The Multicultural Peer Educator program aims to create multicultural educational opportunities and promote social awareness through workshops incorporating student experiences and academic literature of social justice education. Contact us by emailing Dashan J. Axson-Lawrence at [email protected] if you have any questions. To request a  presentation for your student organization, residence hall, or classroom or RSVP for our open workshops fill out this FORM.

Three Types of Presentations: 

1. Open workshops

Fall 2023 Open Workshop Registration will open in August 2023.

Open workshops occur in the Multicultural Student Center (2nd Floor Newcomb Hall) and are open to all students to register & attend.

2. Dorm presentations

The MPE Program was originally created as a collaborative effort between Multicultural Student Services and Housing and Residence Life to provide educational opportunities and create spaces for continuing the conversations started by RAs regarding the implicit bias modules. **Please request a presentation at least 2 weeks in advance to your preferred presentation date** 

2. Organization/Classroom Requests

If you are a leader or member of an organization who you feel would benefit from our workshops, please fill out the form and we will touch base to finalize a date/time. **Please request a presentation at least 2 weeks in advance to your preferred presentation date** 

Our Workshops: 

The MPE Program provides two levels of workshops: introductory & mid-level. Each level indicates how much prior experience/knowledge participants should have developed before the workshop to fully engage in the topics being presented. The length of the workshop may be adjusted from 60 - 90 mins depending on the number of participants present, however we highly recommend allocating at least 90 mins for the presentation to allow space for robust engagement. We currently offer five workshops (which are listed below) and all of our offerings are adjustable to the needs of your organization: 

Introductory Presentations

The following 90 mins introductory workshops are for students & organizations who are new to conversations around social justice and multiculturalism: 

1. Social Justice 101  

What is social justice? How does social justice impact different facets of your life? This workshop re-frames multiculturalism around social justice and the importance of exploration through an equitable lens. Students will establish shared understanding of important social justice language, terminology, and explore how impact of privilege on lived experiences and learn how that manifests in different levels of society (the personal/interpersonal, institutional, societal/cultural). 

2. Social Identities 101  

What are social identities? How have they come to exist? How are they relevant to social justice conversations? In this workshop, participants will be provided an introductory conversation around social identities by learning about the different categories of identities and their relevance to their everyday lives. 

3. Exploring Identity & Privilege  

Through this workshop, participants will explore identity, privilege, and oppression on the personal/interpersonal level. They will explore their own personal identity awareness and how it interacts with other people's lived experiences. They will also learn how individual perceptions of identity are influenced by unconscious and conscious attitudes/behaviors. 

4. Microaggressions 101

What is a microaggression? How do racial microaggressions show up in different environments? How do I hold others and myself accountable? This workshop explores answers to these questions and more! Participants will leave the workshop with tangible tools to address microaggressions.

Mid Level Presentations

The following presentation requires some experience and comfort with conversations/topics around social justice/multiculturalism. We recommended that the students attending these workshops have already established the knowledge presented through the low level presentations.

1. Power, Privilege, & Perspective 

How do institutions impact our identity and development? What type of influence does privilege and power have on institutions? This workshop allows students to explore how institutions impact our personal identity development and how these factors often reinforce power dynamics between social identities. Participants will also critically think about how oppression and privilege manifest on an institutional level. 

2. Unpacking Socialization  

Participants will explore how identities and experiences related to oppression are tied to their socialization throughout their lives by exploring the "Cycle of Socialization." This workshop allows them to explore social identities and how messages regarding those identities, minorityship, and other identity groups are learned (consciously and unconsciously) throughout their life. They will also discuss with peers regarding how to constructively break from the cycle and be effective allies.