Engaging Diversity

Last week we had a guest speaker, Denise Williams who is part of the ISU Faculty and presented a terrific lecture on diversity, and she wasn't at all afraid to probe us and put us on the spot. I have been to numerous diversity events on campus and love getting new perspectives on how other people generally feel toward stereotyping and discrimination.
One thing I really liked was that she showed the video from NWC which not many people had seen however I attended the event last year and it was really eye opening.  Another part I really liked was that picture activity where students could text in answers to her question. This activity gave me numerous ideas to implement in my UST 111 lesson plans, and was an extremely useful experience. I feel like an activity like this in a way breaks down different barriers and encourages a more open environment and discussion amongst the group presented to. Another big plus was the ice cream and toppings! That is one thing I really enjoyed when my peer mentors were able to bring snacks and treats and I hope to be able to do the same for my section. Getting to the end of this semester I am getting really excited about becoming a peer mentor and will be looking forward to it throughout the summer and my internship.