ABOUT #
What does it mean to explore your identity and culture through language?
How do our linguistic biases influence our behaviors toward others?
What parts of speech change as people switch between different social situations? What parts stay the same? And why?
How does language vary depending on the race, class, and gender of a speaker?
How do external factors such as social tension, racism, sexism, media representation, popular entertainment, etc. affect the way people use language?
April 28
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Make videos
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MT Campus
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April 28 | Make videos | MT Campus |
About the project.
This student-centered initiative is a collaboration between the Social Work and Communication Studies programs at Mercy College in New York. Professors Dr. Raquel Warley (School of Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Jade Snyder, MFA (Department of Communication and the Arts) will host three virtual workshops where we address issues including stereotype threat, linguistic bias, and cultural identity. These experiential learning workshops will be aimed at developing critical self-awareness in students (i.e. reflecting on and questioning our own assumptions, presuppositions, and behaviors with respect to language and communication).
Student Ambassadors will receive training on how to use knowledge, values, self-awareness, and relational skills within the context of real-time/real-world communication and interactions in the college setting. Participants will learn about the use of electronic communication technologies for social activism and consider a digital/social media/writing project-based assignment to raise awareness about sociolinguistic diversity, promote a sense of belonging, and foster inclusive education across the Mercy College community.
Training + Program
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Explore
Session 1 - We will explore concepts and questions related to sociolinguistic bias, stereotype threat, and cultural identity.
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Plan
Session 2 - We will build on these concepts by communicating our ideas in various media including digital, written/spoken word, scrapbooking, and more. Here we invite the college to participate.
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Reflect
Session 3 - Finally, we will gather our experiences and share ideas about how to disseminate and propagate concepts of inclusion and belonging on campus and beyond.
Make your mark.
We will be holding in-person events at our Dobbs Ferry and Manhattan Campuses where students will be encouraged to explore their own identities and express themselves and these topics through digital and other creative means (think advertisements, digital scrapbooks, poetry, TikToks, Insta stories, etc.).
We call this a Student Language Ambassador program because we hope students will become leaders among the College with regard to these concepts, fostering awareness of equity in language, inclusion, and belongingness.
get involved
STUDENT AMBASSADORS CAN HELP TO INFLUENCE THE CULTURE ON CAMPUS, AND CAUSE THE CHANGE THEY WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
Virtual training.
Students who cannot make all of the virtual workshops can still participate by creating artifacts. Workshops will be recorded.
By signing up for the program, students gain login access to materials and resources.
March 12
10 a.m. - noon
April 9
10 a.m. - noon
May 7
10 a.m. - noon