Identity Module

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Develop some language to think about social identities and how they relate to self-knowledge, social understanding, and to different advantages or disadvantages.
• Describe and reflect on how social identities, power and privilege might impact you and your class’s contributions to community engagement.
• Apply concepts such as identity and intersectionality to case studies involving ethical quandaries within community engagement.

The modules you are completing are about the ethical dimensions of community engagement. One useful way of talking about these dimensions is to use the metaphor of a toolbox. (1) If we ask which tools might go in the toolbox of ethical community engagement to help ensure that it is responsibly done, it shouldn’t be too surprising that one key tool is an awareness of your own social position, and how it relates to the social position of others, whether this be your classmates, your instructor, or your community partner(s).

Social positionality, (2) as it’s sometimes called, can be described in more or less technical ways. But to start with a simple description, one key claim is just that social identities (such as gender, race, ethnicity, class, ability, religion, sexual orientation, first language, and nationality) matter. Some of these identities might be more visible, while others are not. Race, gender or ability, for example, are often more visible than class, religion or sexual orientation. In either case, they shape and structure people’s experiences, opportunities, relationships, concepts, choices, and access to goods. So it’s important to be aware of them in general. But since social identity also shapes unearned power differences among and between the various members of a given community, it also has direct relevance to community engagement in particular: it can shape how research collaborations go, what evaluative perspectives get prioritized, who most stands to benefit or be hurt from the relationship, and who might be seen as uniquely knowledgeable or authoritative. Prior reflection about these various social dynamics, and how they might operate in specific social contexts, thus seems fundamental to ensuring not just proper self-knowledge, but also to ensuring ethical forms of community engagement. For example, a local community partner might consist of a lower-income population. If a particular class from St. Olaf consists of students from predominantly middle or upper-income families, it is important to be aware of how this social difference could impact the relationship, the project, and the outcomes and to plan or update one’s activities accordingly. For instance, is the college perceived by some community members as having more resources than it does (say because of the cost of attendance)? Also, even if most students come from middle or upper-income families, what about the experiences of other students who come from lower income families? If students are volunteering at a local food shelf, how might a student who had to access a food shelf with their family in the past feel? Are there ways of not having them feel othered? What expertise might they have from lived experience that they can share to make the engagement more ethical?

So far we have imagined questions and scenarios relating to class. But since identity can be complex, it is also worth reflecting on the intersectional dimensions of community engagement. Many social and legal theorists, attracted to the idea that persons don’t just occupy a single identity or social location, but often occupy multiple identities at once, have asked how these identities relate or intersect. (3) Very often the same person exhibits social disadvantages, advantages, or a mixture of the two, depending on the specific context they occupy. Likewise, a person can face multiple forms of oppression or multiple forms of privilege. That identities often intersect in complex ways suggests that our tools of social analysis for community engagement need to be more fine-grained. For example, suppose a community partner consists of an indigenous population. Relative to this social category alone, a class made up of predominantly white students will have reason to defer to the unique expertise or knowledge of their community partners on the topic of something connected to their identity. After all, if there is a long history of white persons failing to see indigenous as givers of knowledge, we do not want to replicate this pattern of injustice by downgrading this community’s testimony or expertise now. And yet if the main speaker for this community partner is a cisgender man, and if no women’s voices have been heard, even after several meetings, a new social dynamic has emerged. In that case, it might be reasonable to wonder if the relevant testimony is fully representative of the community partner’s perspective; it might even be reasonable to explore whether there is a respectful way to get more perspectives on the ground. Without an intersectional lens, these latter points could easily be missed.

There can be many social dynamics to keep in mind when planning and facilitating community engagement. The rest of this module asks you to reflect on these matters and to further explore some case studies. The combination of these two tasks will further enrich your understanding of how our first tool for ethical community engagement. (4)

(1) https://compact.org/whats-in-the-toolbox-for-ethical-community-engagement/
(2)  “Positionality & Research: How our Identities Shape Inquiry” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTHFud7fr8c
(3)  https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1052&context=uclf
(4) Similarly, where identity is not grasped, openness to mindset changes could also be missed. These changes involve a willingness to adapt on the ground with the aim of accommodating the needs of communities. For example, imagine a project where students are asked to create Youtube videos as part of their project. The community they are working with consists of Spanish speakers and a request emerges for the videos to be done in Spanish. The students know some Spanish, but their initial judgment is that they do not feel confident enough in their language skills and would prefer to stick to English for the project. If the students were thinking about mindset changes they might reason that their slight discomfort matters less than accommodating the community they are engaging with. To clarify, not all accommodations are reasonable: one shouldn’t violate one’s own conscience or do something questionable to prioritize communities. But when it comes to slight inconveniences, or modest forms of discomfort connected to inherently good or neutral tasks, mindset changes can help us to keep perspective on what really matters and to accommodate the needs of others.

These activities may be done individually, with classmates/group members, and/or with community partners. There is a set of questions and topics for before or at the beginning of the community engagement and another set that can be used during and/or after the experience. The questions are a labeled below for their suggested use.

1. Our experiences are often influenced by visible and invisible social identities, aspects such as race and/or ethnicity, gender, ability, educational background, language, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, and geographic location. Complete the Social Identity Wheel worksheet (from the University of Michigan) to identify and reflect on your social identities. The worksheet prompts you to consider: a) identities you think about most often, b) identities you think about least often, c) your own identities you would like to learn more about, d) identities that have the strongest effect on how you perceive yourself, and e) identities that have the greatest effect on how others perceive you.
   a. Name a few of your social identities and describe the impact these identities have had on some of your previous experiences. Consider impacts on practical aspects of your daily life as well as those that have affected your emotional wellbeing in some way.
   b. Consider your social identities as you read the Identity and ACE page from the St. Olaf Academic Civic Engagement Office about how your – and others’ – identities may impact community engagement. Then reflect on how your identities – and those of your classmates – might shape the relationship and experience with the community partner for this class.
   c. For community engagement that takes place in an immersive study abroad/away program in another city, state, or country, social identities can have different practical and emotional impacts than at home or on our campus. Read the Equity Resources page from the St. Olaf Smith Center for Global Engagement to learn about unique opportunities and challenges that may be related to social identities. Given your social identities, which opportunities and challenges might be particularly relevant for community engagement in your study abroad/away program?

1. Summarize what you know or assume about the community partner and the community’s identities, resources, strengths, and needs. Consider current events affecting the community; reports or representations about the community, such as articles, books, films, podcasts, or other media; people you have met from the community; and other firsthand knowledge, such as experiences in communities to which you belong.
   a. What do you notice about the things you know or assume about the community? In which areas are there gaps in your knowledge or questions about the things you think you know?
   b. Describe what it will mean to have an open mind and a sense of cultural humility (awareness of the limits of your own perspectives) as you enter into the collaboration with the community partner in this class. How will this influence your words, feelings, and actions in the community, especially if you are an outsider? To learn more, watch this 7-min video, Cultural Humility People, Principles and Practices.
   
2.  Discuss our institutional modeling of cultural humility and related principles/behaviors for engaged learning, in light of higher education’s participation in systems rooted in oppression. Discuss this issue in relation to the history of our community partner.

1. 1. How has your experience with community engagement in this class been different from your initial expectations or your previous experiences (academic, volunteer, or paid) with community engagement ?
   a. How have you been challenged emotionally, intellectually, and physically?
   b. Describe a specific situation that challenged one or more of your social identities and discuss
   why you found it challenging. What did you learn about the impact of social identities on community engagement?
2. For study abroad/away: How have your various identities (race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual identity, etc.) become more or less salient in [your study abroad or away location(s)]? 
   1. How have you adapted your behavior to these contexts? 
   2. Have there been times when your identities were affirmed or discredited/denied? How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience?

1. How have the various social identities in your class/group and in the community shaped your relationship and collaboration with the community partner?
   a. What have you learned from the community partner about the community’s identities, resources, strengths, and needs?
   b. What have the community partner and members of the community learned about you and your class/group?
   c. What have you learned about yourself?

1. In what ways have you contributed to community engagement in this class?
   a. What role(s) have you played individually and collaboratively, as a facilitator, learner, or participant in some other way?
   b. How have you shown your openness, curiosity, and humility for the community partner and community?
   What have you learned about how social identities shape the process of entering into and building collaborative relationships through community engagement? What would you change or do differently in the future? What advice would you give to students preparing for a similar experience in this community?