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Volume
2, Number 2, Feb 2002
In
All Respects: Racism on Campus
Produced
by Martha
Harty, Carnegie Mellon University
Review by Ian Toft
In
All Respects: Racism on Campus
is an interactive computer program developed by a
team at Carnegie Mellon University and funded by the
US Department of Education/FIPSE. It is the second
interactive CD produced by Martha Harty, from the
faculty of CMU’s Center for Applied Ethics, and
Ralph Vituccio, director of Media Design.
In All Respects will be of particular interest
for anyone interested in practicing all aspects of
academic administration. The basic premise places
the participant in the role of an editor who is auditioning
for a job at the station. The task is to create a
television news/documentary at Cole University, a
simulated American college. The goal is to convince
the Dean of Cole University, Dean Fairfield, that
you are the best person for the job.
Racism is an issue commonly at the forefront of Conflict
Management in Higher Education. The CD creatively
uses this issue as the compelling storyline behind
your task. After
being told about students’ concerns regarding
increasing levels of racism on campus, you are given
the task of investigating these accusations and then
producing a segment on the issue for the news show.
A couple of reporters have been assigned to work with
you. The choices of who to interview include the Dean
of Student Affairs, a Student Council representative,
a professor in African-American history, a campus
police officer and the second year student who had
made the initial claims of racism on the campus.
The Simulation Experience
You
may wish to view some screen
shots to help you visualize the game. You begin
the simulation by seeing a promotional advertisement
for the forthcoming television program you will
be asked to direct. After being prompted for your
name, you begin your scenario by being introduced
to Dean Fairfield. He explains to you that the University
is looking for a producer to create a balanced,
argumentative and informative program for the college’s
cable television station. This particular show will
be around the issue of racism on campus and it will
be your job to determine who on campus should be
interviewed and on what line of questioning. He
emphasises that the deadline which you are working
under is tough (one week) and mistakes or delays
could prove costly.
Tuesday arrives and you are introduced to your email
of which there are a number of messages waiting
for you. The first message is an introduction from
your assistant, Kim. Her message clarifies much
of what Dean Fairfield had previously explained.
The second message from Kim explains the procedure
and tasks expected for the week. The third message
is a copy of the initial letter that has been forwarded
on to you from a second year student, Jason Dewitt.
In the letter he makes the accusation that racism
is still common on campus and lists circumstances
in which it has been evident to him. He also emphasises
the complacency that University administration has
held towards addressing this issue. The fourth email
is from a research assistant who has gathered information
on the definitions and historical context of racism.
The final message is a list of the different bibliographical
references available to you.
You are then asked to submit to your reporters,
Jason and Juliette, a list of people to interview
and questions you feel they should ask.
By Thursday you have been sent a copy of a video-clip
editor for your use. It is then your task to view
the various reports gathered by your reporters and
choose which questions should belong on your television
show. You may drop questions that you view to be
irrelevant or focus more on one particular interviewee
if you consider their answers to be of greater value
to your program. Once happy with your work, the
program needs to be submitted to the Dean.
The deadline arrives and Dean Fairfield returns
to ask you to submit a short written report. Within
this report to be emailed to the Dean, he asks what
the reasons were for your decisions and what your
goals were. The quality of this evaluation added
to your attempts on the production of the television
show will determine if the Dean believes you are
worthy of being awarded the job.
I
personally
found In All Respects to be a challenging
and enjoyable experience. The index of video
clips available was vast. It is likely that,
were I to repeat the program, I would have
witnessed a whole new set of clips. I believe
faculty members would feel confident using
this program. Students could make comfortable
use without any prior knowledge of the program
or use of a manual. In All Respects
set the scene and guided the user through
the experience in a simple and easy to understand
manner. By the time I had completed In
All Respects I felt I understood the issue
of racism on campus far better, particularly
regarding the variety of viewpoints such an
important issue can generate.
Email
Martha Harty, mh51@andrew.cmu.edu,
for more information or to obtain a
copy of the program.
Page
last updated
11/27/2005
A
project of Campus Conflict Resolution
Resources.
Supported by a FIPSE grant from the US Department of Education
and seed money from the Hewlett Foundation-funded CRInfo
project.
Correspondence
to CMHE Report
(Attn: Bill Warters)
Campus Conflict Resolution Resources Project
Department of Communication
585 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48201.
Please
send comments, bug reports, etc. to the Editor.
© 2000-2005 William C. Warters & WSU,
All rights reserved.
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