Many of the current conflicts on campus can trace their beginnings to misunderstandings and communication problems between diverse groups of people.

Thursday, Nov. 7, the Student Counseling Service will offer three sessions of a free two-hour workshop designed to help ISU faculty, staff and students improve understanding and communication.

Titled “Black, White and Beyond: Enhancing Interracial Communication,” the workshop provides information, insights and research findings on racial, gender and power-based differences in communication.

Suzanne Zilber, staff psychologist, developed the workshop. “I’m hoping that if a lot of people go through this workshop that there will be more people who can try and create a successful resolution on campus,” she said.

Zilber said the workshop looks at three factors in the communication process.

The first factor is ” … power differences including historical power differences that are represented by racism and other forms of oppression,” she said.

The second factor is racial awareness stages that people go through, Zilber said, there are two different models.

One is for people who are members of an oppressed group, and the other is the stages people who are in the dominant group go through as they gain awareness of the role as oppressors, she said.

“The third thing is research findings on actual differences in the preferred communication styles,” Zilber said.

“We certainly don’t want to stereotype people, but there are some general cultural differences that, if we know about them, we’re less likely to misinterpret people,” she said.

Troy Vincent, a senior in speech communication, attended the workshop as part of a class.

He strongly recommends it as an aid in understanding different views and feelings.

“I grew up in an environment that was predominately black, so I did not have an opportunity to relate a lot with other races,” he said.

Vincent doesn’t believe we should be oversensitive about discussing racial differences.

“This is a society where we’re all going to have to come together as one. Regardless of how we feel, we are going to be together. It’s good that we can learn about one another,” he said.

He said he is impressed with the workshop enough to want to be a part of it again. “I want to go around and speak to different groups,” Vincent said.

The workshops are generally given by two student facilitators, one a person of color, the other, white.

The 17 facilitators receive on-going training after an initial training day. They are paid by the SCS, which receives partial funding from the Professional and Scientific Retention and Recruitment Grant Committee.

Lora Wedge, a senior in women’s studies, has been a facilitator since the workshops started last spring. She conducts a 50-minute version being given in the Lifestyles for Learning classes.

Wedge said the workshops are a way people can learn about how to communicate with other people, because it’s hard to solve any racial problems unless people can communicate with each other, she said.

“I think sometimes that people have been afraid to say something because they don’t want to be looked at as racist,” she said. “We say this is something that we need to talk about even if it doesn’t sound good to other people.”

During the workshops, Wedge said they talk about situations that have happened at Iowa State and about how the communication broke down and what factors were involved in that.

Zilber said workshops have presented a wide variety of audiences including residence halls, sociology classes, the Committee on Women, the Black Student Alliance, the Student Alumni Association and others.

The workshop was recently presented by Zilber and Ed Munoz, assistant professor of sociology, at “Faces and Voices of Iowa,” a statewide diversity conference recently held in Des Moines.

Munoz contributed a Latino perspective to the workshop. Although he liked the workshop when he used it in his Ethnic and Race Relations class this semester, he thought it needed to be more diversified.

“I guess that’s why I got involved in it. Because there’s more to ethnic relations, minority issues, those kind of diversity issues, than just black and white,” Munoz said.

Munoz said he would recommend the workshop, especially for classes that are talking about diversity issues. “I think it’s helpful. It’s not a cure-all, but I think it’s good to kind of open things up.”

Pat Miller, coordinator of the ISU Lectures Program, believes people can gain valuable information from the workshop.

“We have a wide variety of people from across the country and the world on this campus, who’ve had a wide variety of experiences. And to have it pointed out that a simple thing could lead to a great deal of misunderstanding, and how that can be corrected, is a very valuable tool,” Miller said.

“It was valuable, both for gender and race issues,” Miller said. “Everyone has something valuable to bring to the table, and it takes a little adjustment if it’s not what you’re used to.”

Miller said she feels strongly that the Greek system, the residence halls and any classes and groups would benefit from the workshop. “It gives you increased sensitivity about any situation, even those that aren’t related to race and gender.”

The first of Thursday’s workshops will be held from 2-4 p.m. in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union. Concurrent workshops will be held from 4-6 p.m. in Room 244 and in the Gold Room. The SCS encourages people planning to attend the workshop to sign up by calling 294-5056.

Zilber also hopes to schedule some small group discussions as a result of the Thursday workshops. Because such groups would be more free-willing and open, they may lead to more productive resolutions, Zilber said.

Supporting co-sponsors of the Thursday workshops are the Student Activities office, the Dean of Students office, the Women’s Center and the Office of Minority Student Affairs.