New class focuses on Tunnel of Oppression
Students driving content for Nov. event that channels society's stigmas, misconceptions
By: Kimberly Hill
Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: News
A new class is allowing students to shape the content of next month's Tunnel of Oppression event.
This is the first year EDL 281 - Event Planning and Leadership/The Tunnel of Oppression, a two-credit class, has been offered, said Kara Curcio, the course instructor and a Residence Life hall director. There are 15 students enrolled in the class.
Formerlyorganized by Residence Life's El Mundo Diversity Committee and volunteers, the Tunnel of Oppression will now take on a new perspective through the eyes of the students, Curcio said.
"I think it has been really interesting to hear what students have seen on campus, and we're definitely reaching out to a different population of students," she said.
The students get to research and choose which events they want to incorporate into the tunnel. Curcio said the two main areas of focus have been the ongoing genocide in Darfur and body-image issues.
The Tunnel of Oppression consists of a set of scenarios in which students act and role-play different situations centered around the "-isms" of discrimination, including racism and sexism, as well as homophobia, disorders and genocide, said Sharon Overstreet, Residence Life associate director for residential education.
"It's really interesting to watch the students, because it's mostly them teaching one another through the experiences they've had in life as well as on campus," she said.
After touring the tunnel, students process the experience with a facilitator and reflect on what they have learned, Overstreet said.
The first half of the semester, the students focused on the academic side of the class, she said. Now, they are broken into different groups that focus on the specifics of the event, such as marketing, acting and reservations.
This is the first year EDL 281 - Event Planning and Leadership/The Tunnel of Oppression, a two-credit class, has been offered, said Kara Curcio, the course instructor and a Residence Life hall director. There are 15 students enrolled in the class.
Formerly
We're trying to spread
awareness about oppression. It's kind of like community
service in a class.
-Natalie Boras,
psychology sophomore
"I think it has been really interesting to hear what students have seen on campus, and we're definitely reaching out to a different population of students," she said.
The students get to research and choose which events they want to incorporate into the tunnel. Curcio said the two main areas of focus have been the ongoing genocide in Darfur and body-image issues.
The Tunnel of Oppression consists of a set of scenarios in which students act and role-play different situations centered around the "-isms" of discrimination, including racism and sexism, as well as homophobia, disorders and genocide, said Sharon Overstreet, Residence Life associate director for residential education.
"It's really interesting to watch the students, because it's mostly them teaching one another through the experiences they've had in life as well as on campus," she said.
After touring the tunnel, students process the experience with a facilitator and reflect on what they have learned, Overstreet said.
The first half of the semester, the students focused on the academic side of the class, she said. Now, they are broken into different groups that focus on the specifics of the event, such as marketing, acting and reservations.
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Nikki B.
Nikki B.
posted 10/23/07 @ 11:21 AM MST
I hope they include a more comprehensive package of derogatory name tags at this year's hate tunnel. At the last hate tunnel I was forced to wear a "lesbian" label. (Continued…)
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