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IU recreation class promotes community diversity
through work with Hillel Center, Bloomington United
Dec. 7, 1999
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Students in an Indiana University recreation class have been working with Hillel Center and Bloomington United to develop ways to promote community diversity.
Lois Silverman, assistant professor of recreation and park administration, is teaching the class on strategies and methods of interpretation in the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. The course concludes this week.
"An ongoing challenge of the Bloomington community," Silverman said, "is to promote diversity, understanding and respect among its residents, a need intensified over the last year as incidents of hate literature and hate crime have been on the rise."
Working with Rabbi Susan Shifron at the Hillel Center at IU under a grant from the university, Silverman decided to expand the class to address this concern.
"While the Hillel Center is the principal social, educational and religious center for Jewish students at IU, it is also a community organization that works to promote diversity and understanding among people of all backgrounds," Silverman said.
Hillel and Rabbi Shifron also helped establish Bloomington United to respond to hate literature distributed in the community last year by former IU student Benjamin Smith, Silverman added. In July, Smith killed an IU Korean student before taking his own life.
According to Silverman, this incident brought home the need to do more for tolerance throughout the IU community and Bloomington. "The students have developed a pilot program, with assistance from Hillel and Bloomington United, on how interpretive programs can be used to promote respect for diversity within our community," she said.
Silverman, whose research interests include visitor behavior in museums, said studies show that interpretation can be effective in influencing people's understanding of themselves and others in such areas as building self-esteem and teaching tolerance.
"Interpretation is the particular set of methods by which a park or museum communicates with audiences about cultural and/or natural resources," she said. These methods include signs, exhibits, brochures, tours and special programs.
She received a grant from the IU Office of Community Partnerships in Service Learning to expand her course in this direction. Four learning objectives for the class have been to raise students' level of awareness and understanding about diversity; to teach how to use interpretation for community-building; to assist Hillel in its aim of serving the Bloomington community; and to enhance the quality of life for Bloomington residents.
(Richard Doty, 812-855-0084, rgdoty@indiana.edu)