Jan. 7, 1997 Is diversity an issue on your campus? If so, you might be interested in information about -ISM (N.) a national education and video documentary project that helps schools strengthen teaching and learning about issues of diversity. The -ISM (N.) Curricular and Faculty Development Project is looking for up to eight campus partners to implement a year-long college course that uses video as a means to address diversity during the 1997-98 academic year. -ISM (N.) offers each selected school a $10,000 cash grant to support teaching teams and an additional $12,000 worth of course development and implementation support. Faculty teams of 2-3 instructors are encouraged to apply. Additional support from your school is necessary. ** Letters of intent are due February 3, 1997 and ** applications are due on February 14, 1997. -ISM (N.) is a national project of the Institute for Public Media Arts (IPMA). With support from both the Surdna and Ford Foundations, -ISM (N.) created and institutionalized new classroom courses at 12 colleges and universities, worked with 35 faculty members and 217 students to incorporate video as a tool in the classroom, and has reached over 1.8 million people through a public information campaign about diversity. More importantly, -ISM (N.) gets students to engage and practice diversity in the classroom. In the -ISM (N.) course, students make personal video diaries where they have complete control to represent their own individual ideas and identity. In the second part of the class, they form diverse student teams to produce a group video about campus diversity. In contrast to their video diaries, the group video requires students to negotiate, share power, compromise, articulate their interests, and understand other people's points of view in order to achieve an agreed upon outcome. This group process, combined with theoretical text, media analysis and discussion, helps students combine knowledge with practice. As a result, they learn the civic skills necessary to work together across lines of difference. An independent evaluation firm, Simmons, Boyle & Assoc., found that "The course dynamic left students feeling personally empowered to deal with diversity issues with a heightened sense of comfort and confidence. The -ISM (N.) project clearly affected students' thinking about themselves and their world in a way that few courses are ever able to accomplish." Also, in its first year, the -ISM (N.) educational model has been featured in The Washington Post, The Chronicle on Philanthrophy, local and campus papers at 12 schools, Change magazine, on local NPR affiliates, and at several higher education conferences. The 12 -ISM (N.) schools that participated during the spring 1996 semester were: California State, Community College of Denver, Dartmouth, Loyola, Maryland College Park, North Carolina Central, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oregon State, Pitzer, Southwest Texas State, Tulane, and Utah. Please pass this on to other listserves and colleagues who might be interested. For more information or to request an application please email: "[log in to unmask]" or contact Malkia Lydia, -ISM (N.) Project Manager, at 919.688.0332. Thanks, -Tony Deifell Tony Deifell Executive Director Institute for Public Media Arts, Inc. 115 Market Street Durham, NC 27701 919/688.0332 [log in to unmask] http://publicmedia.org/ism Until Lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter. -African Proverb ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]