- Through this activity, students gain exposure to others' cultural identities, self-identify and reflect on their own identity and culture, broaden their perception of identity, and develop and understanding of multiple and diverse perspectives.
| Instructor Prep. Time | Student In-Class Time | Student Out-of-Class Time |
| More than 30 minutes | 1 hour | 1-3 hours |
None
Step-by-Step Procedure:
- Assign a reading or two about identity prior to the in-class activity (see references for ideas).
- Ask students to bring to class one artifact that represents one aspect of their identity (This is a good time to remind students that each of us has multiple identities e.g. student/sister-brother/son-daughter/friend/co-worker/etc.).
- The artifact must have some important and relevant meaning to the student’s identity and should not be a last-minute decision such as a course notebook/book bag/favorite pen/etc.
- Have students write out a self-identification statement prior to coming to the class session. This written piece is informal and should discuss why they chose the artifact for this assignment or how the student thinks the artifact reveals a piece of her/his identity?
- Arrange the classroom in either a circle or square with each student having space to display her/his artifact.
- Students should place their artifacts on tables/desks. In front of the artifact lay a lined piece of paper with the student’s name printed on the top.
- Students begin the activity standing in front of their artifact, inside the circle/square, and are told not to speak throughout the exercise.
- Assign a direction for students to move (clockwise/counterclockwise) and ask students to move to the next person’s artifact.
- At each artifact, students sign their name on one line and write a sentence or two about how they see the artifact’s significance to that particular student’s identity.
- Students continue to move and write a sentence or two for each artifact until they return back to their own artifact.
- Once students return to their own artifact, they have a list of how others see their identity through the lens of the artifact presented.
- At this point, students may discuss their peers' comments to get clarification before they leave class.
- Students take their lists with them as they compose a reflective analysis about how they see their artifact symbolizing a part of their identity. Students use the list of comments to demonstrate the differences/similarities in perspectives regarding the same artifact.
- Have students synthesize others comments with textual readings in the reflective analysis assignment.
- Students can use their self-identification statement written prior to the activity to analyze whether or not their perception of the artifact in relation to their identity has changed as a result of exposing the artifact to others.
Suggestions for Use:
- This activity works well in social science and humanities courses with a class size under 30.
- Consider playing soft world music/instrumental music while students are moving from one artifact to the next so they are not tempted to chat with each other during the activity. The goal is to get students’ comments on paper, not have them respond orally.
- Bruffee, K. A. (2002, January/February). Taking the common ground: Beyond cultural identity. Change, 34, 11-17.
- Cultural identity. Retrieved March 25, 2005.
- Hatch, D. A. (1999). Models of multiculturalism: Enhancing immediacy and relevance when teaching cultural diversity. Interdisciplinary Humanities, 16, 45-64.
- Tyler, J. M. (1999). Using media to create experiential learning in multicultural and diversity issues. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 27, 153-166.
- Adiemus (1997). Songs of sanctuary [CD]. Virgin Records.
- Various Artisits. Global eclections: Inspired sounds from a mix of cultures [CD].