Interdependence-Wednesday (I-We Day): Build Bridges

by Dr. Sherick Hughes, UNC-MPA ’99, UNC-Ph.D. ‘03

Associate Professor, School of EducationDirector, Interpretive Research Suite &

Carter Qualitative Thought Lab Co-Director, Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Studies

Preview of Main PointsIntroductionWhat is Interdependence-Wednesday: Build Bridges (I-

We Day: Build Bridges)?Justifications for I-We: Build Bridges #1 Peer-Reviewed Research & Harvard Report #2 Student Experiences #3 Learning from Pilot DataWebsite: http://iweday.web.unc.eduReferences Contact Information

Introduction: Equity, Diversity & Globalization

• UNC values and highlights equity, diversity & globalization• UNC’s vision statement highlights globalization and

preparation for leadership in a diverse world• Campus organizations represent various genders, religions,

ethnicities and nationalities, etc.• Members and supporters of these organizations are

interested in gaining a global perspective, but many have not considered how such a perspective can be gained not only abroad, but also right here in our own back yard

What is I-We Day: Build Bridges? • I-We Day: Build Bridges work involves: 1. Organizational leaders proposing and engaging joint team service projects to be highlighted via digital stories at

each annual I-We Day: Build Bridges 2. All organization leaders in Year 1 of the event will undergo training for intercultural campus leadership success across traditional social boundaries 3. Experienced professionals mentor the new partnerships 4. All organizational leaders in Year 1 will sign a Declaration

of Interdependence (DOI) with hopes that all campus leaders will sign it (the DOI work will be read each yearto launch the annual I-We Day: Build Bridges event

What Research Supports I-We Day? Peer-Reviewed Research

• Hong & Page (2004) and their colleagues continue to produce reputable research supporting the notion that diverse groups working interdependently on mutual goals are the best decision-makers when given a difficult task

• Bass (1999) Transformational Leaders of the “new” millennium will lead interdependent, diverse organizations, and will need cultural competence to lead most effectively

• Social Neuroscience Research on intergroup bias & cognitive ability (2006 MacArthur “Genius” Richeson & Sophie Trawalter, 2005)

What Research Supports I-We Day? Making Caring Common (2016) Harvard ReportRec#3a: Authentic, Meaningful Experiences with Diversity •“Too often students’ experiences with diversity, including their service experiences, are brief and token and can be patronizing to recipients…

•The college admissions process should encourage other types of community engagement that are likely to generate deeper appreciation of diversity and greater social awareness and insight” (p. 13).

What Research Supports I-We Day? Making Caring Common (2016) Harvard ReportRec#3b: Authentic, Meaningful Experiences with Diversity •“Rather than students ‘doing for’ those from different backgrounds, for example, we encourage students to ‘do with’—to work in diverse groups for sustained periods of time on community challenges, groups in which students learn from one another while working towards a common goal…

•We also encourage students to work in groups that are diverse in terms of gender, religious and political orientation and other characteristics” (p. 13).

What Research Supports I-We Day? Making Caring Common (2016) Harvard ReportRec#3c: Authentic, Meaningful Experiences with Diversity

•“…diverse, collective experiences are not only important in generating deeper forms of respect in young people; they are also more likely to help develop knowledge and skills vital to working and interacting in diverse groups in an increasingly interconnected world” (p. 13).

What Coursework Supports I-We Day?

• One goal of I-We Day: Build Bridges--build upon the work of Education Minor students from EDUC-508 “Cultural Competence, Leadership & You” by bringing diverse campus organizations together in search of innovative solutions to some of today’s most challenging social issues (EDUC-508 is an Ed. Minor course that counts for Global Studies; and Social/Behavioral Sciences)

• Each EDUC-508 Small Group (5 students-6 groups): 1. Conduct Oral History studies of campus organizations 2. Initiate blueprints via Digital Storytelling to build bridges between the campus organizations

--Organizations Never Before Linked

What Coursework Supports I-We Day? Ed. Minor Student Experiences

• It was…to be vulnerable & expose ourselves to the diversity of the university and the students not only in our classroom but everywhere! (EDUC-508, Anonymous);

• I learned a lot about cultural competence, my own biases, as well as privileges that I have as a person living in this society (EDUC-508, Anonymous);

• It challenged me to take a more introspective view of how I view myself and the cultures around me

(EDUC-508, Anonymous).

I-We Day Sample Pilot Data

• Carolina Cupboard (CC) leaders continued the conversation by adding that a CC executive has spoken with Dean Collins about partnering to inform especially new students about the pantry as a resource; we might work together to learn from CIC about whether/how food and financial poverty may be present among Native American/People of the First Nations; we might work together to learn what food options we can provide that are common in the culture of Native Americans/People of the First Nations.

I-We Day Sample Pilot Data

• Muslim Student Association (MSA) considered collaborating on three specific areas with specific goals in mind (1) Education, (2) Service, and (3) Identity.

Education: Major goal is to educate the Carolina community of serious institutionalized Islamophobia. We already have an Islamophobia teach-in series. Possible collaboration with School of Education to raise awareness, teach/learn educational tactics toward most promising pedagogy on Muslim students in the U.S. and abroad; and to co-host workshops that implement this pedagogy to educate audiences of UNC faculty, staff and students.

I-We Day Sample Pilot Data

• Service: Major Goal: To Promote the notion of Service as a way of making and taking a stance; Consider partnering with Carolina Pantry (as described above) and the Feed Our Legacy work.

• Identity: Major Goal: To promote the notion that “Muslim Identity” is intersectional, beautiful, complex. It would be great to collaborate with cultural organizations to engage in dialogue.

I-We Day Sample Pilot Data

• Approximately 140 total students, faculty, staff, speakers and local community members exposed to the Interdependence Wednesday: Build Bridges concept and subsequent inaugural event on April 8, 2015. Approximately 40 Central participants (i.e., e-mentors, speakers, pro-bono consultants, student leaders representing 8 diverse campus organizations from the undergraduate and graduate level and participating staff members) Approximately 20 Outreach Participants, including the student leaders approached in the UU and at the Pit and 80 Oral History/Digital Storytelling Project Students from

Dr. Hughes’ EDUC 508 course sections

I-We Day Sample Pilot Data

Number of Student Organizational Representatives (24)1. Muslim Student Association (2)2. Carolina Indian Circle (3)3. American Indian Center (1)4. Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, Inc.-Native Amer. Sorority (3)5. Feminist Students United (1)6. Carolina Cupboard (8)7. Scholars Latino Initiative (2) 8. Future-BASE (4)

Interpretations of I-We Day Pilot Data • UNC students need and want spaces for same-group

socialization alongside alternative sustainable processes to instill a sense of interdependence

• Promote the Declaration of Interdependence• Continue Link in EDUC-508 (ex. BSM added in 2015)• Link to Carolina Conversations to increase participation• Increase advertising for increased participation• Move to a Saturday or Sunday Event for more participation• We can all become just liberal/conservative/radical enough

to hear our own voices without interdependence• We are Profoundly Diverse; but Equivocally Intercultural

Interpretations of I-We Day Pilot Data:Emphasizing Equity & Justice

• Racism, Sexism, Classism, Heterosexism, & Islamophobia are not cultural issues, per se; they are centrally equity & justice issues

• Being responsive to culture is not the same as being responsive to inequity and injustice

• Need Equity Literacy alongside Cultural Competence and Cultural Proficiency

• Need to fuse concept of equity as uniform distribution with equity as justice

(Kranich, 2001; Schement, 2001; Gorski, PC, 2016;)

Interdependence Day Website

• Website: http://iweday.web.unc.edu

References• Bass, B. M. (1999). Two Decades of Research and Development in

Transformational Leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9-32.

• Hong, L., & Page, S. E. (2004). Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(46), 16385–16389.

• Kranich, N. (Ed). (2001). Libraries and Democracy. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

• Making Caring Common (2016). Turning the Tide: Inspiring Concern For Others And The Common Good Through College Admissions. Cambridge: MA, Harvard Graduate School of Education. http://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/collegeadmissions

• Richeson, J.A., & Trawalter, S. (2005). Why do interracial interactions impair executive function? A resource depletion account. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 934-947.

References• Schement, J. (2001). Imagining Fairness: Equality and Equity

of Access in Search of Democracy. In Nancy Kranich (Ed), (pp. 15-27), Libraries and Democracy. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Contact Information

Dr. Sherick Hughes, Associate Professor with tenureUNC-MPA (Class of ‘99) & UNC-Ph.D. (Class of ‘03)

Cultural Studies & LiteraciesDirector, Carter Qualitative Thought Lab

Co-Director, Graduate Certificate in Qualitative StudiesSchool of Education

CB# 3500 Peabody Hall The University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC 27599shughes@email.unc.edu

919.537.3804 (office)