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1. All-Day "Diversity Seminar" Program -- Click Here
2. "Diversity Day" Presentation or Keynote Address -- Click Here
3. "Black History" Presentation -- Click Here
4. Dr. Freeman's African American History Collection -- Click Here
5. Preview Online Diversity Course -- Click Here
Flash Player needed to Preview Courses -- Download Flash
6. Critical Incident Debriefing -- Click Here
7. Symbols that Address Cultural Awareness -- Click Here
8. Employee Assistant Seminars in DC Region -- Click Here
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The Freeman Institute's™ philosophy in presenting the subject of diversity is best understood when considering an onion with its many layers. Each layer presents another opportunity to discuss the best ways to work together with greater harmony, understanding and mutual respect. Here are just some of the layers we address:

• Fear of Loss

• Professional Status 

• Religious Affiliation 

• Generational Influences

• Disability Awareness

• Gender Differences

• Personality Style

Cultural Awareness brings in some other elements. Symbols bring another dimension to this. Symbols are arbitrary & have different meanings attached to them in each culture.

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SYMBOLS

Verbal: linguistics, we pay the most attention to this system, 5000 languages, dialects...

Written: there are different systems, the Roman system, Arabic & Chinese writing, pictographs, “sin” in English versus sin in Spanish means without

Numeric: numbers and systems of numbers, they express relationships, Morse Code
Pictorial: they have different meanings in each culture, the mind must complete the meaning of missing information, Chinese use a bridge to illustrate death, for Europeans it illustrates relationships, Europeans in Zambia eating canned food with label of contents, after baby born, can showed picture of a baby, tribal people thought they were cannibals.

Artifactual: three dimensional objects like sculpture & art, items that we use in daily life like clothing, jewelry, furniture, transportation, equipment.

Audio: music, tone of voice, groans, sighs, bells, whistles:

Optical: light and colors, red, white, black, blue, green

Tactile: touch the sense of touch, embracing someone, kissing or greeting with kisses, shaking hands.

Temporal: use of time, there are different uses of time, some societies are focused on the past, others on the present, others on the future, difference of use of time between Mexicans & US (US may arrive at exact time to show respect, Mexican may arrive ½ later to show respect)

Spatial: use of space, personal space and work space is different for each culture, how far one stands from someone when talking informally varies from culture to culture & can cause great discomfort if personal space is violated, work space can show importance, distance between houses can be cultural

Olfactory: taste, smells, odors, tastes and odors have different connotations, incense, spices, perfumes, aftershave, Communion, special foods have significance, water, Ethiopian tribe uses rancid butter as hair & skin cream, to us it smells bad, to them it is positive, they greet one another by saying “You smell good” instead of “How are you?”

Three Key principles:

1. We rarely use one system by itself: We use two or more at once. When audio and visual is used together retention of the subject is 65% after three days instead of only 10 or 20% after three days when only audio or visual is used.

2. It is possible for one system to contradict the other systems. This is the reason for much misunderstanding. When the systems are in agreement we believe that the message is sincere, if the contradict one another we believe that the person is insincere. We have the tendency to believe the less conscious systems. If there is a disagreement between the verbal and the audio and kinesics systems we will believe the less conscious systems, that is the audio and the kinesics. This happens often in intercultural communication. It is this which leads to lack of confidence and cross cultural mistrust.

3. In each system there are two levels of information: rational and emotional. Some are more emotional than the others. In most cultures these are the Spatial, Olfactory and Temporal systems. The miss use of space can cause the person to become angry without knowing why. Strong emotional reactions can erupt without any understanding of what is happening.

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Would you like to see a stunning
"Night At Earth" image? Click Here

Different groups have different needs. The "Diversity: The Value of Mutual Respect" seminar experience (see program overview below) is meant to be an interactive experience in a fun, non-threatening atmosphere.  The following interactive game is a proven option available to interested organizations:

During the afternoon, participants can experientially understand more about diversity by playing the KnowMe™ game with any number of groups of six -- with a debrief exercise after everyone is finished. This highly-interactive game is based on the Disclosure/Feedback model of awareness known as the Johari Window (click to view more about the game), named after Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. This award-winning game has been used in over 20 countries by a wide range of organizations and is specifically designed for establishing trust and building relationships in the workplace. The larger the group, that harder it is to facilitate this game. It can work with larger groups, but it works best with groups consisting of between 6 to 18  participants.

Diversity Game -- This game enables participants from different groups (whether defined by culture, race, gender, status,  or any other criteria) to explore issues of diversity together.  
SAMPLE CARDS:
 

SOCIAL  SECURITY