Spring 2020
Self-Awareness Levels 3 and 4
Self-Awareness Levels 3 and 4
During the spring semester of 2020, I took HONR 401: Performance and Social Justice. This class helped me learn more about racial injustice in the United States through research, reflection, and performance. A few assignments we completed in this class included journal entries, a difficult moment essay, a case study on a racial issue in Minnesota, and a final performance video. We also participated in classroom discussions that helped me gain new perspectives and opened my eyes to various issues I had never thought of before. I’m thankful I took this course because it taught me a lot about the intersectionality of race, class, education, and so much more.
Through our various assignments in this course, I made new realizations about my own cultural rules and biases as well as compared and contrasted my own culture to other cultures (Self-Awareness Level 3). Through our Difficult Moment assignment, I was able to understand that I still held harmful stereotypes. After making this realization and various others, I began to understand that my biases are due to my own ignorance as well as what my culture has taught me. I was able to understand that my privilege has given me vastly different life experiences than other cultures across the world as well as people in the same classroom. While my culture can value education and social mobility, other cultures are fighting for affordable housing, access to healthcare, and so much more. Understanding that cultures view and experience healthcare, education, housing, and so much more vastly different from myself helped me grow as a global citizen. Learning more about my own ignorance and biases helped me to make connections to other cultures. Being cognizant of my limitations and actively seeking to understand the similarities and differences in cultures has immeasurable benefits because there is always something more you can learn from. I can apply this knowledge in my profession as I write stories about other people’s experiences as well in my daily life as I meet new people.
I realized that my own beliefs and prejudices shape and impede my cultural understanding, and I’ve become aware of why understanding and learning can be so difficult (Self-Awareness Level 4). Another big realization that I made throughout this class, that I think I will continue to struggle with, is that I have ignored race issues because, as a white person, it is easier at times to be ignorant and uninformed because those issues don’t always impact my life. However, after learning about intersectionality and all of the intricate aspects about racism in the United States, I know that continuing to learn and advocate about these issues is important. I continuously found myself not wanting to learn more content in this class because it was so disheartening, depressing, and shocking. When I found myself in those situations, I had to take a moment to remove myself and my feelings from the situation in order to see the bigger picture. This helped me to learn more about the individuals who are being negatively affected by racism in America. My ignorance and my unwillingness to learn just because it is difficult to grasp certainly does not help me become a better global citizen. As a white person, I need to remind myself of the privilege that I was born with and use it in a way that increases awareness about others. After taking this class and learning more about the cultures around me, I am motivated to continuously learn about racism in America through reading books, following the news, watching documentaries, and just being cognizant about the world around me.
I realized that my own beliefs and prejudices shape and impede my cultural understanding, and I’ve become aware of why understanding and learning can be so difficult (Self-Awareness Level 4). Another big realization that I made throughout this class, that I think I will continue to struggle with, is that I have ignored race issues because, as a white person, it is easier at times to be ignorant and uninformed because those issues don’t always impact my life. However, after learning about intersectionality and all of the intricate aspects about racism in the United States, I know that continuing to learn and advocate about these issues is important. I continuously found myself not wanting to learn more content in this class because it was so disheartening, depressing, and shocking. When I found myself in those situations, I had to take a moment to remove myself and my feelings from the situation in order to see the bigger picture. This helped me to learn more about the individuals who are being negatively affected by racism in America. My ignorance and my unwillingness to learn just because it is difficult to grasp certainly does not help me become a better global citizen. As a white person, I need to remind myself of the privilege that I was born with and use it in a way that increases awareness about others. After taking this class and learning more about the cultures around me, I am motivated to continuously learn about racism in America through reading books, following the news, watching documentaries, and just being cognizant about the world around me.
Global Citizenship Artifact #2
My Difficult Moment Narrative essay is an example of a time where I realized my own biases and failed to stand up for injustices.
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