By: Megan DeGrand
Communities can be formed in any area marked by any given group of people. Community can have many different meanings depending on the person. Maybe community is location based, maybe it is people, maybe it is a feeling of comfort. However, one thing is for sure– community can only exist through bonds formed by people.
There are denominations within certain regions that can create a sense of unity or, in some cases, division. Good-intended people must exist for there to be ill-intended people, making an array of different people. There is already such a rise in hateful crimes and discrimination among people from different backgrounds that simply do not understand the culture or reasons behind the way they work with each other. Due to this, it is vital to create a sense of humanity between different varieties of citizens. Some people in particular communities tend to stand out in specific ways.
The word “exceptional” is very grand, a deep sense of flattery surrounding the term when used to talk about another person. The idea of being exceptional creates an idea that one must do something important or worthy to receive such praise, but really, there are everyday occurrences that can be exceptional. There are everyday people that can be exceptional.
Stephanie Hicks is a lecturer and professor at the University of Michigan and acts as an exceptional member of the Ann Arbor community. Originally from Chicago, she moved to the western side of Ann Arbor seven years ago to spread her passion for teaching and share her gained experiences from the world.
Living in a big city like Chicago and then transitioning to a smaller area like Ann Arbor, Stephanie noticed a lot of differences that challenged her to expand her ideas of community, and also compare the similarities of where she came from. New horizons opened up in Ann Arbor for her as well, getting to learn about the sub-communities formed by those with similar social identities to her, as well as some contrasting characters.
MD: How do your communities in Chicago compare those you’ve built up in Ann Arbor?
SH: One thing that’s similar, Chicago and Ann Arbor are places where people really love where they’re from. When I met people who lived in Ann Arbor before I got here, they raved about it. Most people I know really love it… It’s different in key ways too, like Chicago is a big city, big metropolitan area, much more vast and diverse in terms of race and class, and so I think that’s what makes the city great.
It’s also really segregated too, it’s not like all that diversity is integrated and I think now, more so. Growing up, and in my parents’ generation and grandparents’ generation, we understood there were certain places in the city we couldn’t go and a lot of that had to do with race and ethnicity. Chicago is always called a city of neighborhoods because it’s beautiful and complicated; in all the different neighborhoods it’s almost like they’re a place unto themselves, some neighborhoods you can feel like you’re in different cities in five miles in different directions…Ann Arbor, geographically is a smaller city, and it feels like a smaller city, in a good way, like people are bound together and look out for each other and think of each other as a whole or a part of Ann Arbor.
Stephanie has proved to be very in touch with her communities and how these communities tie to her own identities. While in the past she has had to deal with discrimination or insecurity within her social identities, she has grown from it for the better. It has only encouraged her to help others to feel welcome in the spaces they chose to occupy and welcome those from all different kinds of backgrounds. She has a sense of loyalty to all those she has gotten to know in each of the places she has lived.
MD: What does community mean to you?
SH: I think it means a lot of things, but I think, to me, what comes to mind first is people. I think communities are made up of people who know each other or want to know each other… They are supporting each other, care about each other or want to see each other thrive and are willing to make that happen. Sure, it’s about place, but it’s also about relationships. I think there are place-based communities in Ann Arbor, but I think community is really about people. When I first moved here, I didn’t know many people and I was very excited to learn about different black communities that I could be a part of or that I could work with, or become friends with. Lots of different communities based on affinity and racial and ethnic backgrounds or where you’re from.
Stephanie works hard within the Ann Arbor community to bring people together, and this is one of the most important things to achieve within a diverse population. In today’s social climate, there is much discourse surrounding political and social ideologies.
There are regulations put into place to work against people or make certain opportunities harder to come by depending on the social groups one belongs to. Stephanie quickly got involved with a very helpful and fulfilling program at the University of Michigan called Intergroup Relations.
MD: I understand you work with IGR, can you tell me more about that?
SH: Yeah! Our program is different from other departments. So we are not officially a department, we’re a program. We don’t really have a chair, we have co-directors, and so there are two people that lead IGR and two associate directors. Our leadership is cool and interesting because whereas most people have one director, we have two, because we believe in co-leadership.
My role, I’m a lecturer, so I do the same work a professor would do, just the difference is that lecturers are more focused on teaching and lots of professors are mainly focused on research. I teach courses every semester and I also do work with the college, I do some administrative work and I’m an advisor for the IGR minor. I’m on different committees within the college with committees that think about diversity or antiracism or those sorts of things.
IGR has impacted over 130 colleges across the nation from Princeton to Stanford. IGR focuses on the student as a whole, to learn what concepts are important to them, and how they grow into their own people. Students teaching students is a much more effective learning environment for IGR, and Stephanie furthers the issues students are concerned about or are actually interested in pursuing. The courses Stephanie teaches focus on class discussion and often handle heavier topics about systematic racism and sexism, and factors of oppression.
A goal of Stephanie’s is to help build up her students and make them more aware of the harsh realities that minority groups must face in day to day life. There is a focus on acknowledging privilege and recognizing how social identities contribute to the way someone is able to participate in society.
MD: How do you think IGR is able to improve the social environment of the university and Ann Arbor?
SH:We really believe in community and see ourselves as a community that we want other people to join. We think of ourselves as a group of people who are value-driven and our program is very value-driven. We value diversity, but more than that we value bringing people together across differences and we believe that everything is better when we communicate across our different identities and understand how to create stronger communities around these differences.
We think this type of work is enjoyable and joyful, and so we want other people to be a part of it and we want people to feel like they belong in our community and we want people to know that they are valued. Usually the people that stick around throughout their time at Michigan are people who are looking for community and looking for a place to belong and when they come to IGR they find other people that believe the same thing and want to create community.
Intersectionality is an idea that contributes to most conversations within Stephanie’s lectures and within the IGR program. These discussions are truly remarkable in terms of how they can alter the casual attitudes facing racism, classism, and sexism. Stephanie uses intersectionality as a lens for her students to understand the invisible power relations and how they shape inequalities through nondominant identities. This creates new awareness for students to pursue and help reshape certain ideas that are, and have been, held in society.
Stephanie also talks about socialization as a huge concept when it comes to rethinking the ways communities and society function at large. Socialization can become a dangerous thought process if whole groups of people decide not to put a stop to harmful and generally accepted stereotypes and ways of thinking. This is where Stephanie Hicks really thrives. She discusses the cycle of socialization and brings attention to the ways in which people may be influenced by these harmful ideas. She finds joy in this contribution to her community of students, it is fulfilling work to be able to see the change you inspire.
Raising awareness of current issues of society is crucial to the future course of events. So many issues are caused because of ignorance or an unwillingness to listen to ostracized groups of people who have been dealt a bad hand. In order to change the ways in which people view minority groups or historical oppressive systems, the newest generation must become aware of the power they hold and how to diminish the effects of intersectionality. She also sheds light on the overlooked populations of homeless people. She believes it is important to acknowledge every individual person of a population and not continue the invisible and harmful narrative of homelessness.
MD: We talk a lot about social identities and how these work with the way we communicate with others. I was wondering if you noticed any sort of relationship across the places you’ve been or the social identities we’ve discussed in previous classes.
SH: I think to me, I see race and class connected across places like in Chicago and Ann Arbor, and I think I see less people who are dealing with houselessness here, but I still see the same things in terms of race. I see more people of color who are experiencing homelessness and I think I see more people dealing with mental health issues who are houseless. Even though there’s different numbers of homeless people, the ways that race and class and disability connect seem similar across numerous places. I think unfortunately the way people are experiencing homelessness happens at the intersection of so many marginalized identities. Sadly, it’s not a mistake or coincidence that many of the people in that position are marginalized in terms of race or class or ability, all of that probably impacts their ability to be able to change their situation and find housing.
Stephanie is a very deliberate professor, her points are always impactful and conscious of the multiple perspectives there could be on a certain issue. She teaches gently, yet her lessons always drive home their intended purposes.
Her courses have undoubtedly changed the mindset of many students and researchers within Michigan. Students minoring in IGR studies tend to go on to facilitate or research social change issues. This field of study raises critical consciousness, interrupts dominant narratives, and collaborates across difference.
The work Stephanie puts into IGR works to benefit the Ann Arbor and Michigan community in unseen, but critical ways.
MD: What do you think it means to be exceptional?
SH: I don’t know if I think about that a whole lot, not in a bad way, but… I think, to me, especially in our current moment in the world, what is exceptional is the ability to be kind to people and to be community oriented people, even given all the things in the world that drive us away from that. It’s very easy to be not that great of a person.
Talking about all the different systems of oppression that we live in, a lot of the impacts that follow those systems, they don’t encourage us to be great people, they encourage us to act towards each other in ways that are not life-affirming or joyful or community oriented. Something I find exceptional when I meet people, is their ability to be a decent person in the midst of all the ridiculous things in the world. People that are able to build community where it would be easy not to or people that are willing to work across differences where it would be easier not to, people who can be joyful when it would be easier not to, I think that is exceptional.
Stephanie Hicks is exceptional in her own unique ways, as is everyone else. She raises an important point about kindness. To be kind and understanding is powerful in its own way. It opens doors to new relationships and can create a momentary pause in the chaos and often hateful reality we go through in everyday life. Stephanie creates a wholesome environment that can help anyone better understand pressing topics of today. Stephanie Hicks betters the social climate at the University of Michigan and spreads positivity throughout Ann Arbor, and has the ability to reach and influence hundreds of people each day through her own communicative strategies throughout her many communities.
She encourages her students to look into IGR events and the IGR minor. Throughout the seasons, there are many programs within IGR, like the Summer Youth Dialogues programs that encourage discussion beyond the classroom and create strong bonds between young people. The IGR alumni community also continues to grow, and show the change that IGR generates. Creating communities has an intense power, being able to encourage healthy relationships in the social spheres one inhabits has the potential to change the world one day, or perhaps, even just your surroundings. Stephanie Hicks is able to accomplish all of this with positivity and a welcoming energy.
There are plenty of people in today’s society who may feel they will never accomplish anything of note, or are worried about their place in society. This is created by many overbearing expectations and historical belief systems about what an effective citizen ought to be, but being exceptional really is subjective. Being exceptional is dependent on how one views the world, what one can contribute to the community on a small scale. Any contribution can grow into something bigger than itself one day. Building communities is a great way to inspire change. Creating special bonds between diverse groups of people causes conversations to be had, ideas to spread, and mindsets to evolve. All these small contributions add up to a bigger picture. Everyday people make everyday feel so much more remarkable. They make communities just that much more exceptional.
Works Cited
Banks, C. (2019, April 28). Photo by Clay Banks on unsplash. Beautiful Free Images & Pictures. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://unsplash.com/photos/LjqARJaJotc
Intergroup relations. Stephanie Hicks, Ph.D. | Intergroup Relations. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://igr.umich.edu/profile/stephanie-hicks-phd
Team spirit cohesion teamwork – free photo on Pixabay. Pixabay. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://pixabay.com/photos/team-spirit-cohesion-teamwork-2448837/
University of Michigan. (n.d.). Intergroup Relations. Intergroup Relations | A Partnership Between LSA and Student Life. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://igr.umich.edu/
West, B. (2020, November 21). Photo by Brad West on unsplash. Beautiful Free Images & Pictures. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://unsplash.com/photos/0G3Kj9L2JH0
