For over 450 years the Jesuit philosophy of education has been expressed through the desire to prepare young men and women for others. It is imperative that Gonzaga University and all Jesuit institutions prepare a cadre of leaders who can contribute to the critical need to support diversity education, increase cultural competency and lead in the fight for oppression reduction. ACE represents an effort to "grow our own" through a "farm system" that creates student leaders involved in diversity education.
We strongly believe that racism and other forms of oppression that destroy human dignity challenge all five dimensions of the University's mission: faith, ethics, justice, leadership, and service. The "ACE world view" orbits around a core set of formative experiences that engages our faith life, confronts our sense of what is ethical and just, and calls us to be servant leaders. The following recitals introduce the conceptual framework for the diverse number of experiences students encounter on this journey which compels them to seek a meaningful sense of academic cultural excellence for the common good. We call this conceptual framework The Four Worlds of Knowing. Each world is expounded in two ways, field experience and required seminar instruction.
The FIRST WORLD OF KNOWING--Self Knowledge
To Know Self--as a multicultural being, as a leader and as a community activist.
To Know Your Medicine Wheel--the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of your personhood.
The SECOND WORLD OF KNOWING--Content Knowledge
To Know--the issue's in diversity education.
To Understand--the socio-political context of diversity and social justice issues.
To Know & Understand--the nature and causes of prejudice, racism, sexism, homophobia, and other types of oppression.
To Know & Understand--identity politics, stereotyping, white privilege and the nature of power.
To Know & Understand--effective practices in multicultural education and strategies for prevention and intervention (mediation, conflict resolution).
The THIRD WORLD OF KNOWING--Facilitation Knowledge
To Know--how to lead a small group through diversity training content.
To Know--how to facilitate transformative group discussion processes.
To Know--effective strategies on how to resolve conflict.
The FOURTH WORLD OF KNOWING--Practical Knowledge: In Service To Others
To Know--learning by doing service.
To Obtain--practical field experience in diversity training environments within the community and in the City of Spokane.
To Do--the planning, organizing, and implementation of cultural educational campus events.
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