The Voices Project

Click the following link to check out The Voices Project: Disability Video:

The Voices:Disability Video

Disability is the second chapter of a psychology project that explores society's attitudes toward individuals considered "different". Fifteen Teacher Education Department (TED) majors interviewed teenagers, college students, and adults with disabilities--and their family members--to learn about how having a disability has affected their lives. The individuals who were interviewed had conditions including deafness, blindness, stroke, spinal cord injury, stuttering, spina bifida, dwarfism, arthrogryposis, femoral hypoplasia, cerebral palsy, and more. Students wrote stories of the lives of their interviewees which were integrated into a staged reading program presented by 24 readers in the Lemmond Auditorium of Misericordia University on April 26, 2012 to an audience of over 400 people. Dr. Melissa Sgroi, a faculty member in the Communications Department, joined the previous writing team of faculty.

"What the project conveys is that, for the most part, the greatest limitations experienced by people with disabilities are not due to the disability itself. They don't see themselves as disabled. The label and limitations come from the social and emotional barriers placed on them by people in society and the constraints of the physical environment," Dr. Nordstrom reported.

The stories were so powerful that the program was picked up by WVIA-TV, a local affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System that broadcasts to a 17-county radius of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The program was video recorded live on August 18, 2012 at WVIA Studios and will be aired through November, December and January on the WVIA station. The first four broadcast dates will be Monday, Nov. 19 (7:00 pm), Thanksgiving Day-Nov. 22 (8:00 pm), Sunday, Nov. 25 (3:00 pm), and Monday, December 10 (7:00 pm).

 

The Voices Project began as a method for students to examine the question: what is it like to be "different"? In Fall of 2009, Psychology instructor Dr. Alicia Nordstrom developed an experiential, service-learning diversity assignment for her Intro to Psychology course that was intended to enhance students' critical thinking and cultural competency, reduce stereotypes and prejudice towards victimized and misunderstood groups, and increase empathy and perspective taking. This assignment--called The Voices Project (TVP)--was designed with the understanding that students often have negative attitudes toward people from unfamiliar groups. In the absence of personal experience, people will form their opinions based upon society's stereotypes, media's portrayals of those groups, or things they hear from family or friends.

The methodology of this project was based on the principle of "the power of one." That is, if students could form a positive relationship with one person from a group with whom they are unfamiliar or toward whom they have a pre-existing negative attitude, than the new information gained from that relationship can provide students with real information that can be used to examine and potentially revise their attitudes. To achieve this goal, students interviewed a person from a "group of difference" (as defined by a group considered by society to be outside the 'social norm') and gather information about their interviewee's life (e.g., what is it like to be them?).

Another component of the project was to help students develop empathy and expand their ability to understand perspectives outside of their own. Toward this end, students wrote a 5 page memoir for their interviewee's life from the first person perspective so that the student adopted the identity of their interviewee. Students reviewed the information that they collected during the interviews and identified 3-5 major themes that emerged in the person's story. Students wrote these memoirs using the word "I" to represent the perspectives of their interviewees.

Having a collection of life stories of people who are typically misunderstood, devalued, and/or ignored in society seemed like possessing a special gem that needs to be shared with others. Dr. Nordstrom commissioned a writing team of faculty from other departments--including Dr. Allan Austin (History), Dr. Patrick Hamilton (English), and Dr. Rebecca Steinberger (English)--to excerpt and integrate the stories so that they formed a cohesive, monologue-style staged reading program. This program was presented at the end of each semester to a crowd of hundreds in Lemmond Auditorium from the campus and community.

For Dr. Nordstrom and most of her students, The Voices Project is a transformative learning experience. "If we have made just one person be more thoughtful, more willing to be accepting of someone they see as different than themselves, then our efforts have been successful," said Dr. Nordstrom.

TVP was part of a larger pedagogical study created so that Dr. Nordstrom could examine whether the project succeeded in achieving its learning goals. Her data shows that students who completed TVP assignment had a reduction in negative attitudes toward the focus groups of the project, as well as an increase in critical thinking and cultural competency.

Due to the efficacy of the project, Dr. Nordstrom launched a second chapter focusing on the theme of "disability" in Spring, 2012. For more details and information on each chapter of TVP, click on the corresponding links on the left hand side of the page.

The following are excerpts from stories written by students as part of this project:

Man with AIDS

"If my softball friends said anything discriminating about AIDS, they did not say it to my face. Although they probably talked about my disease behind my back, I'm glad that they never said anything to me directly. I would not have wanted to know how they really felt. A year after I was diagnosed, I was hanging out with a friend of mine... We were listening to the radio, and a commercial for an AIDS walk came on. After the commercial, my friend's band member said, 'We should just take all the homosexuals and people with AIDS and put them on an island and just blow it up. That would solve this problem.' He had no idea that a man with AIDS was standing right next to him.”

Muslim College Student

"I also have a job just like any other college student; I work at a clothing store. This is where I experienced my first form of discrimination. One day while the store was very busy, I was helping a customer when I heard a man yell, 'Hey, why don't you take that tablecloth off your head so you can hear me!' I simply turned to the man and calmly responded, 'No thank you, I would rather keep it on.' After an older woman heard the man say this to me, she walked over, looked me in the face, and said, 'I think you look beautiful!' While the man was leaving the store, I saw a look of embarrassment come across his son's face. I didn't let it get to me because it doesn't matter to me what others think about my hijab or my religion; it is my decision, nobody else's.”

Nineteen readers--including students, faculty, deans, and community members--read the stories of the interviewees on November 5, 2009. Over 325 people attended this performance to hear the real life stories of people considered by society as “different” to learn about how their culture and experiences have affected their lives.

 

 

The Voices Project: Mental Health is the next chapter of a psychology project that explores society’s attitudes towards individuals considered “different.” Fifty-five college students interviewed over 60 people and family members of those with mental health conditions to learn about their lives. This theatrical program shares these stories with a focus on anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, suicide, eating disorders, alcoholism, substance abuse, Tourette's Syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, intellectual disability, and Alzheimers/dementia. Find out what you don't know about mental health. The stigma ends...now.

In the Voices Project: Mental Health, 55 college students interviewed over 60 people and family members of those with mental health conditions to learn about their lives. The students wrote memoirs about their interviewees whose lives were touched by anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, suicide, eating disorders, alcoholism, substance abuse, Tourette's Syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, intellectual disability, and Alzheimers/dementia. These memoirs were integrated into a theatrical program that was performed by a cast of 21 actors to over 600 people in April, 2017.

A video of the April show can be found here. Please note that there is no sound for the first scene but the sound will resume after the first scene for the rest of the show.

Click here to access the program for the April performance.

Click here to access the program for the August performance.

In addition to the Misericordia University performance, the The Voices Project: Mental Health was also performed at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival in New York City in August, 2017. The script was revised and condensed to highlight 14 of the original memoirs. This staged reading was directed by Peter Jensen (Artistic Director at the T. Schreiber Studio) and was read by a cast of professional (including equity) New York Actors. For a list of actors and production information, download the program at the above link. Click here to access the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival Performance.

Assignment Directions	Reflection Journals
Chapter 1 Diversity	TVP Chapters 1 & 2
Chapter 2 Disability	US/UK Voices Project
US/UK Voices Project
Preparing for Interviews	Memoir Grading Rubric
Interviewing Adolescents & Adults	TVP Grading Rubric Chapters 1 & 2
Scripts
Chapter 1 Diversity
Chapter 2 Disability
Chapter 3 Mental Health

 

SURVEYS FOR SPECIFIC SOCIAL GROUPS

Group/ Variable	Name of Measure	Subscales	Citation
Asians/Asian Americans	Attitudes towards Asians	None	Dinh, K. T., Weinstein, T. L., Nemon, M., & Rondeau, S. (2008). The effects of contact with Asians and Asian Americans on White American college students: Attitudes, awareness of racial discrimination, and psychological adjustment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42(2), 298-308. doi: 10.1007/s10464-008-9202-z
Blacks	Modern Racism Scale	None	McConahay, J. B. (1986). Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale. In J. F. Dovidio, & S. L. Gaertner (Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 91-125). San Diego, CA, US: Academic Press.
Whites' Racial Consciousness	Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Scale- Revised	- Conflictive racial justice -Reactive racial justice	Vandiver, B. J., & Leach, M. M. (2005). Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Scale-Revised. Unpublished scale. Wolff, K. E., & Munley, P. H. (2012). Exploring the relationships between White racial consciousness, feminist identity development and family environment for White undergraduate women. College Student Journal, 46(2), 283–307.
Muslims	Islamo- phobia Scale	-Affective-behavioral -Cognitive	Lee, S. A., Gibbons, J. A., Thompson, J. M., & Timani, H.S. (2009). The Islamophobia Scale: Instrument development and initial validation. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 19, 92-105.
Wealth/Poverty	Beliefs about the Causes of Wealth and Poverty	- Poverty: individualism -Poverty: situationalism -Wealth: individualism -Wealth: situationalism	Smith, K. B., & Stone, L. H. (1989). Rags, riches, and bootstraps: Beliefs about the causes of wealth and poverty. The Sociological Quarterly, 30(1), 93-107.
Antifat	Antifat Attitudes Question- naire	- Dislike toward overweight people -Concerns about weight -Beliefs about willpower and controllability of weight	Crandall, C. S. (1994). Prejudice against fat people: Ideology and self-interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(5), 882-894. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.66.5.882
Ageism/Elderly	Fraboni Scale of Ageism-Revised	- Stereotypes -Separation -Affective Attitudes	Rupp, D. E., Vodanovich, S. J., & Crede, M. (2005). The multidimensional nature of ageism: Construct validity and group differences. Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 335-362. doi: 10.3200/SOCP.145.3.335-362
People with AIDS	Generic AIDS Attitudes Scale	- Empathy -Avoidance	Froman, R. D., & Owen, S. V. (2001). Measuring attitudes towards Persons with AIDS: The AAS-G as an alternate form of the AAS. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice: An International Journal, 15(2), 161-174.
Sexism	Ambivalent Sexism Inventory	- Benevolent sexism -Hostile sexism	Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 491-512. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
Gays/Lesbians	Homo- negativity Scale	- Gays -Lesbians	Morrison, T. G., Parriag, A. V., & Morrison, M. A. (1999). The psychometric properties of the Homonegativity Scale. Journal of Homosexuality, 37(4), 111-126. doi: 10.1300/J082v37n04_07

The project is intended to be shared by other instructors, community members, diversity educators, and/or social justice proponents to help others gain new perspectives of groups that are stigmatized or misunderstood.

A list of academic publications can be found on the Research tab.

Elizabeth Weiss, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
The Ohio State University Newark

"I incorporated the Voices Project into my Stereotyping and Prejudice class. This class is an upper-level psychology elective, taken mainly by psychology majors. Before we met as a class, I asked students to complete a brief survey regarding groups of difference. I had them indicate which groups they were most and least comfortable with/knowledgeable about. Then, at the beginning of the course, I assigned each student three groups of difference and they chose one to work on. Throughout the semester, they studied qualitative research, made contacts with community groups to find interviewees, drafted interview questions, and actually conducted interviews. It was a lot of work for them and for me, but we all had such a wonderful time with this project. Several students mentioned that it was the single best learning experience they had as a college student. It was certainly one of the most gratifying experiences I have had as a teacher!"

Enhancing Students' Cultural Competence through Interviews with Muslim and non-Muslim British Students

Principal Investigators: 

Alicia Nordstrom, Ph.D., Misericordia University

Valerie Todd, Ph.D., Blackburn University (Lancashire, England)

In 2013 and 2014, The Voices Project went international as students from Misericordia University and Blackburn College in Lancashire, England used The Voices Project framework to interview each other. One Misericordia student from an upper-level psychology course was paired with two students from Blackburn College (one Muslim and one non-Muslim student) and the pairs interviewed each other using email, Facebook, and/or Skype. The British students wrote memoirs of the lives of the American students and the American students wrote essays comparing the life experiences of the British students with their own. These stories are being compiled into an iBook for dissemination.

The Voices Project (TVP) has received several awards by teaching, community and social justice societies:

• 2014 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Speaker Award at the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology
• Electric City/Diamond City Best Theater Production of 2012 for The Voices Project: Disability
• 2012 Innovative Teaching Award (Honorable Mention) by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues 
• 2011 Action Teaching Award (Honorable Mention) by the Social Psychology Network

Comparing the Impact of Three Diversity Assignments on Students' Attitudes towards Groups of Difference

Principal Investigator: Alicia Nordstrom, Ph.D.

The Voices Project is a social justice and advocacy project but also has a research portion to examine whether the stories collected and shared empirically reduce stigma of different social groups.  

To date, research results show that The Voices Project reduces racism and mental health stigma in students who participated in the project.  in addition, mental health stigma reduced in people who watched The Voices Project: Mental Health theatrical production or documentary, showing that just hearing the stories can have a positive impact on attitudes towards people with mental health conditions. 

For more information, here are some of the publications and conference presentations that have come out of this research:  

Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Nordstrom, A. H., & Goodfriend, W. (in press).  Innovative stigma and discrimination reduction programs.  Oxfordshire, England:  Routledge.

Caleb, A. M., & Nordstrom, A. H. (in press).  Empathy and authenticity in education:  Team teaching “The Voices Project: Mental Health”.  In C. Campion & A. Angello (Eds.), The Synergistic Classroom.  New Brunswick, NJ:  Rutgers University Press. 

Nordstrom, A. H. (2017).  One course is not enough: Integrating sociocultural learning across the psychology curriculum. In R. L. Miller & T. Collette (Eds.) Teaching Tips: A Compendium of Conference Presentations on Teaching, 2015-16. Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology web site: http://teachpsych.org/resources/Documents/ebooks/teachingtips.pdf

Nordstrom, A. H. (2015). The Voices Project: Reducing White students' racism in Introduction to Psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 1-8.  DOI: 10.1177/0098628314562524 

Conference Presentations:

Nordstrom, A. H. (2020, February).  The Voices Project: Reducing Mental Health Stigma in College Students.  Presentation at the SoTL Commons Conference, Savannah, GA. 

Nordstrom, A. H. (2019, March).  The Voices Project: Using theater to reduce stigma of mental health.  In W. Goodfriend (Chair), Innovative Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Interventions for Gender, Race, and Mental Health.  Symposium conducted at the International Convention of Psychological Science, Paris, France.  

Nordstrom, A. H. (2017, August).  The Voices Project:  Using psychobiography to reduce stereotypes and prejudice in college students. In J. Lodi-Smith (Chair), Psychobiography.  Symposium conducted at the 125^th Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. 

Nordstrom, A. H. (2016, October).  The Voices Project:  Breaking down stereotypes one story at a time. Invited presentation at the National Intercollegiate Recreational Sports Association Region I Conference, Lancaster, PA. 

Nordstrom, A. H. (2016, March).  One course is not enough:  Integrating sociocultural learning across the Psychology curriculum.  Invited presentation at the Southeastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Atlanta, GA.

Nordstrom, A. H. (2015, October).  Infusing sociocultural learning in psychology classes.  Invited presentation at the Northeastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Fitchburg, MA. 

Nordstrom, A. H. (2015, October).  The Voices Project.  In A. H. Nordstrom (Chair), Addressing barriers to reducing racism through narrative and popular culture.  Symposium conducted at the Diversity Challenge: Race, Culture, and Social Justice conference, Boston, MA. 

• Nordstrom, A. H., (2015, January).Infusing sociocultural learning in psychology classes.Presentation at the 37thAnnual National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg, FL.
• Nordstrom, A. H. (2013, October). Reducing racism in college students: Using SoTL to evaluate the impact of a peacebuilding pedagogy. Presented at the 2013 International Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), Raleigh, North Carolina.
• Nordstrom, A. H. (2013, July). Stereotypes and prejudice in college students: Identifiable patterns and classroom interventions. Presented at the 4th International Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• Nordstrom, A. H. (2012, August). The Voices Project: Enhancing students' cultural competence in Intro to Psychology. Poster presented at the 120th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Orlando, FL.
• Nordstrom, A. H. (2011, October). The Voices Project: Using an experiential diversity assignment to reduce stereotypes and prejudice in Intro to Psychology. Presentation at the Best Practice in Teaching Introduction to Psychology conference of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Atlanta, GA.