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The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I Thursday, February 7, 2013
UNDERSTIANDING
BY CARLINA DUAN
DAILY COMMUNITY CULTURE EDITOR

The Museum of Natural History theme to the dean of LSA, who then
sits serenely on the corner of Geddes selected the theme out of an array of
Avenue. A simple, unassuming build- other proposals.
ing of mahogany brick and cream walls, - Harris said she believes the theme
the museum invites visitors to shimmy semester will encourage necessary dis-
inside. When you enter, you're greeted cussions about race that are relevant to
by a solemn map of planet earth, sprawl- present day. Harris noted that studies
ing across the walls. Behind glass cases, have shown that by the year 2040, peo-
Michigan wildflowers and owls peer ple of color will become the majority of
from branches. A mineral collection the population in the United States.
glimmers from the hallway, boasting
rocks studded with glamorous, jewel- Linking together a collective audience
like crystals.

"Race: Are We So Different"
At first glance, typical museumgoer
expectations are met. The building is an
elementary-school student's fantasy -
prime for exploration, with its dinosaur
skeletons, stuffed possums and built-in
planetarium. Yet among the "standard"
museum gear, the Museum of Natural
History will feature aspecial exhibit this
semester - one that ties in with the Uni-
versity's College of Literature, Science
and the Arts Theme Semester: Under-
standing Race.
The museum will showcase the trav-
eling exhibit "RACE Are We So Differ-
ent?" from Feb. 9 through May 27.
Amy Harris, director of the Museum
of Natural History, first saw the exhibit
in 2007 at the Charles H. Wright Muse-
um in Detroit, and explained the process
of bringing the exhibit to campus.
"I thought it was fantastic, butI ruled
it out because it was too big," she said,
referringto her initial hesitation to bring
the exhibit to the museum.
The exhibit itself was developed by
the American Anthropological Asso-
ciation, in partnership with the Science
Museum of Minnesota. "RACE" takes a
new approach to the study of race and
ethnicity that Harris hopes will spot-
light and enrich conversations about
race.

Frank Provenzano, who works with
Harris on the Understanding Race Proj-
ect, summarized its necessity: "Race is
a part of everything and we need to talk
about it in a very reasonable way - with-
out people thinking we're obsessed with
race. We want a healthier national dis-
course."
LSA senior Noel Gordon, a student
coordinator for the Understanding Race
Project and a member of the theme
semester student steering committee,
noted that conversations about race are
especially applicable to the current col-
lege-age generation of Americans.
"There are a lot of changing demo-
graphics that are happening culturally,
politically (and) socioeconomically that
are all tied with race," Gordon said. "It'll
be really important for us to talk across
difference, so we can move together to
inhabit this new world and take advan-
tage of all the great things it'll have to
offer us."
In order to help the community bet-
ter engage in these conversations about
race, the creation of the Understand-
ing Race Theme Semester led to the
Understanding Race Project, a program
intended to link overlapping audiences
on campus and in the community. The
project involves three audiences: the
University campus community, the K-12
schools and the broader Ann Arbor com-
munity. Beginning in January 2012, the
Understanding Race Project has facili-
tated dozens of workshops in order to
train teachers and administrators in
schools across the district to have con-
versations about race.
As a student coordinator of the proj-
ect, Gordon has participated and led
several of these workshops in various
schools across Ann Arbor. He observed
the applicability of the theme semester
in all three audiences.
"What we're hoping to do is bring
everyone a couple steps closer to having
these conversations and appreciation for
race based on their personal history,"
he said. "It's been interesting to see
(the reactions) of middle- and high-
school students who are just sinking
their teeth into this issue. Some are
anxious; some are scared; some are
excited," he said. "And it's also excit-
ing to see members of this commu-
nity who are perhaps older and have
been doingthis kind of work for along
time."

A community conversation
Harris shed light on the goals of the
9 Understanding Race Project.
"(We aim) to look at race and to
understand it more deeply through the
ways it intersects with other identities
- such as gender, sexual orientations....
A second goal is not only to look at race
in terms of the black-white dichotomy,
but to look at it more broadly. A third
goal is to include local expertise,
so we're highlighting U-M faculty
research aswell as community mem-
bers," she said.
The theme semester student
steering committee accompanies the
Understanding Race Project. It's a stu-
dent organization on campus that works
to captivate all students in various theme
semester events and activities through-
out the term. The group meets weekly
in order to plan the logistics of theme
semester events, and also to collaborate
with other student organizations across
campus.
Anoth- Public Policy junior Salma Moosa, a
er is the student facilitator of the steering com-
historical con- mittee, described the group's aim to
cept of the social- attract student interest in the theme
ly-constructed semester.
idea of race. And "The goal of the semester is that every
the third is a liv- single student on campus is able to more
ing exhibit of comfortably engage in a conversation
race - looking at about race than they were before the
the ways racism race semester theme started," she said,
is embedded in our noting that the committee will try to
institutions, in health encompass all students within conversa-
disparities, wealth dis- tions about race - not just students who
parities." are enrolled in theme semester classes.
In fact, the theme While events are still in the planning
emester was devised stages, the' will most likely incorporate
with the "RACE" exhibit and expand connections between race
n mind. After deciding and gender, sexuality, the arts, the culi-
:o bring the exhibit to nary field and beyond. Gordon revealed
:he museum, Harris and one potential theme semester event that
:olleagues proposed the will explore the intersection between
'Understanding Race" race and athletics.
See RACE, Page 4B


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