History
In the Spring of 2002, Dr. Sam Richards received a small seed grant from a private donor to expand the reach of his SOC 119 course. Six months later, with the co-direction of his colleague and wife, Dr. Laurie Mulvey, as well as the enthusiasm and courage of a handful of undergraduate facilitators, the Race Relations Project was born.
The original facilitators were selected to participate in this fledgling endeavor from a pool of SOC 119 teaching assistants who were recognized as the most skilled in encouraging dialogue. With limited experience but immense trust in a simple vision of the power of conversation, this group followed the leadership of Drs. Richards and Mulvey, successfully facilitating 135 discussions that first year. They facilitated dialogues on dorm floors, in fraternities and sororities, in meetings of student groups, as well as in a handful of university classes. It was a gutsy beginning, but positive attitudes and constructive work set the foundation for a rapidly expanding project.
Now beginning its ninth year, the Race Relations Project changed its name to the World In Conversation Project and has the full support of faculty, administrators and colleges around campus. In fact, the bulk of the sessions are now course requirements either initiated by faculty or college administrators.
WinC hosted over 1,000 conversations for over 6,000 Penn State students in 2009-10 and that will grow to over 1,200 this current year.
In addition to the conversations at University Park, we are initiating video conferences with Commonwealth Campuses around the State and between Penn Staters and students in the Middle East. Moreover, we have stepped beyond race and into the area of gender, student drinking culture, and relations with the Middle East (called the West Meets Middle East Dialogues).
