On Tuesday, the office of Leadership and Student Engagement hosted Bafá Bafá, a cultural simulation, to promote cultural sensitivity as a part of Civility Week and the Festival of Ideas.
Bafá Bafá is a nationally renowned cultural sensitivity training that has been used in high school and college classrooms as well as businesses of all sizes. This simulation was brought to ETSU by the Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement, as well as by the combined efforts of Dr. Joy Fulkerson, David Crabtree, Dr. Lea Adinolfi and Savanah Edwards.
“It’s important for people to have some understanding of how to approach differences, especially on a college campus,” said Adinolfi. “It empowers students to have that curiosity and ask questions of one another and to be open to learning.”
In this simulation, participants are divided into two “cultures” – the Alphans and the Betans. Each group learns the rules of their culture which may include a coded language, communication rituals and games. After learning their culture, one person from each group is sent to the opposite team to observe and report back their findings on the unknown culture. The cultures continue to interact and attempt to understand each other, and the simulation ends with a debriefing and discussion of the experience.
This simulation does not mirror real life situations, as these simulated intercultural interactions had several rules and barriers.
“It was built and designed to make it difficult to ask questions and have interpersonal dialogue,” said Crabtree.
This approach allowed students to experience the difficulty of intercultural interactions that are hindered by closed mindsets and then to brainstorm more effective ways to communicate with other cultures. In the discussion after the simulation, students expressed that they found the first step of interaction to be the hardest. They also found that mutual understanding and respect are essential to successfully communicating across cultures.
According to Crabtree, one of the biggest take-aways from this event is that “we need to be more open minded as a culture, more sensitive in the ways we interact with people, and self-conscious and cognizant of the way that we carry our own cultural assumptions and belief systems.”
Fulkerson added that events like these bring to light three of ETSU’s core values, which are: treating people with dignity and respect, respecting diversity of people and thought and building relationships based on honesty, integrity and trust.
Civility Week and the Festival of Ideas will continue until Monday, April 4, with more amazing events. More information on these events can be found here: https://www.etsu.edu/sga/civility.php.
The Office of Leadership and Student Engagement is always looking for more students to join their Diversity Educators program, to learn more about campus inclusivity initiatives and to continue to facilitate these events. Students who are interested in joining the Diversity Education program or in learning more about campus initiatives can reach out to the Office of Leadership and Student Engagement or email Fulkerson directly at fulkersonj@etsu.edu.
