Intercultural Student Affairs

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Why "intercultural"?

In 2016 Emerson's?Multicultural Student Affairs and GLBTQ?Student Services became Intercultural Student Affairs. This name change is both?consistent with the evolution of the profession, and reflects a change in the department's?approach to supporting and educating students.

In the summer of 2017 a group of students faculty and staff got together to discuss our thoughts on the meanings of intercultural and multicultural. The concepts that rose to the top that speak specifically to the department's purpose and intentions are:?

  • "Inter" means between or among, while "multi" implies many but separate?
  • Connection, interconnection, interrelationship?
  • Intersectionality of identity (race, ethnicity, socioeconomic?class, religion, gender-identity, sexual and romantic orientation, & more)
  • Especially inclusive of historically marginalized communities

Here are definitions of intercultural, multicultural, and cross-cultural communication that shed more light on our thinking.?

Intercultural?describes communities in which there is a deep understanding and respect for all cultures. Intercultural communication focuses on the mutual exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep relationships. In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and grows together.

Multicultural?refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups. ?People live alongside?one another, but each cultural group does not necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. ?For example, in a multicultural neighborhood people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and restaurants without really interacting with their neighbors from other countries.

Cross-cultural?deals with?the comparison of different?cultures. ?In cross-cultural communication, differences are understood and acknowledged, and can bring about individual change, but not collective transformations. In cross-cultural societies, one culture is often considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or contrasted to the dominant culture.

The Team

  • tamia rashima jordan director of intercultural picture

    tamia rashima jordan, M.Ed.

    Director, Intercultural Student Affairs

    tamia rashima Jordan, M.Ed. is an educator, event planner, blogger, and social justice activist. Professionally she serves as Director of Intercultural Student Affairs at Emerson College. Outside of Emerson, tamia channels her energy into supporting individuals who are incarcerated and organizations and projects focused on reforming the criminal (in)justice system.?

    tamia served in an advisory to capacity to MusicXChange Ghana and was on the board of the Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Festival and served as the VIP and Hospitality Coordinator for the first annual BAMS Festival in June 2018 at Franklin Park. Additionally she was a volunteer project coordinator for President Obama's national My Brother's Keeper initiative and partnered with Boston University's Prison Education program.?

    Originally from Hackensack, NJ, tamia has an M.Ed. in Higher Education Student Affairs Administration from the University of Vermont and a B.A. in Government and African American Studies from the University of Virginia. As an educator she has worked in orientation and first-year experience programs, student activities and student leadership development, social justice education, community service programs, and is a certified StrengthsQuest mentor and advisor.?

    Some things tamia can't live without include: the ocean, all the children who call her auntie, traveling to countries below the equator, and great music.

  • Jamaica Siroky, M.Ed.

    Assistant Director of Intercultural Student Affairs for LGBTQIA+ Student Services

    Jamaica Siroky comes to Emerson with an M.Ed. and a B.A. in Integrated Language Arts (English, Rhetoric, Theatre, and Communications). He has served and taught in various urban communities for 7 years and counting. Professionally, he serves as Assistant Director of Intercultural Student Affairs at Emerson College, and has designed and led various modules for youth and adults that pertain to the -isms that segregate our identities as part of Camp Anytown and the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) of Dayton. Overall, he has experience supporting communities of color and LGBTQIA+ through mentorship, partnerships with peer organizations, and curriculum development and execution, as well as advocacy in policies and common practices that promote solidarity. For Jamaica, you cannot separate any of his identities, and thus everything he does is with an intentional intersectional focus that highlights the necessity of being an individual who discovers what it means to truly be visible, represented, heard, respected, and connected.

    In his spare time, Jamaica is often doing something to keep his body and mind active. From boxing/martial arts or a daily run, to singing, cooking, and reading an insane amount while sipping tea, he really does enjoy the time he gets to just be human.

  • Ellen graduate assistant for intercultural picture

    Ellen Washington

    Ellen Washington graduated from Macalester College in 2014 with a BA in Humanities, Media, & Cultural Studies with a Focus in Film.?Upon graduating, Ellen returned home to Springfield, Ohio to be close to family and serve the community that helped to shape her. While there, she worked at a food bank as a program coordinator. Ellen is currently pursuing an MFA in Film and Visual Media at Emerson College.?She is passionate about dismantling systems of poverty and oppression through her work as a filmmaker and activist.? Ellen enjoys spending her free time at home with her two cats, cooking, baking, and watching an obscene amount of television.