Interdependence-Wednesday
(I-We Day): Build Bridges
by
Dr. Sherick Hughes, UNC-MPA ’99, UNC-Ph.D. ‘03
Associate Professor, School of Education
Director, Interpretive Research Suite &
Carter Qualitative Thought Lab
Co-Director, Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Studies
Preview of Main Points
Introduction
What 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 Data
Website: http://iweday.web.unc.edu
References
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 year
to 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 Report
Rec#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 Report
Rec#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 Report
Rec#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
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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 tenure
UNC-MPA (Class of ‘99) & UNC-Ph.D. (Class of ‘03)
Cultural Studies & Literacies
Director, Carter Qualitative Thought Lab
Co-Director, Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Studies
School of Education
CB# 3500 Peabody Hall
The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
shughes@email.unc.edu
919.537.3804 (office)