SIU University Honors Program InterAction Initiative

The University Honors Program - Honors Assembly is very proud to bring InterAction to SIU! InterAction is a nonprofit organization that uses storytelling and the arts to build inclusive communities. They help channel raw individual narratives on identity and difference into solutions that will transform communities into environments where all students can flourish. The event is entitled: Intersections: Using storytelling to understand IDENTITY, PRIVILEGE, and INTERSECTIONALITY. It brings complex personal stories to the center stage as a stepping stone for a raw conversation on identity, privilege, and intersectionality. The stories shared were anonymously written and collected by college students. Thanks to the brave writers and our campus partners, we can make sense of what these stories mean for us as a community, and how we understand them as a resource to information our future endeavors. When: 2/15/2018, Where: Student Center Auditorium, Time: 6-7:30 P.M., Cost: FREE for EVERYONE!
 
The following is the description about InterAction: Writer Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie states, "Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize." In this interactive program, participants experience performed personal stories on identity and difference that demonstrate how racism, other forms of privilege, and intersectionality play out in people's everyday lives. The raw, complex stories serve as a stepping-stone for deepening dialogue on diversity and inclusion. Together we will uncover the intersections we all experience in our identity as an entry point to foster empathy and understand the systems of injustice that exist in our nation and in our local communities. Lastly, we share tools participants can incorporate into their everyday lives to further justice, equality and inclusion with their schools, communities, and work.
 
Learning Objectives:
Intersections is rooted in the following objectives for participants:

• Reflect upon one's own identity, position and role in the community.
• Build awareness around the diverse identities/experiences present with our community.
• Provide a framework for understanding how issues of racism, sexism, poverty, etc. also affect the everyday lives of their peers.