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Far left: Dorothy Allison (third from left) and students following Allison's Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration keynote address. Photo by Joseph Mehling, College Photographer. Center: Members of AXIS Dance Company, a mixed-ability dance troupe, performing at the Hopkins Center as part of a Hopkins Center campus residency cosponsored by IDE. Photo by Jack Rowell. Right: Discussions at a Diversity Forum hosted by IDE. Photo by The Dartmouth.

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Detail from mural produced by Ernesto Cuevas and Dartmouth students as part of Encuentro Latino, a Summer Arts Festival coordinated by the Leslie Center for the Humanities.

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How To . . .

Unit One: Responding to Questions of Cultural Insensitivity

This installment of our How To series focuses on how listeners and speakers might effectively respond to one another when something that's been said creates concerns about cultural sensitivity, respect, and/or fairness.

Listener – Speaker

I find the term you are using makes me uncomfortable.
I support your desire to speak your mind but the language you are using strikes me as disrespectful.
I am interested in your perspective, but the way you are approaching this topic promotes hostility not understanding.
Did you need to make your point by using that language?
Your understanding of this subject is important to me, but when you present your information this way you turn me off to learning more about your ideas.
My judgment is not about you, it is about the language we are using.
I think language is important, but I appreciate how difficult it can be to communicate.
Statements or language usage can make a speaker's intentions misunderstood. Did I understand you to mean……?
I don’t want to take your comments/terms out of context. Did you mean to suggest that women/minorities/gays…..?
I hope I am not being too sensitive, but…

Speaker – Listener

My meaning and usage is technical but I am open to further discussion.
Give me a second, I have never had someone ask me that question.
I’m not sure I understand your position, but I want to explore your concerns.
You raise a good point, but we won’t have time to examine this idea until next week.
Sounds like we should discuss these terms in greater detail.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain myself further.
Language is important, but thank you for not jumping to conclusions about my intentions.
I try and keep up on language usage and what might be considered terms that are culturally insensitive. I apologize if my words were offensive, that was not my intention.
Thank you for not taking my remarks out of context. I was trying to be provocative not offensive.

This list of possible responses is meant to open up possibilities for more effective communcation. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on these or other approaches.