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June 21, 2007

GR Campus Offers Cultural Competency Workshop

Professor Tracey Brame; GR Clinic, Dulce Limas, Translation Services Director, Hispanic Center of Western Michigan; and Assistant Dean Nelson Miller students and professors
Speakers in the Beyond Bias: Cultural Competence as a Lawyer's Professional Skill workshop event on June 21 on the GR Campus, included (l to r) Professor Tracey Brame; GR Clinic, Dulce Limas, Translation Services Director, Hispanic Center of Western Michigan; and Assistant
Dean Nelson Miller.
Students and professors gather in discussion groups after the speakers' presentations during the Beyond Bias workshop event on June 21.

Students, faculty, and staff learned how language can be used to bridge the gap between cultures at a Beyond Bias workshop offered on the GR Campus on June 21. Assistant Dean Nelson Miller welcomed the attendees and explained that cultural competency is an essential professional skill for attorneys. He explained that good lawyers who are culturally aware and sensitive employ a considerable range of communications skills.

Dean Miller introduced Dulce Limas, Director of Translation Services, Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, who discussed the role that culturally determined language register plays in effective client communications, and the need for attorneys to adjust to the client's register rather than the other way around.

Professor Tracey Brame concluded the program by speaking about her own experiences learning how to communicate in Spanish with non-English-speaking individuals. She stressed the value to a lawyer of cultural competence as a clinical and communication skill.

Trained facilitators then led small groups of attendees through various exercises designed to help them identify their own communication habits and learn to adjust the form of the legal advice and counsel they provide to match client skills.

The Beyond Bias workshop is the first in a series of cultural competency workshops that will be offered to students, faculty, and staff on the GR Campus.

 

 


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This Page was last updated on: 06/28/2007