Department of Intercultultural Affairs Dialogue Series Poses Question: United We Stand, Or Still Divided?

by Jillian Bowin
10/05/2007

The six-year anniversary of 9/11 did not go unnoticed at the University as the Department of Intercultural Affairs presented “What if God was One of Us?”

The event was a part of R.E.A.L. talks, an intercultural dialogue series. Melissa Shivers is the director of Intercultural Affairs and the creator of R.E.A.L. talks.

When Shivers came to the University in August 2006 and met with students, she found that students did not “always feel safe to discuss difficult or sensitive issues that related to the more ‘taboo’ topics.” So, she created R.E.A.L. talks to provide a place for discussion of topics such as racism, sexual orientation, privilege and religion.

Knowing that choosing one's faith is a personal journey, the title to this discussion could not be more fitting. Inspired partly by Joan Osborne’s song, “One of Us,” the concept of the song and the discussion topic is that no matter what faith a person may choose, God is one of us.

A lot of the discussion focused on the misunderstandings blamed on faith worldwide and here in the U.S., especially post-9/11.

Marisela Martinez, director of Multicultural Services and Programs in ICA, said, “Division still exists so long as there is misunderstanding and misrepresentations in the media and popular culture”.

And although division of religions leads to more choices for people to find their niche, it also can result in a greater line to be drawn between people of different faiths.

Where you live has a lot to do with your religious choices, according to Amy Hunnewell, a junior pre-law student from Between, GA.

“No matter what religion, if you have a certain culture of people around you then you find yourself actually attending church and making it a part of your everyday life,” she said.

Determining Catholicism to best suit her beliefs, Hunnewell found that her biggest cultural shock after living overseas and in New England was moving to the highly Baptist "Bible Belt" South.

Since the Deep South is so centered on the Baptist faith, living in this part of the country can certainly affect one's opinions of non-Christian based faiths. And can anyone really say that the media have not influenced thoughts towards Muslim faiths after 9/11?

For more information about upcoming R.E.A.L. talks and about the Department of intercultural Affairs visit www.uga.edu/ica.