Thank you Sarah for writing such a cogent blog post this week (you seem to have a knack).
The Buzzfeed video you shared was incredibly powerful. And, I think that there is tremendous opportunity in creating communities of allies to push forward in issues of prejudice and ignorance.Ive always considered myself a first generation American (my grandparents were Italian immigrants) and thought it was enough to relate to others as such. But the conversation last night, and your post have started me thinking about how much more I could do to further conversations about inclusion and diversity.
. Wouldn’t it be cool to do the same experiment here at VT? I’d be interested in working with others to make that happen.
I’m wrestling with how to be of service in continuing this conversation. Last night was incredibly revealing to me. I’ve always felt like an immigrant, myself, but clearly not had to deal with the level of prejudice most of the International students have encountered.
How can we continue to advocate for inclusion and diversity as a #GEDIVT group?

By what I understand, heuristics arise from personal experiences whereas stereotypes occurs from certain perceptions prevalent in the society, without any personal experience. Is that correct Prof. Nelson? I have assumed that people are simply using heuristics and not stereotyping, although that might be false.

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I loved this thoughtful and reflective post that connects the ways all of us are shaped by our past, but also challenged to make sense of the pervasive narrow assumptions ingrained and perpetuated through our lived experience. This seems wrong to suggest, but I like that sense of confusion and disorientation. That’s the good stuff. It pushes us to consider the ways in which our reflections that helped us to overcome our own assumptions provides tools and ideas for how to foster environments for students to to confront (or at least encounter) similar assumptions based on their own lived experiences.