Justin Brown Reviews

Diversity Event

The students’ responses when asked:

1. Youroverall thoughts on the lecture

2. Yourfavorite topic

3. Anything youbelieve should have been covered that was not included

Overall thoughts: Going into the lecture I was expecting it to be a long, boring speech on how to respect each other’s colors and beliefs. However, after the entire workshop ended I was pleasantly surprised because I had a lot of fun during it. Justin Brown deserves an A+ on keeping my attention during the entire duration of the lecture as well as encouraging me to give input.My favorite topic I think was the “stereotyping skits”. I didn’t take any of them offensively and found them quite funny how we can stereotype anyone really. It also made me rethink certain things that I know I have said in the past. I believed he covered a good variety of things and kept it interesting in the process.
My overall thoughts on the lecture were that he made significant points on how our campus is divided due to the stereotypes of our generation has. He also points out that since we are aware of this that we should take some type of action to end it starting with ourselves then our surroundings. My favorite topic or game would be when we played this or that because it made you decided a topic based on your belief, that even though certain topics in life are black and white, there is always some kind of grey. He covered everything pretty much!

I thought the lecture put together very well. I loved how Justin didn’t just talk at us, he asked for our opinions and provided examples of his points through various games. I overall really enjoyed this presentation. It really opened my eyes to how diverse everyone truly is and the importance of accepting others differences to work with them as a leader. I really enjoyed playing the “This or That Game”. In this game, Justin would bring up a topic such as Gay marriage and everyone had to go to the side that they believed in. What made this interesting was that there was no middle so everyone had to choose a specific side. I liked this activity because it put me out of my comfort zone. We were often asked why we chose the side we did which really made you question your own values and beliefs. Thisnot only helped me to see the diversity of others but how I’m diverse as an individual. There really isn’t any topic that I can think of should’ve been covered in this presentation. I believe that it was a very creative way of teaching us about diversity and how much easier it would be if we’d stop focusing on the stereotypes and just work together as one.
I thought that the Justin Brown presentation was awesome! When I heard that we had to go listen to this guest speaker on Saturday at 1 and that it was mandatory, I thought “oh great! We’re going to be lectured for an hour on a Saturday!” Then whenever Justin began talking and said his presentation was going to last 2 hours, I was not excited. But then whenever he started having up interact with each other by playing different games, it really woke me up and I really enjoyed it! I definitely think that he got his point across to everybody in that auditorium. It was also cool because he is a Slippery Rock alumni and he showed us a video of a project that he did when he went here. My favorite activity that he had us play was when he gave random people a piece of paper with what kind of person they have to act out. I really enjoyed this activity because you get to see the stereotypes that we have of certain types of people. I definitely think that Justin Brown should come back to Slippery Rock to educate more students on diversity. I would love to see his presentation again!
Out of all of the speakers I have listened to during my time here at Slippery Rock, Justin Brown was by far my favorite. I loved how he did not just lecture and go through a PowerPoint, but engaged with his audience and had us participate in many games. My favorite topic that he covered was on stereotypes. When he picked a few people from the audience to describe the type of person that was written on a card he handed them, many people from the audience knew who they were attempting to portray after only listening to a few statements. It is surprising how we may have claimed to not believe in certain stereotypes but we are all aware of them. I think Justin covered a lot of important topics during this workshop but could have talked more about how we can make our campus friendlier and culturally diverse.
I thought that Justin Browns presentation was very good. It was interesting and kept us involved and active with the topic. It was very nicely put together and he defiantly knew what he was talking about and he always took people’s opinions into mind. He never said that anyone was wrong for thinking what they thought about a topic; he would just present another view point to them and make them think outside of the box a little bit. My favorite part was when the people went up front and were given slips of paper with some type of stereotype on it and they had to act it out. I thought that it was interesting that we were all able to act it out so easily and that we were able to guess them so quickly. It really showed that those are very common stereotypes and we have all been exposed to them at some time in our life. I think that Justin did a great job covering all of the important things in his presentation. I can’t think of anything that he missed. It was a very good presentation and he hit all of the most important things.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Justin Brown lecture. I learned a lot, and it was not a dry and boring lecture like I expected it to be. I really enjoyed that he got the audience involved in many portions of the presentation and that he spoke to us on a more personal level rather than just telling us in a professional and uptight way. I feel as though that was the best way to reach his audience. My favorite topic in this presentation was about stereotypes. He addressed it in a serious, yet humorous way and a lot of what he said will stick with me through my career and leadership opportunities. I think that this portion of the presentation covered a lot of what becomes an issue when you are a leader.
I thought that the lecture was very interesting. I enjoyed that Justin was enthusiastic and energetic, because it caught my attention. I had never had a lecture on diversity before, so I think that I learned some very valuable information. My favorite topic was the activity this or that. It made me realize that many of my peers have different views than I do and that I need to be understanding of their views. I learned that it is important to see other people's points of view and understand that just because I think it is right doesn't mean that others think the same way. Because I have never been to a diversity event before, I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge on the subject. The only information I know now is what was presented to me in the lecture. I cannot think of anything that was not covered and think that Justin did a great job covering the various topics.
I thought the presentation was very engaging from beginning to end. Justin is a great public speaker and never seemed to miss a beat, even when processing all the candid answers the audience was giving. The subject matter was serious, but he kept the outlook positive instead of just griping about the current problems our society has with prejudice and discrimination. I thought I would be going into a lecture where I would sit for an hour or so and just listen. The huge amount of interactive exercises within the program made it much more stimulating and memorable, albeit somewhat nerve-wracking or awkward at times. My favorite portion of the program was the last game, “cheerleader”. The idea behind it was very inspiring. Without even thinking about or questioning whether that person’s characteristics (race, gender, religion, sexuality, etc.) align with your beliefs, you felt compelled to cheer them on and encourage them to win the rock paper scissors tournament. It mirrored how we should act in society every day, and I feel that message resounded well with everyone. I think Justin did a sufficient job with including all the diverse groups in our society and the issues/stereotypes associated with each. Since there are so many topics to expand upon, he had to cover each area briefly but did so tactfully and smoothly. I was very impressed with how he conveyed each idea and challenged my brain to think about things differently.
The lecture was amazing and created a lasting impact. I loved all of the interactive games because they kept my attention, made me think, and removed me from my comfort zone. The rock paper scissors match was probably the most interesting. Watching people show support for others was refreshing. I appreciated the wide variety of topics; however, I was hoping for a stronger focus on both the respect of one another’s personal views and of different cultures.
My overall impression of Justin’s Diversity Workshop was a positive one. When first hearing that the topic would be diversity, I expected it to be a dry run-of-the mill speech that I probably heard before. But I was pleasantly surprised when Justin had us all shout out our opinions and getting involved in games and activities that showed us our own disposition to prejudice based on diversity. Justin did a phenomenal job pointing out the flaws of our automatic prejudice and inaccurate assumptions we have about different groups of people. I had a lot of fun during the workshop and the time really went by quickly. Justin was entertaining but eye opening at the same time, and I am glad I had the opportunity to attend his workshop. My favorite topic during the workshop was probably feminism when Justin showed us the short film he made. It was very interesting to see how many people had such a strong opinion about “ending women’s suffrage” when they clearly did not know what women’s suffrage was. I thought this particular “lesson” was the best because it could be generalized and applied to more than just feminism and women’s suffrage. It opened my eyes to see that ignorance can blindly lead us to support something we would not otherwise support if given sufficient information on the topic. I think that even though Justin touched upon the subject of diversity through disabilities, he could have done a better job of elaborating on that topic. Disabilities often times get overlooked due to the more obvious go-to topics of racial and cultural diversity. But, once again, I still thought that this workshop was thoroughly educational and fun to take part in.
Overall, I thought the lecture was very effective. It made people interact with one another in ways that would never have been done otherwise. It was fast paced, and interesting; a good way to keep all involved even though it was a Saturday. My favorite part had to have been the bit about women’s suffrage. I was one of the people who knew what that was, so it was fun to see all of the shocked participants that thought it should be eliminated. One part that I think could definitely be done better though was the focus on religion. There was very little, if any talk about religious beliefs and the tolerance of others’ beliefs. I for one being Jewish, know that it can be very difficult to be open about your faith and not face negative consequences, especially here in rural PA. Otherwise, I thought that the presentation was a good, well rounded event.
I thought Justin Brown’s lecture was very inspiring and eye opening. We covered topics that are often not talked about, yet we see stereotypes and others being prejudice in our day to day life. I would say my favorite activity was the pick-a-side game. It was interesting to hear from those who choose the side with less people. It was brave of them to stand up and talk about what they believed in with a whole room of people staring at them. I believe everything was covered and this program was good just the way it was, making it longer could lose people’s attention. Overall I really liked Justin Brown’s lecture and the activities he got us engaged in.
I thought that the lecture was great. I’ve taken diversity classes before, but we always just discussed the topics. At the lecture we were able to interact in group activities. I like how he was able to relate the reality of the situation to specifically SRU students. I think it was awesome that Justin Brown went to SRU, and that he showed us what he used to do here. I think that the lecture taught us lessons about diversity and awareness that will assist us for the rest of our lives. My favorite topic that was brought up in the lecture was stereotypes. I think that the stereotypes were shown to us in a great, creative way. He chose a select group of people to act out the stereotypes that society places on people. It was more than learning just what stereotypes were. It showed us how stereotypes can be very harmful, and just how widely known they are. People were able to quickly guess what stereotype that the people were acting out. I feel like he covered a lot of good, necessary topics in the time that we were there. We could have covered how to encourage diversity with others on a daily basis, and how to deal with prejudice if you see it.
I really enjoyed going to this workshop about diversity! I have always enjoyed talking about this topic because I feel that diversity is necessary in most situations. I thought that Justin Brown did an awesome job of talking and educating about diversity, while also making it fun too. I liked how he interacted with the crowd and how he could relate to us, since he also went to SRU. My favorite topic of the lecture was the stereotypes because no matter how much we do no realize it, we do stereotype a lot.