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This project exposes citizens of Harrison County, IN to other cultures by providing a free family world festival with diverse peoples from within and outside the community. World on the Square was coordinated with the Harrison County Community Foundation and Community Unity. My contributions included participating in meetings, publicizing and recruiting country representatives, encouraging business participation and finding local ethnic restaurants to contribute to the International Tastes exhibit. At the event I represented the countries I have visited and helped attendees complete their educational passport questionnaire. Secondly, the historical research project entitled The World Comes to Harrison County creates a tool accessible to schools and the general public with different media to reach all learning styles. Through interviewing immigrants, researching, and writing articles, my main influence on this extensive project was creating the interactive website. Both projects provide an understanding of local diversity therefore decreasing ignorance, prejudice, and violence. These projects reflect the community’s united response after the Ku Klux Klan rally in 1999 in Corydon and continue to provide educational opportunities, protection and support for minority groups.
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Bringing the World Back Home: Diversity Education
Leah Dahline University of Louisville Brown Fellows Class of 2013Project Goals:• Use language skills acquired in the
classroom to communicate with local native speakers
• Help coordinate a large community project with help from prior leadership experiences
• Bring awareness into the community about the need for diversity education
Background:
• Summer 2009 – Panama class trip in which I discovered a new culture and practiced my Spanish skills
• Summer 2010 – Taught ESL in Ecuador with a class from IUS in three different schools while simultaneously participating in a service project and research about math education
• Summer 2011 – Study abroad in Segovia, Spain with emphasis on immigration issues and modern Spanish culture
• Fall 2011- Spring 2012 – Intern at Americana Community Center assisting with after school programing and ESL classes in the evenings through the AmeriCorps Bonner Leader Program
• Summer 2012- Project Coordinator for World on the Square and The World Comes to Harrison County with three main organizations: Community Unity, the Harrison County Community Foundation and IUS’s Center for Cultural Resources
Conclusions:• Over 2000 attended and 50 local businesses
contributed to the cause of World on the Square
• A new history of Corydon was documented and project created to be used by county schools and organizations
• Personal development and culmination of class and organizational work
• Enrichment projects have reinforced passion to become a professional educator
Summer 2012 EnrichmentThis project exposes citizens of Harrison County, IN to other cultures by providing a free family world festival with diverse
peoples from within and outside the community. Secondly, the historical research project creates a tool accessible to schools and the general public with different media to reach all learning styles.
This provides an understanding of local diversity therefore decreasing ignorance, prejudice, and violence. These projects
reflect the community’s united response after the Ku Klux Klan rally in 1999 in Corydon and continue to provide educational
opportunities, protection and support for minority groups.
World on the SquareObjectives: • Participate in meetings, publicize, recruit
country representatives, encourage business participation and coordinate annual free family festival
• Engage community by recruiting volunteers for the event and cultural entertainment
• Find a wide range of meals to display at the International Tastes that represent community restaurants
• Debut of The World Comes to Harrison County project, encouraging community input
• Share experiences of past trips and educate attendees by using a passport questionnaire
The World Comes to Harrison CountyObjectives:• Attend committee meetings, help design
project and its components: map, resource kits, timeline, website
• Interview immigrants about their experiences and contributions
• Write articles for online interactive timeline tool
• Help create curriculum for schools• Contribute to collection of artifacts in
resource kits• Publicize and continue to add information
about cultural/ethnic groups
