficult conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion; however, the experience helps the discussion leaders, too.
“The DEI Teaching Fellows immersive experience has given me the knowledge to have confidence in having dialogue with others around the topics of DEI,” Campbell said.
Romagnolo is proposing that the zero credit immersive experience becomes a 3 credit course called “Dialogue for Social Justice” by next fall. The course would be offered once a year as an intercultural competence course and an immersive experience.
Campbell and Romagnolo recommend the immersive experience to students who are passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and have an interest in helping others.