Cultural Centers Dialogues on Race

Dialogues on Race logo

The purpose of this initiative is to create facilitated spaces for students at USF to discuss race and racism with their peers.

Lead Office on Campus

Cultural Centers

  • Erin Echols, Director of the Cultural Centers

Humanizing Instruction Subcommittee Liaisons 

  • Star Plaxton Moore

Overview

Under the guidance and leadership of Erin Echols, Director of the Cultural Centers, staff members of the Cultural Centers and of other USF offices have designed an intergroup dialogue curriculum to launch in Fall 2021 that provides space for USF students to talk about race and racism with a focus on critical contemporary issues. These dialogues will be six weeks long and facilitated by staff and student leaders who have been trained in intergroup dialogue. Ten sections of the dialogue series will take place in Fall 2021, serving up to 120 students. Another ten sections of this series will be offered in Spring 2022, serving an additional 120 students. Students who complete the dialogue series are eligible to become facilitators of this course, sustaining the program over the longer term.

Applications for Facilitators

Dialogues on Race flyer

Connection to the Jesuit Foundation Mission

Intergroup dialogues about race, hosted by staff and students of the Cultural Centers, provide facilitated space for students to explore racism in a U.S. context and their experiences within a society structured by a racial hierarchy. This course will provide students with the opportunity for “passionate engagement in social analysis” and a critical engagement with contemporary issues.

Timeline

  • Spring 2021: Four staff members from the Cultural Centers will work to develop the structure, timeline, recruitment, and marketing for the series.
  • Summer 2021: Staff members will work together to develop the curriculum that will be used for the dialogues on race. 
  • Fall 2021: The above four staff members will then train six other staff members and ten students to use the curriculum and to facilitate dialogues about race among students. A six-week dialogue will launch in Fall 2021 that can host up to 120 students.  
  • Spring 2022: Another 6-week series will launch, hosting another 120 students.