Book Discussion #1 Summary- Understanding difference at home

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Thanks to all who attended our inaugural DEI Initiative book discussion on February 3, 2021. In this session, we discussed chapters two and three of Dr. Anu’s inspiring book, Mindful Travel in an Unequal World.

While in small break-out groups, we initiated the conversation by sharing what we hope to gain from attending this book series. Here’s what folks had to say:

– From this collective work, we hope to build a training module for faculty, hosts, and even students
– Identify approaches to appeal to constituents of color
– How to create a program that is inclusive
– More education on implications of inclusive versus non-inclusive programming
– A dedicated, safe space to learn and practice how to unpack these difficult conversations and topics
– Feel equipped with tools and techniques to address discomfort in the moment, especially while on tour

Then, each group moved to explore the following set of pre-posed questions together:

1. Think about the people around you: friends, family, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and the wider community. Do most of the people around you look like you? When did you first become aware of who is around you and why that might be so?

2. How close to or far away from the mythical norm would you define yourself based on race, gender, class, access to resources, religion, education, mobility, and other factors of identity?

3. Think about sharing an afternoon over a pot of tea with someone of a different identity or life experience than you. How is our comfort or discomfort associated with the ways we’ve been raised, the contexts we’ve inhabited, the conversations we’ve had or not about sensitive social issues, identities, differences, and power?

4. Next time you find yourself in moments of discomfort, how might you make use of the strategy of slowing down to notice how you feel and what is around you?

5. How does encountering difference and thinking about justice help you trace the “changing tides in empathy within oneself for others?” What emotions are swept in, and what emotions swept out? When can these tidal sweeps be helpful? When not?

Key highlights from our conversations have been summarized below.

Key Highlights for Chapter 2-3–

Question: How close to or far away from the mythical norm would you define yourself based on race, gender, class, access to resources, religion, education, mobility and other factors of identity?

– Exploring this concept was enriching and eye-opening in understanding our own privilege and positionality.
– We left with lingering considerations including how mythical norms may manifest in other countries outside of the West.
– The shared experience of moving through these book questions with a global audience offers us the opportunity to hear diverse perspectives in deconstructing the mythical norm relative to our location
– While balancing intersectionalities, it’s important to remember that everyone has their unique story

Question: Next time you find yourself in moments of discomfort, how might you make use of the strategy of slowing down to notice how you feel and what is around you?

– Mindful moment tools: Name it to Tame it; Mention it to Manage it; focused, slow and deep breathing
– The general response to discomfort is fight or flight. Most of us expressed the tendency to flee from these situations
– Remember to slow down and breath
– Uncomfortable moments can crop up in so many places and when we least expect it.
– When we begin having uncomfortable conversations with ourselves we can start to untangle and identify our own implicit and unconscious biases.
– We all get nervous about making mistakes in beginning difficult conversations
– Timing a difficult conversation is challenging, but selecting the appropriate timing is essential for a productive conversation
– How and when we create space for discussion is crucial
– Adjusting expectations from the onset alleviates disappointment on all sides. We have a tendency to assume that everyone will be on board with the conversation, which is hard to come to terms with.
– As it relates to managing a difficult traveler, it can be helpful to align your statements with the overall mission and goals of the organization. This buffer protects you and adds weight to your position.

Key terms & tools for discussion–

Mindful moment tools: When it comes to dealing with emotions, it is helpful to recognize them. This step alone can decrease their intensity in the moment – an easy way to remember “Name it to Tame it”; or “Mention it to Manage it”; focused, slow and deep breathing is helpful too

U.S. Mythical norm: “defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure.” Book Excerpt (Chapter 2, page 49):
As Audrey Lorde writes in her book Sister Outsider: “Somewhere, on the edge of consciousness, there is what I call a mythical norm, which each of us within our hearts knows ‘that is not me.’ In the West, this norm is usually defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure. It is with this mythical norm that the trappings of power reside within this society.”
Interested in reading Sister Outsider? Here is a digital copy of Audrey Lorde’s, Sister Outsider. She introduces the concept of the “mythical norm” on page 116.

Social Sustainability: This concept was introduced as a way to underscore the importance of our role as educational travel providers.
Interested in reading further research in social sustainability? To get started, here is “Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward” (2016).
Boyer RHW, Peterson ND, Arora P, Caldwell K. Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward. Sustainability. 2016; 8(9):878. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8090878

Lingering questions–
As we continue to explore the book themes, here are some questions that surfaced during the latest discussion. We pose them here on the forum to the ETC community. Perhaps together we can find ways to tackle these sticky conversations. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

– When someone shares an experience with us, what do we do?
– When we hear or see something, what do we do?
– For community members outside of the West, how may the mythical norm manifest in your locale?

Join us next time!
We invite you to join Session 2: Mindful Travel Abroad – Wednesday, March 3, 2021, 2– 3 PM Eastern. Discussion questions will be based on chapters 5 and 7. These prompts will help us reflect on travel experiences that might be different from our own because of our different identities, perspectives, and emotions.

Click here to register for Session 2.

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