Datu Buyung Agusdinata
Multicultural Perspectives on Sustainable Industrial Development
The course transformation involves bringing in multiple cultural perspectives to the notion of
sustainable industrial development. Students were asked to compare different perspectives that
include Native American and Balinese view on how to live a sustainable life. They also came up
with additional observations. Based on their reflection, students expressed their appreciations
of different world views on sustainable development and were able to put those within the
context of the Western perspective.
Jason Akst
"Reimagining news and news teaching for better inclusion."
Significant and numerous problems plague the mainstream news media (MSM) in America.
Plummeting revenue, fragmented and declining audiences, dizzying advancement of
technology, questionable news judgment, and bitter, anti-news media mindsets can be found
nearly everywhere. And while recent political news (most notably, the 2013 government
shutdown) has pushed diversity issues of news coverage somewhat to the side, how we in
journalism train tomorrow's practitioners and educators about diversity remains a relevant and poorly addressed - problem. This paper and presentation will explore some ways the
author is working to become a better educator/practitioner from having attended the Northern
Illinois University Multiculturalism Transformation Institute.
Steven Barleen
Integrating Multi-Cultural Themes Throughout HIST 261
During this presentation I will demonstrate how I have transformed HIST 261 to include more
multi-cultural voices and themes.
Sheila Barrett
The Metamorphosis of FCNS 420
My presentation will be on transforming FCNS 420- Management of Food and Nutrition
Services, the most hated senior level course in my department. The course is aimed at preparing
students for managerial positions in food or nutrition services, a concept which many students
cannot grasp. Common complaints are that the course repeats another undergraduate course
taught in another department which basically has them writing a business plan the entire
semester. Each semester I change my approach to this class. My transformation involves having
them interview managers; visit food and nutrition service organizations and observe
management in process. The biggest change involves making this course into a capstone class so
they will get the opportunity to utilize the management process in their projects. It will bring
them into closer working relationships with each other and with community members, as they
learn how to work with diverse groups.
Alan Clemens
Experimenting with a Paradigm Shift: The Video Game Syllabus
The focus of my redesign work was on whether utilizing a different conceptual framework in
the design and delivery of the course would increase student engagement and the probability of
success for students in the course, particularly students from historically under-served
backgrounds. Changes were made in the packaging and presentation of the course and to the
assessment structures; both will be presented.
James Cohen
What to do with a class that is titled Multicultural Education: Methods and Materials?
In this presentation, I will briefly explain the course that was proposed to be changed. This will
be followed by a description of the modifications made to make the course both more
comprehensible and more in-depth. Reasons for the changes will also be discussed.
Bryan Dallas
Transforming Psychosocial Aspects of Disability
I will discuss changes I made to AHRC 628: Psychosocial Aspects of Disability. This course is
required by first-semester graduate students who are training to become Rehabilitation
Counselors. The initial transformational changes made to this course focused on the
development of cultural competence among the students. The principles of Universal Design
for Instruction were also used as a guideline to make the course more accessible for diverse
learners.
Lynn Herrmann
Community Health and Multiculturalism: A Beneficial Connection for Addressing Health
The course Community Health Programs and Issues (PHHE 402/502) explores community
resources that address health. This presentation examines how multiculturalism was added to
two course projects relating to community health (Healthy People 2020 and health behavior
theory) to help students better understand and be more critical about how multiculturalism is
addressed by community health resources.
Marilyn Justus
Clearer Focus on Diversity
Changes in some assignments, course content, and evaluations plus a few new instructional
strategies are increasing the focus on diversity in this general education course. Student
responses reveal the effectiveness of these changes.
Amanda Littauer
"Engagement, Diversity, and Depth in the U.S. History Survey"
HIST 261: U.S. History Since 1865 is a large General Education course that students usually
expect to "cover" a limited range of conventional topics. In transforming the course, I have
expanded multicultural content areas; even more importantly, however, I have worked to
engage a diverse range of students in deeper inquiry about their personal relationship to the
course material. Finally, I have created more opportunity for students to consider the politics of
the field itself and to ask critical questions about what is included in and excluded from
standard history texts and courses and with what effects.
Angelica Mendoza
The Latino Experience: Learning and Engaging
In collaboration with Northern Illinois University’s First-Year Experience office, the Latino
Resource Center (LRC) has offered a specialized section for Latino freshmen of University 101, a
course designed to help new students adjust to campus life and develop the skills necessary to
succeed in college and beyond. In this session, we will focus on the course development of
UNIV 101, facilitating discussions about multicultural issues, incorporating diverse perspectives
and content into teaching, using social media as a form of relationship building among peers,
providing peer mentorship outside the classroom as well as implementing culturally relevant
strategies that lead to personal transformation. Specifically, this session is designed to focus on
how the course empowers Latino students to advocate for themselves and provide them with
opportunities to learn about Latino issues, engage with the campus community and ultimately,
become leaders in their own communities.
Geoff Pynn
“Diversifying Epistemology”
The questions and techniques of philosophy have radically transformative potential, but the
discipline's domination by white men --- in the "canon", the curriculum, the undergraduate
classroom, and the profession --- indicates that this potential has not been fully unleashed. I
transformed this undergraduate epistemology course along three dimensions. First, I added
content addressing questions related to our position as knowers in a diverse society structured
by hierarchies of race, gender, and religion. Second, I shifted the assessment structure to
directly incentivize student engagement and personal reflection on epistemological questions.
And third, I implemented a mechanism to give an equal platform to all voices in the classroom.
More work remains to be done, and the presentation concludes with suggestions for future,
more radical, transformation.
Julie Ramisch
Teaching Students How to Work with Couples from Diverse Backgrounds
The course that was transformed was FCNS 697, Marriage and Family Strategies: Treatment of
Couples. In my presentation I will discuss how I modified the course to address diversity
throughout the entire semester. I will explain how I changed assignments and readings to help
students learn to apply concepts and interventions to all couples, especially those from diverse
backgrounds.
John Evar Strid
Multicultural transformation: rolling changes
In a class and area already primarily concerned with multicultural issues, the institute has led to
important changes to the syllabus, as well transformation of course content. The change is
rolling as well into the other classes I am teaching this semester, currently LTLA 305:x Language
Development and LTIC 545: Applied Linguistics for Teachers in Multilingual Classrooms,
leading to transformations again of the syllabi and the presentation of course content.
Morse Tan
Reflections on Justice in a Globalized World
Social injustices have been the heart of my academic research and are the heart of my classes.
My presentation begins by examining the ways in which social injustices permeate throughout
my classes, Public International Law and International Human Rights. The class objectives of
these courses emphasize my intent to instill into students a passion for human rights which I
hope inspires students to utilize their legal skills in order to promote and bring about social
justice. My presentation details the ways that, through this program, I have transformed my
syllabi to better meet this goal along with specific course activities that promote students’
understanding of social injustices, desire to combat social injustices, and legal skills. With a
particular emphasis on North Korea, which is the primary focus of my own academic research, I
will present on the topics of my courses, which emphasize human rights abuses and require
students to identify instances of nations violating international law, to grapple with strategies to
end the violations and bring the political leaders to justice, and to deal with emotionally
charged, controversial topics in a professional and respectful manner. Finally, I will conclude
with the ways that I hope students take what they learned into practice by highlighting the
unique position attorneys are in to combat social injustices, and explain the ways that I have
disseminated the information from this program among fellow faculty and students.
Tharaphi Than
Teaching Language and Cultural Competence through Burmese
This paper will reflect on some of the new methods I have been employing in my beginning
Burmese after attending 2013 Summer Multicultural Institute. I will also present a summary of
classroom observations on students’ behaviours and how they have changed over the course
vis-à-vis my teaching methods.
Sheela Vemu
Transforming a course to blended learning with a Multicultural aspect for increased student engagement.
This course provides students with ideas and resources to make their journey more inclusive of
contributions of people historically underrepresented in light of biology as a science. In this
course which vividly demonstrates the study of life there will be descriptions of scientists and
anecdotes in history that includes persons of diverse racial and cultural heritages, different
genders, sexual orientations, social classes, and religions. The students will also be provided
with fundamental information regarding university policies and services for students with
disabilities as an important facet of student engagement in classroom. The course format will
address different pedagogies by providing a unique forum for discussing important, sensitive,
and potentially controversial issues essential to effective classroom instruction and
communication with our diverse student body. At the end of the study, students will
demonstrate analytical skills and critical thinking related to diversity in their readings of
various scientific discoveries through time using a variety of disease models.
Jui-Ching Wang
Whose Music is that? A Globalized World Music Pedagogy
MUED689 World Music Pedagogy is the course I transformed after the Institute. The content of
this course is already culturally-diverse because of the nature of the subject as indicated by the
course's title. However, individual cultural and social identification is seldom discussed in my
course. The transformation, therefore, will address the specific role music plays in helping
students to define their own cultural and social status.
Shei-Chau Wang
Transforming: Introduction to Art and Design Education
The objective of transforming ARTE 342/542 Introduction to Art and Design Education: Content and
Clinical Experience at the Elementary Level is to make it meet the new Illinois Professional
Teaching Standards (2010 version) and the new Teacher Licensure Assessment (edTPA), both of
which heavily address multicultural issues. The changes address students’ different
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Perspectives/Points of view
Voices
Social/Cultural awareness
Learning needs
Ways of looking at or making art
Teresa A. Wasonga
Co-creating Multicultural Classroom
Having participated in MCTI (May, 2013), I believed that I have developed a deeper
understanding of
Being exposed to biases, stereotypes, inaccuracies, and marginalization in curricular
content, pedagogy, and academic policies Gaining knowledge in developing and
delivering content that is fair, balanced, and accurate
 Accommodating diverse teaching and learning styles to reach all students and faculty
 Recognizing the need for, work towards, and achieving a multicultural student, faculty,
and staff population that is representative of the society
 Preparing students for a diverse workforce, clientele, and a global environment
 Increasing sensitivity to and awareness of different cultures, and celebrating and
appreciating their perspectives, heritage, and contributions
 Promoting scholarship and highlighting opportunities for new areas of research and
artistry
 Undergoing personal transformation and becoming an ally and an advocate.
I have continued to consult with others on the same. In light of this training, I am not only
approaching my teaching differently; I am engaging my students in planning (content, topics.
pedagogy) and they are getting a richer education in terms of scholarship, theory, concepts, and
pedagogies. I have modified my assignment, rubric, and included books that reflect issues of
multicultural education in addition to subject specific theories and concepts.
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Sandra Wolf
"Multicultural awareness in the teaching of nursing students"
I will be discussing the incorporation of diversity and multiculturalism in the classroom setting;
the nursing students are taking their course on caring for the childbearing family. Diversity
issues encountered by the students in their lives are addressed, as well as those encountered by
the families they will be caring for as professional nurses. An emphasis on self-awareness is
promoted throughout the course.