Skip to Main Content Skip to Footer Toggle Navigation Menu

Institutional Equity Educational Workshops

Institutional Equity offers educational workshops, which are open to all Macalester students, staff, and faculty. Each workshop is focused on building practical skills to advance social justice or learning equity-based concepts. All workshops will be in person.

Questions? Please contact Institutional Equity by email at [email protected] or call 651-696-6870.

Fall 2024

During the Fall 2024 semester, Institutional Equity will offer three educational workshops, which are open to all Macalester students, staff, and faculty. Each workshop is focused on building practical skills to advance social justice or learning equity-based concepts. All workshops will be in-person.

Implicit Bias and Microaggressions 

Wed., Oct. 23, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Harmon Room (DeWitt Library)
Snacks provided | RSVP Link
Facilitated by Hana Dinku, Director, and Mads Clark, Associate Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

This interactive workshop is designed to help the Macalester community to:

  • Understand the concepts of microaggressions and implicit and explicit bias.
  • Explore how our bias can emerge as microaggressions in our workspace, our relationships, and interactions with others.
  • Develop strategies and techniques to counter microaggressions.

Deepening Self-awareness Through Critical Consciousness Building

Thur., Nov. 7 | 11:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. | Davis Court (Markim Hall)
Lunch provided | RSVP Link
Facilitated by Rochelle Younan-Montgomery, founder of The Reset

This introductory workshop lays the foundation for deepening self-awareness through critical consciousness. Participants will explore cultural norms, racial identity development, and learn mindfulness techniques for emotional regulation. Designed as a starting point for ongoing growth, this course provides essential tools and insights to support a journey of continued learning and transformation in leadership and life.

Workshop Outcomes:

  • Unpack Cultural Norms: Participants will critically examine and deconstruct cultural norms that influence their beliefs, behaviors, and interactions in the workplace and beyond.
  • Explore Racial Identity Development: Participants will gain a deeper understanding of their own racial identity development, recognizing how it shapes their worldview and influences their actions.
  • Use Mindfulness for Emotional Regulation: Participants will learn techniques for staying emotionally regulated using mindfulness practices, enhancing their ability to respond thoughtfully and inclusively in challenging situations.

The Social Constructions of Difference

Tue., Nov. 19 | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Davis Court (Markim Hall)
Snacks provided | RSVP Link
Facilitated by Alina Wong, Vice President for Institutional Equity

We often hear that “identities are socially constructed.” This workshop will explore the political structures, social contexts, and historical processes that inform both individual identities and group identifications. How do we develop a sense of self, and how do we understand who we are in relation to others? Moreover, how are our identities shaped by and in resistance to systems of power, privilege, and oppression? We will interrogate these questions through story-sharing and guided activities. Participants will:

  • Understand how identities and differences are constructed within systems of power and socio-cultural contexts.
  • Recognize how they create their own sense of self and express their social identities.
  • Learn about social justice movements and strategies that resist and counter dominant constructs and majoritarian narratives.
  • Learn how to interrogate socialization messages, recognize internalization, and unlearn dominant constructs.  

Past Workshops

  • Fall 2023

    Last Tuesdays: Equity-Based Concepts

    From Ally to Advocate to Accomplice: Understanding Positionality and Accountability
    Facilitated by Dr. Alina Wong, Vice President for Institutional Equity

    This interactive workshop challenges participants to explore their privileged and oppressed identities, in order to recognize our agency and accountability for action. Participants will learn foundational principles in equity and social justice, and develop understandings of how power, privilege, and oppression are enacted individually, organizationally, and structurally. The workshop concludes with action planning and application of discussed theories and frameworks.

    Redefining LGBTQIA2S+
    Facilitated by Mads Clark, Associate Director of the Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

    In this workshop, we will break down the evolution of the acronym LGBTQIA2S+ and expand on what it means to redefine and reclaim language. Additional highlights can include a timeline of the people’s history of pivotal trans and queer historical events as well as unpacking the meaning behind pride flags.

    Understanding Social Class and Classism
    Facilitated by Minerva S. Muñoz, Dean for Institutional Equity

    In this workshop, participants will build awareness and understanding of the impact of social class on our own development and ways of knowing, and unpack class-based assumptions. Through group activities, the sharing of current research and personal narratives, participants will learn tools to recognize class and classism in everyday interactions and develop anti-classist environments and policies.

    Second Wednesdays: Practical Skills in Social Justice

    Situational Awareness
    Facilitated by Sam Taitel, Assistant Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

    Awareness of your environment, both internal and external, is a critical skill required to interact intentionally with others and the world. This workshop supports the study and enhancement of the wisdom we hold about ourselves and tactics to more usefully process stimuli. By making everyday practices explicit, it is possible to deepen our engagement.

    *This workshop is a prerequisite for a workshop on de-escalation which will be offered in the Spring of 2024

    Cultivating [Religious] Pluralism in Ourselves
    Facilitated by Rev. Kelly J. Stone, Associate Dean for Institutional Equity and College Chaplain

    Description: Pluralism is an ethic for living together in a diverse society: not mere tolerance or relativism, but the real encounter of commitments of the other. During this workshop, you will explore how adopting an ethic of pluralism can transform relationships and how we choose to honor, affirm and engage with each other.

     
  • Spring 2024

    #1: Dialogue and Facilitation Skills
    Facilitated by Hana Dinku, Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

    This workshop will help the Macalester community:

    • Articulate the significance of dialogue in developing critical thinking and consciousness.
    • Understand the role of the facilitator and practice facilitation skills.
    • Explore challenges and concerns that may come up in dialogue groups.

    Focus: building practical skills to advance social justice.

    #2: Exploring Diverse Approaches to Sacred Time Across Religious Traditions
    Facilitated by Kelly Stone, Associate Dean for Institutional Equity and College Chaplain, Rahimjon Abdugafurov, Associate Director for Religious and Spiritual Life and Muslim Chaplain, Emma Kippley-Ogman, Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life, and Sorrel Virginia Hester, Assistant Chaplain for Christian Life, Center for Religious and Spiritual Life

    You may be acquainted with terms like Gregorian, Julian, Luni-Solar, and Lunar, which are intricately linked to the observance of sacred times and the identification of religious holidays. In this workshop, we will delve into the measurement and designation of sacred moments, encompassing aspects such as fasting, work restrictions, prayers, and celebrations. Attendees will work to recognize the distinctiveness of various religious traditions and engage in discussions about proactive, responsive, and considerate approaches to supporting faith practices as we honor our commitment to inclusivity as a community.

    Focus: learning equity-based concepts.

    #3: Challenging Perceptions: The Social Model of Disability
    Facilitated by Shammah Bermudez, Director, Center for Disability Resources

    This interactive workshop will challenge traditional perspectives on disability by exploring the Social Model of Disability and our role in advancing disability justice. Participants will:

    • gain insights into the Social Model of Disability and how it contrasts with the Medical Model,
    • explore social identity and the variance of self-identification and language as they relate to disability,
    • learn about ableism, and
    • exploring strategies to dismantle ableism and advance equity and inclusion.

    Focus: learning equity-based concepts.

    #4: De-escalation Skills*
    Facilitated by Sam Taitel, Assistant Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

    In this workshop we will clarify what de-escalation is and is not, in what circumstances it is appropriate, and ways to operate in an informed manner. The content and activities are focused on verbal tools with an overarching integration of the impact of physical presence. Practicing and possessing general understanding of de-escalation skills is crucial for how we orient and treat each other. Applications include direct action, community building, and movement organizing which are all integral for relational social justice work.

    Focus: building practical skills to advance social justice.
    *Prerequisite: must have attended the “Situational Awareness” workshop offered in Fall 2023

    #5: Storytelling for Social Justice
    Facilitated by Mads Clark, Associate Director, Lealtad-Suzuki Center for Social Justice

    This workshop will analyze how storytelling across generations and communities have battled and supported the status quo of how we view identity, historical events, and more in different lenses. Additionally, this workshop will offer tools to understand how best to utilize storytelling and how to create intentional storytelling spaces.

    Focus: building practical skills to advance social justice