LAB #8 - IDENTITY

Who are you? Not just your name. Who are you? Maybe when you identify yourself you think first of your race, or gender, or your age, or religion, or even what part of the country you come from, or maybe, before all else, you consider your socio-economic status (wealth) to be the most central core of your identity. 

Maybe you've never really thought about this before. So what are you? American? Middle Class? Hispanic? Asian? Straight? Teenager? Christian? Likely, it's a bundle of all those things. One way you can think about your identity is by considering what kinds of people you spend most of your time with. Are they all the same race as you? Are they always of the same age group as you? Or are you that rare kind of person who surrounds themselves with people of many different backgrounds? So think for a moment about who you are.

Even when we build strong communities, it is often with people who are a whole lot like us (same race, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, age, and background). Making connections with people like us is called bonding social capital, and it's good. But when we connect, engage, and learn from people different from us, it's called bridging social capital, and it's even better. 

So lets think about identity, and let's build some bridges. Interview a person different from you (the difference could be in age, ability/disability, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, country of origin). Your interview should be at least 5 minutes long. Ask this person who is different from you any questions you wish but be sure to ask some questions about the ways in which you are different. Then let them interview you and ask you questions. Record your interview (in writing, audio*, video, photographs) and post it along with your thoughts and insights on identity, differences, similarities, and community. 

*Voice Record Pro is a free app for audio recordings.