This guest post by Madison Miller was originally posted on the Women’s Center at UMBC blog. 

In addition to working at the Women’s Center as a student staff member, I also serve as a Resident Assistant in a first-year residential hall on campus. Recently, my paraprofessional staff and I have been exploring the topic of privilege by participating in meaningful discussions about the different forms that it can take on in our society. These conversations and shared experiences of my fellow staff members have encouraged me to dive into a deeper, more personal investigation of privilege and how it relates to my identity and my unique life experiences.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the concept of privilege, a dictionary definition classifies it as a unique benefit or immunity available only to a particular community or group of people. Yet what the dictionary definition fails to mention is that privilege is neither earned nor deserved by any specific group that reaps its benefits. In reality, privilege is innate; it is a birthright that is automatically given to those who hold membership in a certain group or community. Privilege takes on several forms in society relating to identities such as gender, ability, class, race, and sexuality. It should be mentioned that one may simultaneously experience a certain level of privilege in one area of their identity while also experiencing a lack of privilege in another area. Privilege, or the lack thereof, isn’t also always necessarily visible to the eye of a passerby. Yet these privileges are often at the root of social inequalities that exist in our society today They may also cloud and bias our viewpoints of who don’t share the same privileges as ourselves, causing us to make unwarranted assumptions and conclusions about others. Therefore, it is important that we have conversations with each other in order to better recognize and effectively deal with our own unique privileges. In my experience, it seems that when a privilege is pointed out to it’s owner, that person often has a tendency to become defensive about the fact that they are not responsible for their privilege. While there is some truth to be found in this statement, I believe that privilege is not necessarily something of which to be ashamed, but something of which we should be aware. In order to remedy the social inequalities caused by our privileges, we must first understand how these privileges negatively affect and immobilize others. Perhaps our privileges aren’t necessarily the problem: maybe it’s us. After all, we do not choose our privileges, but we do choose how we live with them.  

What are my privileges? One of the privileges that I am most connected to is my educational privilege. Although I take out student loans and receive aid from my university, I have access to higher education and I am a college student (at an honors university, nonetheless) that is financially able to support myself through my undergraduate education. Because my reality is not possible for everyone, I consider myself to be truly fortunate in this situation. But in my eyes, simply being grateful is not enough. I want to use my privileges to help better others. As a psychology and elementary education double major, I have recently been thinking a lot about working in a high needs school after my graduation from UMBC. I am a strong believer in the idea that everyone, regardless of geographic location, socioeconomic status, disability, or race, is deserving of a quality education that enables success and potential. Although I am aware that this will be a great challenge, I am hopeful for the changes I wish to make in the world, even if only in the life of one child.

One of my favorite sayings comes from the movie Spiderman and it says, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” It is no secret that our privileges put us in a place of power. What may not be so obvious, however, is that this power should call upon us to think critically about ourselves and our ability to support and help advance those who experience a lack of privilege. It isn’t an easy task by any means, but it is a necessary challenge that we must undertake should we ever hope to remedy the social inequalities that paralyze so many members of our society.

Think about it: What privileges do you have? How are you “owning” them for the better?

To learn more about privilege, check out these helpful resources:

Pedagogy of Privilege Ted Talk A helpful TED Talk that discusses how to begin conversations with others about privilege.

Privilege Walk Activity An activity that highlights examples of various privileges.

A Comic on White Privilege A Buzzfeed comic that explains what it means to have white privilege.

The Reproduction of Privilege An NY Times Article that discusses the privileges associated with post-secondary education.

For more on power and privilege, be sure to check out the upcoming CSJ event Critical White Male Allies: C’Mon In! The Water’s Fine! on Wednesday from 5-6pm in Commons 318. Jeff Cullen, Director of Student Judicial Programs, will lead an interactive workshop on critical allyship. With a frank discussion of some of the ways he has made mistakes and learned from them as a white male ally, he will create a space for participants to have an honest dialogue about the challenges and strategies to effective and self-reflexive allyship.

• Advice on a strong proposal http://www.umbc.edu/undergrad_ed/research/URA/documents/successfulURAproposals10_Evergreen.doc
• Your proposal content must be on the form provided on the URA web site. The two page narrative must be only two pages long. Longer proposals are not accepted.
  
• Print the cover sheet, proposal, and your transcript all SINGLE SIDED and deliver with NO STAPLES.
• You and your mentor should both sign the cover page of the proposal. IF your mentor is not available to sign in person on Tuesday, AND has read and approved your final proposal copy, the mentor signature can be skipped. Just let me know of the situation.
  
• Mentor materials include a letter from your mentor and the very short form linked from the URA forms page. Mentor materials may be submitted by e-mail. Student materials must be delivered in hard copy.
  
• Deliver on Tuesday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to Sherman Hall Suite 114.
  

Summer Training in Alcohol Research

The University of Kentucky offers a 10-­week, paid laboratory experience for talented undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience in alcohol-­related disorders such as alcoholism, fetal alcohol syndrome, cancer, and pain. This is a competitive program designed for students considering a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-­related fields, but especially graduate study. Opportunities range from applied psychological approaches in humans to basic cellular mechanisms of alcohol action in cell culture. Students will spend the summer performing independent research under the supervision of faculty mentors, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, give a scientific presentation that describes their accomplishments, and have the opportunity to contribute to front-­line research in either of these areas.

Baltimore Participatory Action Research Group presents

Open Mic Night-Friday,May 2,2014

7pm-10pm

Lower Flat Tuesdays, UMBC

To perform please contact Shawntay Stocks sstocks1@umbc.edu

*This is not a Student Life Mosaic Center sponsored event*

Meet Kaitlyn. She is a Psychology major and current URA (Undergraduate Research Award) Scholar. Her research focuses on the psychological sense of community for first-generation Latin American immigrants. She also serves as a research assistant in the Making Words Count Lab.

How did you find your mentor for year research, scholarship, or artistic project?
I am a research assistant in the Making Words Count Lab. My research mentor is Dr. Anne Brodsky. I was really interested in her work on risk and resilience in Afghan communities. I read some of her published research and thought it was really interesting and innovative.  

What project are you working on?
In December 2012, when I began working in the Making Words Count lab, our team was in the process of collecting interviews for our Community and Immigration study. We interview first- and second-generation Latin American immigrants and third-generation or more U.S. born citizens. Our research seeks to understand how these groups experience psychological sense of community, as well as to understand the acculturation practices of immigrants from Latin American countries. Our team has almost finished transcribing and checking our data now, so we’ve made great progress in the past year.  

Do you get course credit for this work?
I have taken Honors 400, Psych 498, and I will be enrolled in Psych 499 in the spring.  

What academic background did you have before you applied for the URA?
I worked for two different professors before I began in the Making Words Count lab. As well, I have taken many psychology classes, including two research methods courses. My English classes provided me with concise writing skills, which is important for the application.  

Was the application difficult to do?
The application was not difficult, but thought-provoking. It was a great exercise in understanding the research methods I planned to use and what direction I wanted my ideas to take.  

What has been the hardest part about your research?
I’m new to the field of community psychology and never had any training in qualitative methods, so that learning curve felt overwhelming at first. If possible, I’d recommend taking classes that are as close to your research methodology and subject area as possible before you begin to ease the process.  

What was the most unexpected thing?
The amount of work that is put into doing “background” preparation for the actual data analysis and write-up is surprising.  

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research?
I would highly recommend getting involved in any and all research opportunities available. Research is an amazing way to both learn about an academic field as well as be a part of contributing to it. In addition, the people you meet through your research can become really great resources. My research mentor and the graduate students in our lab have both been amazingly helpful and supportive of my interests, and having them as role models and academic advisers has been one of my favorite parts of the research experience.

Read her abstract here...