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Intercultural Horizons debuts this semester with ‘Globalizing the Racial Line’
The Office of Intercultural Development (OID) has begun publication of Intercultural Horizons, a new magazine addressing some of the most current intercultural issues on a local and global scale.
The debut issue, “Globalizing the Racial Line,” is currently available at designated locations across campus. To subscribe, contact Intercultural Development at x5819.
According to Michael Benitez Jr., director of Intercultural Development and publication manager, a new issue will be published once per semester. Every issue will contain scholarly and creative articles devoted to a specific theme centered on diversity and written by students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
“As a publication of voices speaking for change, the magazine serves as a social support vehicle for groups to embrace diversity, and aims to provide a space to write about critical issues on campus, the local community, society at large, and the wider globe,” says Benitez. “Intercultural Horizons’ goal is to provide Lafayette College and neighboring communities with different viewpoints on current issues underlying diversity and social justice, equitable community, and multiculturalism.”
Contributors to the debut issue include Benitez, history major Martin Chojnacki ’10 (Kunkletown, Pa.), international economics and commerce majors Yi Peng ’09 (Palmyra, Pa.) and Vanessa Araujo-Lopera ’08 (Woodhaven, N.Y.), English and psychology double major Alberto Luna ’08 (Bronx, N.Y.), art graduate Danielle Weaver ’07 (Belle Mead, N.J.), Shariff Dean ’11 (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Kimberly Roberts, assistant director of Intercultural Development. Chojnacki also serves as chief editor of the publication and Araujo-Lopera serves as the graphics coordinator.
Benitez hopes to include more articles written by faculty and staff with expertise on the chosen theme for the spring issue. Some of the contents of the magazine will hopefully include articles evaluating the impact of current lectures, discussions, special activities, and programs on campus intended to address diversity.
“What are we doing with these lectures and discussions?” asks Benitez. “What changes or actions are being taken in response to the information put out there? Is there any progress made as far as actions taken by students, faculty, and administration in response to what is being said? Or do we continue to repeat the same programming year after year, like a wheel that’s constantly spinning, but goes nowhere?”
Benitez stresses that in this way, another purpose of the publication is to address what he believes is an overgeneralization of student apathy.
“So many people accuse today’s youth of being apathetic and uncaring,” says Benitez. “But I look at how involved students are in this institution and I do not see this. The students here do care and I feel that, as an institution, we are responsible for bringing these hard issues to students’ attention to keep such apathy from growing. To do that, we must keep ourselves informed. If an institution becomes too comfortable where it is in response to these issues, so will the students. Things like Intercultural Horizons are what happen when you truly take ownership of a product and facilitate and guide the students working on it.”