Michigan State University's Multi-Racial Unity Living Experience (MRULE), is a grass-roots program that provides a platform for students living on campus to engage with others from diverse backgrounds through facilitated discussions [
http://mrule.msu.edu/]. In these facilitated round-table discussions (RTDs), the student Intercultural Aids (ICAs) select and research current topics, and lead groups in conversation. In order to prepare students to effectively facilitate RTDs, a two-week immersive summer training program is held on campus for incoming and returning MRULE students. In Summer 2019, the MRULE-ICA program coordinators approached a group of librarians about designing a 3-hour workshop to support ICAs in their discussion preparation and facilitation duties. The goal of the session, as articulated by one ICA coordinator was to “guide students on how to best find and use research tools in the relentless pursuit of truth, particularly on relevant complex social issues.”
This session will demonstrate portions of the lesson plan that we developed for the ICA program. Three members of the six-person instruction team will walk attendees through activities and discussion that introduced ICAs to web evaluation strategies, implicit bias in searching, and how algorithmic bias affects the conversation around important political issues. The session was designed to empower ICAs to make more informed and politically aware information choices and understand how their own positionality might affect the information they find. We hope that attendees will come away with ideas for doing the same.