New OIED cultural identity course launches, emphasizes cultural awareness

The Applied Cultural Identity course at NC State went into effect September 2021 and has since generated over 200 completions in its interactive self-paced program. The program creates an inclusive environment for learning about cultures’ effects on society. 

Melissa Edwards Smith, the director of education and campus engagement for the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity’s (OIED) inclusive excellence and strategic practice team, founded and designed the course at NC State.

“I think I started back in the summer … with gathering the information and coming up with the different modules that we would use to take people through the information,” Smith said. “It really took until the very last day, with the help of my team and others, to launch it at NC State.”

The Applied Cultural Identity course does not make use of facilitated discussion or an instructor, which allows learners to complete it at their own pace through the REPORTER system. REPORTER states this course teaches others how to “identify key concepts of culture and cultural awareness, apply the concepts of cultural identity for self-awareness and explore how identities show up in interpersonal situations. 

This course is free and has an estimated two hour completion time. 

“[It] presents material in a way that's very interactive, so lots of clicking on diagrams and actually scrolling through cool books that you're using and looking at imagery and videos,” Smith said. “At the end of little sections, there will be a short quiz to gauge how much learning you’re retaining.” 

Will Leggett, a human resources onboarding specialist, took part in the certificate program.

“[This] certificate and [the Applied Cultural Identity] class in particular really took a deep dive in cultural identity and kind of using yourself and self-reflection and finding what your cultural identity is,” Leggett said. 

When designing this course, Smith said her goal was to help faculty and staff create more inclusive spaces on campus. Smith and Leggett believe this course is accessible and valuable for people of all ages and backgrounds.

“You don’t have to have a degree. … A lot of the topics that are covered are things that are touched on [in] a lot of different areas,” Leggett said.

To make education on cultures’ effects on society more accessible, Smith implemented her instructional design skills so that the course is inclusive of everyone at NC State.

“There has been a huge demand for more courses around diversity, inclusion and equity,” Smith said. “We have been trying to meet that demand in a variety of ways.”

The course is part of the Inclusive Excellence Certificate program, of which there are three other in-person workshops.

“You do not have to be a part of the certificate program [to complete the course], the reason behind that is that so many people were trying to get into our courses, but they were already full,” Smith said. “This is a way that we can reach a much bigger audience without needing to lead these in-person workshops.”

Leggett believes this course helped him gain a new perspective on how he interacts with co-workers and others on campus. 

“Especially at NC State, we interact with people from all over the world every day,” Leggett said. “I think just being able to have a little bit more cognizance of our own culture, identity, and [of] those we interact with would just help campus to be just a more inclusive environment.”

Students who are interested in participating in the online course can sign up via REPORTER.