In this section, we highlight the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives underway at the library, the activities of MIIS International Cultural Gathering, and a workshop on decolonizing knowledge.
Library Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
By Ann Flower
Every year, the team of Middlebury library directors (Mike Roy, Dean of the Library; Terry Simpkins, Director of Discovery & Access Services at Middlebury; Rebekah Irwin, Director of Special Collections & Archives at Middlebury; Carrie Macfarlane, Director of Research & Instruction at Middlebury; and Ann Flower, Director of William Tell Coleman Library at MIIS) develops a set of annual goals for the Library. One of the four goals for this academic year is Library Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Specifically, we are looking at our spaces (both physical and digital), our services, and our collections. Here in Monterey, the library team will continue to build collaborative relationships with student clubs, focusing on film screenings, speakers, displays, and the diversification of our print and online collections. As the library website is updated and we plan changes to library physical spaces, we will look at improving accessibility.
Throughout the last several years, the library has worked closely with Student Services and Facilities to address issues of accessibility in our building. Thanks to student requests and suggestions, we have added bookshelf signage with improved visibility, an automatic door, and a designated accessible workstation.
This semester, we are co-sponsoring a screening of the film Fire in the Blood with Queers & Allies at MIIS (QAAAM) in recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1. Our Research & Instruction Librarian, Joelle Mellon, will be introducing club members to some of the library’s new tabletop games at their upcoming gaming event. QAAAM has adopted our popular front lobby Writing Wall display space for an interactive conversation about National Coming Out Day. Our library has a history of participation and collaboration with Allies at MIIS. We have purchased both print and e-versions of this semester’s Allies Reading Club selection, The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. Members of the library team regularly attend Allies’ Open Conversations and will participate in upcoming study group sessions. We will continue to broaden our connections with clubs, individual students, staff and faculty, in order to have as many pathways as possible to getting input and perspective on DEI issues.
Connect, Engage, Detox, and Rejuvenate
By Rana Issa
At the beginning of this fall semester, a group of MIIS students (Arabic learners, international students, and other students) and faculty met and agreed to collaborate on hosting some events on campus. The group decided to name itself MIIS International Cultural Gathering, a name that reflects the identity of this group. We found common ground in our love of all things international: culture, cuisine, dance, and music. We decided to organize events as a way to create a platform in which students, faculty, and staff can meet each other while learning about various cultures represented at MIIS!
Our primary goal is to deepen understanding of the various cultures on campus and to have FUN. We want to:
Connect–to facilitate broader connection and interaction between MIIS students, faculty, staff members, various clubs and organizations on campus, alumni, and the local community. Engage–to facilitate familiarity and appreciation through social interaction, to create more opportunities and to spark creativity, to help build a sense of trust and honesty among the MIIS community, as well as having a more connected campus. Detox–to get to know each other to dispel possible negative impressions that could arise from misunderstandings or stereotypes and to foster bonds between individuals and groups. Rejuvenate–to bring new understanding, closeness, and interaction for the benefit of our community.
Our kick-off potluck was held last month. Over 30 MIIS students, faculty, MIIS alumni, and some local guests enjoyed getting to know each other and sharing their music, stories, and food. Future events will include a cuisine night on October 18, a dance night on November 8, and a music night on December 6.
Decolonizing Knowledge Workshop
By Pushpa Iyer
Twenty-one students participated in the one-credit Decolonizing workshop that I led from September 27-29. It was my second time running this course, and not only were the numbers higher, but the students came from many different programs on campus. The diversity in the classroom was both exciting and challenging. The different perspectives that the students brought, were needed to explore decolonizing knowledge. However, some students were more comfortable with the process of self-reflection that decolonizing the mind requires than others. Decolonizing the mind goes beyond diversity, equity, and inclusion; it challenges you to re-center the world and therefore question everything you know about the world, including asking yourself: “How do I know what I know?” It is about questioning who has power, but it is not about inverting power relations. Decolonizing the mind is probably one of the most difficult processes to understand, and as expected, there was resistance from some, which I think is natural when exploring difficult and uncomfortable topics. The negative statements about MIIS and its faculty were not unexpected but certainly not the direction in which I hoped we would go when discussing ways to decolonize on our own minds. I also came to the realization that this course is very difficult to teach in one weekend. It reiterated for me a common problem that many faculty, like me, who teach really challenging topics face: as professors, we can provide the space, but there is only so much we can do to facilitate self-reflection in such a small period of time, and with students with whom we have had no prior engagement. I also think that as an institution we need to provide students with better skills to communicate when disagreeing or feeling uncomfortable. As faculty, we should recognize that students might model us in the way we handle “problems” on our campus something that I know bothers us all in the face of the difficult year we have had on campus (a topic for another issue!). Many of the suggestions were about hiring more diverse faculty and staff, inviting a range of practitioners and scholars to teach, allowing students to participate in the teaching process, including critiques of concepts, models, and theories taught at MIIS, among others. Individually, each of these suggestions was useful but it still felt as though we were thinking within the confines of a westernized education system. I can only say that it is an ongoing process for all of us to keep thinking about what it would take to decolonize our minds.
