Welcome to the Seedlings website!
If you are hearing my voice, you have contributed to the collection we are co-creating – a hope chest of stories and reflections developed through our time together in Multicultural Communication.
You know the history of this course…
In 1989, three MPH students – Lynn Gordon, Sue Severin, and Roger Shaff – approached me with their concerns that our program talked about diversity but didn’t dive deeply enough. They proposed an experimental course, which they named Multicultural Communication – based on the foundational idea that no matter the challenge, the crisis, the bias, or the danger, communication is the key to a multicultural society. I was intrigued and agreed to sponsor the course, which ran for the first time during Winter Break 1990. We were a small and eager group for that first intensive run, joined by our newest faculty member, just arriving in San Jose – Dr. Dan Perales.
The course has been continuously offered since then – to date – 30 consecutive years on campus and 13 years online. “277” has changed with the times and the perspectives of new faculty and student participants – but the essence of the course – and the core assignments I developed – the Value Statement, Vignettes, and Cultural History – have endured for 30 years.
In 1993, I began producing a printed book of the stories people in the class wanted to share with their peers – a book by the class and only for the class. In the early years, the group was too shy to put their names on their stories, but over time, we all became more comfortable with offering – and receiving – these treasures. I called the annual book Seedlings, in honor of the life-affirming power that resides within each piece of writing, the deep roots of each author, and the graceful, inevitable growth that comes when people share their hearts.
For years, alumni from every cohort I have taught have said “We should do something with Seedlings!”. One giant book….A “Best Of” compilation….a podcast series…readings for undergraduates…the possibilities are endless because the stories are that good.
So, now I’m retired, and it’s time.
I don’t know where this will go but this website is a start. A small, ad hoc Steering Committee has been working together since I officially retired in May. Our team is led by MPH intern Arden Castle. We are inspired by the vision and nudging of alumni Kerene Tucker Mais and Maya Yoshida-Cervantes. We are grateful for the addition of undergrad intern Kaela Nguyen and post-bac intern Yovanna Gonzalez. And, as with anything Technology in my life for the past 20 years, Frank Strona is showing us how to get it done.
The first step is to see who wants to share their stories. We are moving deliberately through the cohorts, going all the way back to 1993. At this point, we are inviting people to share their stories on this Authors-Only website. I am excited to see the collection grow – but I am most excited about hearing your stories, in your own voices. I heard you in my head when I read them the first time – and I can still hear you now. But your audio recordings will bring your voices back to your peers and bring something magical to the stories you wrote.
The website is a working space – we will be adding stories for the next several months. Access is restricted to contributing authors only. As we begin to curate what we have into themes or categories, and other possible projects emerge, we will reach out with specific opportunities to share your work in different ways or with a broader audience. However, please know that we will never share your work beyond this Authors Only site without your specific written consent.
And the one thing I wish everybody knew? How grateful I am to have known each of you and to have read each of these stories. You enriched my life in countless ways. It brings me untold joy to imagine you now, sharing what I have known, across time and cohorts.
May this project honor the storytellers of our lives. And may it continue to develop our abilities to bring coherence to a careening world through the stories we tell.
Kathleen Roe
July 8, 2020