Tapestry of Faith: Building the World We Dream About: An Anti-racism Multicultural Program

Handout 7: Creating a Case Study

Your group has two choices:

  • Craft your own case study—based on lessons learned during the community field trip, presentations by the community panel, or a controversy with racial/ethnic overtones that has flared up in your congregation.
  • Develop one of the case studies in Handout 8, Case Study Suggestions.

Follow these steps to develop your case study narrative and characters:

  • Determine what problem you will highlight. Describe tensions, disconnections, mis-communications, blind spots, feelings, or inappropriate behaviors that are important to reconcile.
  • Create background information
    • How did the event(s) unfold?
    • Who are the players? What about their perspective or prior experiences shapes their behavior?
  • Develop the case study narrative, a story that is easy to follow and highlights the points you want to explore. Make sure there is enough complexity; you don't want to present a case that promotes "easy answers."
  • Check the case study narrative for "realness." Review it to ensure the events you describe could actually happen in your congregation.

You will have 45 minutes to develop your case study narrative and characters. After 45 minutes, exchange case studies with another group, so each group works with the case narrative and characters another group has developed.

Exploring and Role-playing the Case Study

  • Read the case study narrative and characters and discuss until your group has a grasp of the issues involved.
  • Demonstrate the issues in the case study and some possible solutions by creating a three- or four-minute skit to be performed in the next workshop. Your skit should pose a clear problem that spotlights some form of cultural dissonance or conflict. Remember: the goal is to have an opportunity—for better or worse—to practice multicultural skills.