 Beverly
Jones Williams
Director of Outreach & Education
Location & Hours
221 Winslow Hall
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday - Friday Mailing Address
Campus Box 7530
Raleigh, NC
27695-7530
Phone Numbers
919-513-3836
Fax: 919-513-1428
TTY: 919-515-9617
Email
beverly_williams@
ncsu.edu |
Study
Circles on Race and Race Relations
How to Participate
Study Circles are currently being offered through the new Moving from Dialogue Through Action Program.
Note: Employees need their supervisors' permission to participate
if they will be attending during work hours.
About Study Circles
The
mission of Study Circles is to increase the understanding,
appreciation, and celebration of different races and cultures, and to provide the community with practical
recommendations for actions that individuals can take to promote
equality.
The
Study Circles Program is
part of a nationwide effort to address racism by providing a
simple way to involve community members in dialogue and action.
Pioneered in the Triangle, the Study Circles program assigns
participants into racially mixed groups who engage in small,
democratic, peer-led discussions regarding their racial attitudes.
In
the fall of 1998, the League of Women Voters, together with the
YWCA, the North Carolina Coalition for Indian Affairs, and eight
churches, launched a community-wide program on race relations.
More than half of the 70 people who took part in the pilot assisted
in building the program, recruiting sponsors and participants.
NC
State University began to offer Study Circles on campus in Spring,
2003. Since then, we have offered numerous Circles at NC State.
Over 175 individuals, including faculty, staff, and students,
have completed a Study Circle on campus.
Those
who have completed Study Circles on or off campus continue meeting
to develop understanding and actions to build a campus community
that enhances race and race relations.
The Study Circles program
is just one of many efforts on campus to educate students and
employees about issues of discrimination, harassment, prejudice,
and diversity. Other programs include NCBI, and the Equal
Opportunity Institute, as well as programs offered by the
Office of Diversity and
African American Affairs.
Format
A
study circle:
-
is a small, diverse group, usually 8 to 12 participants;
- meets
regularly over a period of weeks to address a critical public
issue in a democratic and collaborative way;
- sets
its own ground rules for a respectful, productive discussion;
- is
led by a facilitator who is impartial, who helps manage the
deliberation process, but is not an "expert" or "teacher"
in the traditional sense;
- looks
at an issue from many points of view;
- does
not require consensus, but uncovers areas of agreement and common
concern;
- progresses
from a session on personal experience of the issue, to sessions
providing multiple viewpoints, to a session that looks at strategies
for action.
Comments from Past Participants
The following are comments from Study Circles participant evaluations.
- "Having time set aside to discuss an interesting topic
is what I like most about Study Circles."
- "The facilitators worked
well with each other."
- "I would recommend this experience to more
students."
- "Facilitators were very understanding and encouraging
and were very enthusiastic."
- "Increased my comfort
level."
- "I enjoyed everything."
- "I like Study Circles because I had a
chance to hear other peoples'
opinions and I had a chance to think about relevant topics
pertaining to racial relations."
- "I liked hearing different viewpoints.'
- "I liked sharing personal
racial experiences and the food was good too."
- "I
definitely intend to participate in other forms of dialogue
about race relations."
- "I
liked the freedom to say what you are thinking at that moment."
- "I
liked the dialogue with other backgrounds."
- "I liked the fact
that Study Circles showed many different opinions on current
issues."
- "Study Circles gave me an opportunity to discuss my opinion
on racial issues openly."
- "It was good to hear varied perspectives
of the group."
- "I liked meeting different people."
- "I liked the safe environment
to just talk, and I’m glad
there were diverse viewpoints."
- "Study Circles provides an environment
where it is easy to talk about race relations because that’s
what the participants came for."
- "I liked how I could be open
and everyone else could do the same."
- "I liked hearing varied
perspectives on race."
- "I liked learning about how other races
felt about my race."
- "I liked the learning experience, discussions,
and articles."
- "I was able to express my views and not feel wrong
for doing so."
- "I liked meeting a diverse group of people."
Graduates
Facilitators
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