Workshop for Graduate Students & Postdocs

About My Voice, My Story

Note: This workshop is nearly full. Contact cirtl@cornell.edu for more information on future sessions.

My Voice, My Story sessions pair video monologues constructed from real experiences of graduate students with facilitated discussions. The primary objectives of My Voice, My Story are to utilize the power of narratives to achieve greater understanding of the stories on the lived of experiences of graduate and professional students that frequently go untold, and to develop and share strategies on how to create more inclusive and supportive research and learning environments.

Listening to the stories of the characters portrayed in the My Voice, My Story monologues provides participants with opportunities for learning through:

• Listening for understanding, especially when we think we are different from one another
• Developing awareness and understanding of experiences of exclusion and inclusion in the learning and research environment
• Establishing respect for our mutual similarities and differences
• Experiencing empathy for and identification with all of the characters portrayed in the video monologues
• Seeing the commonality of our human experience that flows underneath all the stories
• Recognizing instances of unconscious bias
• Contributing to the development of strategies on how one can contribute to improving the organizational climate for all its members

Lunch provided.