Presenter: Lauren Pellegrino
Title: Transformative Learning and Empowerment in a Shelter-based Adult Learning Center: A Case Study
Abstract: There is very little research that examines the ways in which homeless or low-income individuals have successfully participated in programs designed to empower them through life skills education, vocational training, and GED completion. Through a transformative learning framework, this qualitative case study investigated the deep learning and empowering experiences portrayed by three formerly homeless individuals who successfully participated in a shelter-based adult learning program in the Southeast. The findings illustrate that each participant a) believed that spirituality was significant in their recovery, b) described transformative experiences through the use of creative expression, c) engaged in critical self-reflection with transformative results, d) felt empowered to understand their experiences in a broader, social context and, d) described a change in self-efficacy, an improved sense of agency, and a desire to help others. These findings underscore the need for further research concerning shelter-based adult education programs for homeless individuals.
Presenter: Tara Hudson
Title: Understanding the Process of College Students’ Interracial Friendship Development
Abstract: Colleges and universities must provide students with intercultural skills such as multicultural competence, appreciation for pluralism, and ability to take others’ perspectives – learning outcomes associated with diverse campuses. Intercultural interactions, especially sustained interactions such as friendships, are critical for students’ attainment of these outcomes. Current research on interracial friendships has focused almost exclusively on the extent to which they occur, providing little information on how or why they develop. This research seeks to understand the process of college students’ interracial friendship development, which may inform the creation of more-effective diversity policies and programming on college campuses by identifying possible institutional strategies to support students’ interracial friendships. By creating environments in which diverse friendships can develop and thrive, we can maximize the educational benefits of campus diversity. This presentation will focus on my research in progress on college students’ interracial friendship development and its implications for practice.
Presenter: Nicole Thomas
Title: Prevent.Act.Challenge.Teach: Training PACTivists at Duke University
Abstract: Prevent. Act. Challenge. Teach. (PACT) is an interactive, student-facilitated training sponsored by the Women’s Center that aims to engage everyone in preventing gender violence on Duke University’s campus. Our curriculum was adapted from the Bringing in the Bystander program at the University of New Hampshire. The goal of the program is to reduce incidences of sexual and relationship violence by training participants to intervene in safe and creative ways, rather than acting as passive bystanders. The presentation will explore best practices and challenges based on assessment data from the program. This exploration will give participants concrete methods to implement this type of programming, work with resistant groups and provide education and methods to combat gender violence on college campuses.
Presenter: Barry Olson
Title: Difficult Dialogues: How White Male Graduate Students in Student Affairs Preparation Programs make Meaning of their Whiteness, White Privilege, and Multiculturalism
The purpose of this narrative case study was to understand how white male graduate students in student affairs preparation programs make meaning of their whiteness, white privilege, and multiculturalism. Through the use of the participant’s own words, the results showed that these nine participants from the Southeast had a limited understanding of whiteness as it related to any racial conception, often limited to the negative components of their racial makeup, or even an obliviousness to whiteness in general. White privilege was understood more clearly, however the participants often were in positions where they could choose to act in favor of a person of color, and instead chose not to act. Finally, the participants gained a significant amount of value from personal connections through their own informal experiences and formal activities, but the most growth seemed to occur within a classroom setting focusing on multiculturalism and diversity.
The findings indicate that white male graduate students in student affairs preparation programs could benefit from required coursework in the areas of diversity and multiculturalism, where exposure to race, culture, and difference would broaden their limited experience base. Within this study, a model for the social transformation of racial identity was proposed as a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Using the concepts of white privilege, multicultural competency, and emancipation, the proposed model helps to explain the components within developing those difficult dialogues among white males, but also across racial boundaries.
Presenter: Justine Hollingshead
Title: Milestones in GLBT History at NC State: Has the climate really changed?
Abstract: A review of the current climate and initiatives of the GLBT center at NC State.