The College of Menominee Nation’s 2014 faculty lecture series begins April 29 with a presentation by Professor Erik Lee at the college’s Keshena campus.
Lee, who holds a Master of Science degree in nursing, will discuss “a model for addressing culture issues in learning and work environments.” He said he will draw on his experience in nursing, military and tribal college settings to discuss concepts and approaches that can be applied to teaching and learning in almost any workplace or field of study.
The lecture series is free of charge and open to the public. Lee’s talk will be begin at noon in the mezzanine classroom of the S. Verna Fowler Academic Library on the campus at N172 State Highway 47/55.
His presentation will include a number of case studies that explore cultural conflicts from multiple points of view. These include ethnicity, gender, religious convictions and customs, generational norms, family, workplace conflict and resolution, acculturation and more.
“The settings of these case studies are within health care but could apply to a variety of business, industry or other settings simply by changing the location from a hospital to another specific place of work,” Lee said. “The model includes lists of questions for the students or workers to answer, and key points relevant to the particular case study being considered.”
Lee said CMN has always been ahead of the curve in regard to cultural competence.
“Many other colleges and universities have inserted cultural awareness into a curriculum, mainly in the form of a single course,” he said. “CMN, on the other hand, has taken culture into its very identity and has committed to including culture in every program and every course. It can be seen across the curriculum.”
For example, he said, CMN’s nursing department at its inception adopted the five clans of the Menominee Nation as its model.
“Other nursing programs start with a model and insert culture into it,” he said. “We started with a culture and built a nursing program around it.”
Lee earned his Bachelor Science degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and certified respiratory therapist credentials from the U.S. Army Academy of Health Services.
The CMN lecture series will continue in early fall with an address by Professor Lisa Bosman on CMN’s solar energy initiative.