Spring Break
Professor: every view important
Ronald Briggs speaks during roundtable discussion
By: Stephen Shepperd
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: News
Prairie View A&M Associate Professor Ronald S. Briggs said that everyone's point of view is important during a round table discussion on social paradigms facing minorities.
Texas A&M Center for the Study of Health Disparities in the College of Education put on the roundtable discussion in Rudder Tower to conclude Black History Month.
"We have had several students who worked with Briggs at [Prairie View A&M]," said Raynolette Ettienne-Gittens, a doctoral research assistant in the Center for the Study of Health Disparities. "They suggested that he would be a good speaker to have because it is Black History Month."
Briggs's discussion focused on shifting minority paradigms and opening up one's mind to accepting more than one point of view.
"I've been trained to look at people of color, and shed light," Briggs said. "Black people, as well as any person of color, all have different points of view. We need to see that."
"These discussions extend beyond people of color to involve even the people of the dominant culture," Ettienne-Gittens said.
Briggs gave scenarios and asked members of the round table to discuss how they viewed the characters in the different scenarios. He used music as a discussion aid to help members emotionally connect with each of the characters in an attempt to expand their points of view.
"I take a look at many people's differences, incorporate it in my learning, and it allows me to reevaluate even my own point of view," Briggs said. "Just because I think one way doesn't mean everybody thinks the same way."
People in attendance were encouraged to express their opinions on topics, including their disagreements. Briggs used the differing opinions of discussion to further explain his point.
"Everybody is not in the same place, and we aren't meant to be in the same place," Briggs said. "We need to be scattered out, and no one person is right. Being right is relative."
Briggs is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a specific emphasis in chemical dependency and group therapy.
Texas A&M Center for the Study of Health Disparities in the College of Education put on the roundtable discussion in Rudder Tower to conclude Black History Month.
"We have had several students who worked with Briggs at [Prairie View A&M]," said Raynolette Ettienne-Gittens, a doctoral research assistant in the Center for the Study of Health Disparities. "They suggested that he would be a good speaker to have because it is Black History Month."
Briggs's discussion focused on shifting minority paradigms and opening up one's mind to accepting more than one point of view.
"I've been trained to look at people of color, and shed light," Briggs said. "Black people, as well as any person of color, all have different points of view. We need to see that."
"These discussions extend beyond people of color to involve even the people of the dominant culture," Ettienne-Gittens said.
Briggs gave scenarios and asked members of the round table to discuss how they viewed the characters in the different scenarios. He used music as a discussion aid to help members emotionally connect with each of the characters in an attempt to expand their points of view.
"I take a look at many people's differences, incorporate it in my learning, and it allows me to reevaluate even my own point of view," Briggs said. "Just because I think one way doesn't mean everybody thinks the same way."
People in attendance were encouraged to express their opinions on topics, including their disagreements. Briggs used the differing opinions of discussion to further explain his point.
"Everybody is not in the same place, and we aren't meant to be in the same place," Briggs said. "We need to be scattered out, and no one person is right. Being right is relative."
Briggs is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a specific emphasis in chemical dependency and group therapy.
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