Learn to promote and teach culture in the classroom with the inaugural Regional Workshop on Cultural Issues, slated for Tuesday, August 9.
Rend Lake College’s Liberal Arts Division is sponsoring the workshop, with grant funding from the Illinois Community College Faculty Association and RLC’s Cultural Arts and International Studies committees. The workshop is aimed at community college instructors as well as interested high school and university educators in the Southern Illinois region. Adjunct, part-time faculty and graduate students may register for the conference at a discounted rate.
The focus of this inaugural conference will be Latin America. Presenters will discuss strategies which can be applied to teaching a culturally diverse student population and will provide resources to include more international course content. Discussion will center on the benefits of being more inclusive of other cultures in the classroom, regardless of the level of diversity.
“The idea for this workshop came from my interest in attending a conference similar to the one we are presenting. I ended up coordinating the event, rather than attending. Also, the time seemed to be right to conduct a workshop on Latin American culture,” said RLC English Professor Rob Little.
Little said part-time RLC faculty member Kandace McCoy (Mt.Vernon) has been researching Latin American authors at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a friend, Dee Holm (New Minden) has been studying Latin American literature, culture and the Spanish language in Guatemala. Both are helping coordinate the workshop.
“Following the national trend, many local communities have seen Spanish-speaking populations increase. I felt area educators could benefit from a workshop which would address strategies for teaching a group of students from diverse cultural backgrounds,” Little said.
Dr. Kathleen Bueno, Professor of Foreign Language at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, will be the keynote speaker for the workshop. She will discuss models and strategies for teaching culture and the importance of integrating culture in the liberal arts curriculum. The session also will provide information on downstate Spanish-speaking populations, including demographics, changing needs and predictions of future populations.
Participants can attend Bueno’s subsequent workshop, which will compliment her presentation, or attend a session by Dr. Sue Tomlin, RLC Sociology Professor, titled “Using Film and Literature to Teach Culture: Cross-Curricular Strategies and Perspectives.” Tomlin will discuss her experiences co-teaching with English faculty and the development of an interdisciplinary approach to literature, film and sociology. Some hands-on ways of approaching multiculturalism will be discussed.
The next two sessions for attendees to choose from will be “Latin American Cinema Resources: Films for Multiple Lessons,” by Little and “Latin American Writers: Cisneros, Marquez, et. al.,” by McCoy, adjunct at SIU-Carbondale and RLC, and Mike Johnson of McLeansboro High School.
Little’s session will highlight five films used to effectively teach multiple concepts relative to humanities classes. Some of the films discussed center on Latin American issues, while others are from Latin American directors. Among the films discussed will be the South American film El Norte and the American film Frida.
Panel members and participants in McCoy and Johnson’s presentation will discuss authors who provide a good introduction to various Latin American cultures, as well as those which reveal cultural biases and social conflict.
After lunch, attendees can select from “ESL Perspectives: An Overview,” or “Finding and Understanding the Resources to be Successful.” Presenters will be announced at a later date. “ESL Perspectives” will address a number of concerns and challenges facing English as a second language programs in the region. The alternate workshop will highlight electronic and human resources concerning Latin American issues available to participants and will cover strategies on how the workshop Blackboard site and other similar Internet resources can be used in the classroom.
A final general session will include brief presentations by community groups and educational agencies connected to Latin American issues, which could include local migrant worker societies, area ESL programs, international travel consortiums and study-abroad programs. After the presentations, attendees will be able to exchange information in a small group setting.
Little said he hopes this unique final session “will facilitate communication between all those individuals and groups in the community concerned with Latin America in whatever capacity. Anybody with an interest in the Latin American region is invited.” Anyone planning on attending this final session is asked to call the Liberal Arts Division at Rend Lake College and reserve a seat so the room capacity is not exceeded.
A reference area with resources and promotional materials (teaching materials, organizations to contact, electronic resources) will provide information for anyone interested. Participants are encouraged to bring materials from their own humanities, foreign language, ESL and Latin American studies programs.
Though not limited to only the liberal arts and humanities areas, many of the workshop sessions will apply directly to foreign language, English, sociology and English as a second language curricula. Continuing Professional Development Unit credit is available for high school instructors.
The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 9, in classroom facilities at the Rend Lake College MarketPlace in Mt. Vernon. Registration is due by July 31. For a registration form, map and schedule, visit www.rlc.edu and look under “What’s Happening” for the Summer Workshop on Culture.
“If this workshop is successful, we hope to conduct a workshop on a different cultural issue next summer,” Little said.
For more information, contact Chris Kuberski, Liberal Arts Division Chair, at (618) 437-5321, Ext. 1264.