Religious Culture Student Panel Presentation
DAC & TLC Sponsored Professional Development Event
May 16, 2013
Students shared what has helped them be successful, including:
 Diversity of campus population
 Opportunities to participate in clubs based on their interests and identity –
such as anime and Asian Students Clubs
 Places to find assistance with academics, including the Loft and Math
Tutoring Centers, with friendly helpful tutors and opportunities to get
support for group work
 Encouragement of instructors, being treated equally, OK to be different in
terms of being from other countries, language usage and dress.
 Mutual respect across religions/faiths
Experiences impacting your feeling of who you are as a student at NSCC:
 “In my experience, teachers are to be treated with respect, which includes
calling them by their last name. Calling teachers by their first name feels
wrong due to attitudes learned in my home country. It is awkward to be
corrected for using the formal (such as Ms. Williams) and led to my avoiding
addressing the teacher or speaking up in class. It would be nice to be allowed
to address the teacher in the way that is comfortable for me, and over time I
have grown used to using the teacher’s first name.“
 Student expressed appreciation for the opportunities to share about different
cultures and religions in discussions with teachers.
Challenges for me in relation to my religious culture:
 The issue of holidays was discussed. Christmas is a big focus here, which can
make some students feel left out. One student described growing up in
Bangladesh, where very many cultural and religious holidays are celebrated
including Muslim, Hindu, and Christian. In this country many of the different
holidays and traditions are not acknowledged. It would be helpful if
Ramadan was acknowledged as a time that many Muslims are fasting during
the day, and that this practice can impact their participation in classes.
 Lunar New Year is another holiday that is very big in many Asian countries
and is not acknowledged on our campus. A student group organized an event,
but no recognition campus wide. Students would like to be able to have time
to connect with their families who are all off work and school to celebrate the
Lunar New Year, and with the time differences they are not able to connect
with them in the evenings.
 Muslim woman expressed concern about being uncomfortable being
assigned to small groups with mostly men, especially when the course topic
and small group discussion relates to personal sharing. She would prefer to
be allowed to choose a group with other women.
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It is difficult to have to constantly explain that Muslim women generally do
not shake hands with men when greeting them.
The food in the cafeteria does not included Halal meat, so the options are
very limited for Muslims.
Recommendations:
 Instructors should learn about students from the students who come from
different cultures and religions.
 Would be helpful to have times for women only to use the Fitness Center.
 Avoid perpetuating stereotypes, such as Muslims call everyone infidel who’s
not Muslim, expecting Muslim men to have multiple wives, and repeating
statements from the media that are not based in fact – such as during the
Egyptian uprising, an instructor criticized the public there for violence again
Christians. Student who knew folks there was aware that it was the
government groups perpetuating the violence.
 Let students know that it is OK to call the instructor by the last name if that is
more comfortable for them. Help students coming from another culture to
adapt, as there is enough culture shock to deal with.
 Instructors should call students by the name that the student prefers. Some
insist on using their “real” name instead of their chosen US name, which
typically means that their name is always mispronounced.
 Make efforts to get students to collaborate with each other across cultures, as
most students tend to stay with their own cultural groups as comfort zones
in the cafeteria and clubs.
 Open up club events to others sometimes, and/or have some clubs work
together to put on events.
 Have small group activities in classes to help students get to know each
other. Activity where you introduce the person you talked with is a good one.
As students find things they have in common, they build comfort for later
conversations in class.
 Stereotypes are due to lack of knowledge, so it helps to build ways to get to
know each other, with trips, games, clubs working together, etc.
 Would be very helpful to have a Comparative Religion Class. It is an
opportunity for folks to learn and some schools require it as part of a 4 year
degree (i.e. SPU, Seattle University). Students would be able to save money
and it would be a good social experience to do it here.
 Have Global Studies classes that are very interesting and engaging, not just
online or easy classes where students often skip and still get a 4.0.
 Ideas for respecting various holidays, traditions and cultures:
 Include these on the student calendar
 Send out emails with brief overview of information
 Support students taking a day off if needed
 Avoid having tests on major holidays or arrange for some flexibility in
making up class activities missed
Recognize that there are major holidays in other religions, and that being
in class for students is like asking people raised in “Christendom” to
attend class on Christmas Day.
 Provide opportunities for discussion of students’ cultures and encourage
student activities on campus that recognize these celebrations, such as
the Hindu spring celebration of Holi.
 Provide some verbal announcements in addition to the written
announcement boards around campus
 Put information on the home page of the web site
 Post banners around campus to recognize other major cultural traditions
& holidays
 Could have a day like International Day to recognize different religions
Meditation Room concerns and suggestions:
 Students were not aware of the room we have until we told them about it.
Have signage on the door and around campus letting them know where it is.
 The room we have is very small and in the Education Building, which as not
conveniently located. Would be helpful to have a room in each of the
classroom buildings, or one that is more centrally located.
 Muslim women and men generally have separate spaces. Would be helpful to
have a space that can be divided with a curtain perhaps.
 The room has sometimes been locked when students went to use it.
 Perhaps instructors can include information about the room on their syllabi.
Encouraging students to bring conversations on the issues into the classroom:
 Set up situations with the expectation that students talk with instructors to
help them get past feeling awkward about talking about themselves and their
cultures.
 Create time during the class for students to have the floor to talk about issues
relating to the topics, where they can share their views and opinions to
create discourse regarding the class topics.
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Discussion of what we heard and next steps:
1) Interfaith Club could be helpful. One of the students is interested in pursuing this
idea. This club can encourage outreach and sharing among students and
celebrate different holidays together.
2) Banners idea was discussed as something that the PIO might pursue, perhaps
with DAC support. Need a process to identify what they would say and which
holidays would be recognized.
3) Is it possible to have a meditation room in the new Tech Building, with larger
space and a curtain? Or schedule times for men and women’s use?
4) Strategies to build respect and knowledge:
 Include on syllabus this statement “If this quarter contains a major religious
holiday for you. Please let me know.” Also, include something like “If you
have concerns or special needs to be considered regarding your participation
in small groups or other aspects of the class, please let me know.”
 Post information on website with links for more information.
 Send out an email with information about big religious events, such as
Ramadan, Rosh Hashana, Lunar New Year.
 Cultural Competency Training is needed on an ongoing basis to deal with
stereotypes. Some people suggested it should be mandatory training. Use
student panels to help educate employees.
 Put Collaboration Day on days such as Lunar New Year and give students that
day off. Have Collaboration Day trainings focusing on cultural competency.
 Set up a Comparative Religion Class as recommended by the students to meet
the Global Studies requirement and 4 year school requirement, as well as
undoing stereotypes of students.