By: Molly McGuire—
Muncie, IN—This semester at Ball State University, graduate students enrolled in Dr. Ruby Cain’s EDAC 698 Cultural Identities and Community Engagement course have developed and will administer Talking Race: How to Facilitate the Discussion workshop, this coming Sunday, April 22nd, on campus at Ball State University from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
This immersive learning graduate course has been offered at Ball State University for the past seven years. It is constructed from It Is Well With My Soul’s Community Workshop Curriculum, developed in 2010. It Is Well With My Soul, is a community program, which focuses on racial healing strategies: family and cultural history research, presentations, and publications; social action; and community mobilization.
The training focuses on how to facilitate a discussion surrounding the topic of race and racism with others, using the Facing Racism Book (2016), publication of R.A.C.E. (Reconciliation Achieved through Community Engagement)Muncie and the Facing Project; Facing Racism Facilitator Guide (2017), and It Is Well With My Soul Community Curriculum (2010) resources. The Facing Racism Facilitator Guide was developed by EDAC 698 graduate students, last year.
The graduate students are learning how to leverage community resources in achieving social action and community mobilization. This course has involved many community and academic partners, including faculty, former students of the course, undergraduate students, It Is Well With My Soul, Facing Racism Project, Northeast Indiana Workers Project, DePaul University, Muncie Public Library, Whitely Community Council, NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and more.
This free training opportunity will teach participants how to use The Facing Racism Facilitator’s Guide as a tool to equip them in using the Facing Racism book.
The Facing Project is a non-profit organization that connects people through stories to strengthen communities. It was founded in Muncie, Indiana by J.R. Jamison and Kelsey Timmerman. The project connects writers, storytellers, artists, educators, and community leaders in over 100 communities across the country.
The Facing Racism Project is managed by Dr. Jay Zimmerman, a community partner for EDAC 698.
The Facing Racism book and It Is Well With My Soul curriculum resources will be used as a starting point to having discussions about race and racism with others as well as aid participants in the development of key facilitation skills. This includes assistance in the planning and conduct of discussions or a series of discussions, in schools, offices, churches, civic organizations, community, etc.
For more information check out the links below and/or contact Dr. Ruby Cain at rcain@bsu.edu or graduate student Ms. Molly McGuire at mamcguire2@bsu.edu.
Link to the free Facing Racism ebook download, featuring 39 stories of Facing Racism in Muncie: http://racemuncie.facingproject.com/our-stories/
Editor’s Note: The training, at this time, is only open to 30 participants and, currently, has a waiting list. Another workshop will be planned in a few months by It Is Well With My Soul members and partners.
