CITE programs will help augment book-project learning experience

Throughout the month of September, the Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble (CITE) will present a program exploring the concepts of inclusion, exclusion and the "other," in order to deepen the learning experiences prompted by the New Student Reading Project and the campus's reading and discussion of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

As a follow-up to Orientation Week discussions on the book, students will attend CITE presentations, scheduled at various times in September. CITE's role is to help link the intellectual ideas presented by the book project with day-to-day student and academic life.

Vice Provost Isaac Kramnick said CITE was invited to augment the book project. He added that CITE's efforts highlight and vivify Cornell's mission statement on diversity and inclusiveness as endorsed by all campus constituencies. That statement, titled "Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds," is printed on the computer mouse pads in the residence-hall rooms of all incoming students.

"This year's efforts mark an historic initiative," said Kramnick. "For the first time the university is sponsoring a massive exploration and celebration of difference and diversity by the entire first-year class, a landmark step in creating a more humane and tolerant campus climate."

CITE's September program, endorsed by all colleges, departments and offices on campus, also has a theme: "One Vision, Many Voices." That theme was created by Ednita Wright, assistant dean of diversity education and outreach in the Office of the Dean of Students. "The idea is to build community that honors differences. We have all experienced feelings of inclusion and exclusion," said Wright.

The program has been designed to engage students on an emotional as well as intellectual level by helping them come to an understanding and appreciation of the differing perspectives held by the characters in a dramatization. There are no "victims" or "villains" in a CITE presentation, its members point out: the interaction with realistic and credible characters encourages participants to experience empathy for and identification with all of the characters in a problematic situation.

Martha Dewey, CITE artistic director, described the group's preparation for the September event: "We have crafted a new dramatization and follow-up discussion," Dewey said. "These forums will invite reflection on some of the same themes-issues as are in Frankenstein: inclusion-exclusion, assumptions about the 'other' and the challenge of handling conflict in the context of community."

CITE's September program will be composed of three sections: scene performance, a question-and-answer session during which the actors remain in character, and a discussion led by CITE facilitator Vivian Relta.

"This is not a one-size-fits-all program," said Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development. "We wish to instill the idea that there is a general Cornell community of people who come from a number of different backgrounds and perspectives, and within that community, we recognize differences as well as similarities, respect those differences and work together as a whole."

CITE was formed at Cornell in January 1992 as an educational resource in diversity for faculty, staff and administrators. Since its inception, CITE has met the needs of a wide range of audiences, both on and off campus and across the country, in the decade of its existence. Over the past two years, CITE has provided a cycle of training for supervisors at Cornell on four different topics: diversity, harassment, disabilities and life quality.

The group's use of interactive theater, combining live theater and audience participation, promotes discussion on a variety of issues ranging from general supervisory relations concerns, to dealing with issues around diversity and inclusion, sexual harassment, conflict management, career development, behavioral styles, leadership, ethics, mergers and acquisitions and the balancing of work and personal responsibilities.

"I have experienced personally the CITE process, and it is a superb format for providing dialogue on issues of diversity, racism and gender, among other areas," said Susan Murphy, Cornell vice president for student and academic services. "CITE's goal in working with its clients it to take issues we know to be relevant, not generic, but directly relevant and situation-specific."