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University of Florida

Cultural Dialogues Through For Colored Girls…


UF Faculty: Jashodhara Sen
Department: School of Theatre + Dance
College: College of the Arts

Partner Faculty: Hiteshi Jain
Department: Department of English
Partner Institution: St. Mira’s College for Girls

Partner Faculty: Prathmesh Viveki
Department: Department of English
Partner Institution: St. Mira’s College for Girls
Title: From Harlem to Pune: Cultural Dialogues Through For Colored Girls...
Project Description: This virtual exchange project brings together a multicultural American classroom and an Indian classroom to analyse and adapt For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. Through collaborative discussions, comparative analysis, creative adaptations, and intercultural activities, students explore themes of identity, gender, race, and mental health across both cultural contexts. The project fosters empathy, cultural sensitivity, and critical thinking, as students work in diverse teams to examine how these issues manifest in their respective societies. By engaging with the text and each other, students deepen their global awareness and develop intercultural collaboration skills.
Learning Outcomes:
  • Understanding of Cultural Contexts: Students will be able to compare and contrast the themes of identity, race, gender, and resilience in For Colored Girls... across American and Indian cultural contexts, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of how these issues manifest in both societies.
  • Intercultural Awareness: Students will demonstrate awareness of how social issues such as mental health, gender inequality, and systemic oppression are experienced differently across cultures, including the impact of caste and colonial legacies in India and the intersections of race and gender in the U.S. 
  • Empathy and Cultural Sensitivity: Students will show increased empathy and sensitivity by recognising and respecting the emotional and cultural experiences of others, particularly in relation to complex themes such as trauma, oppression, and empowerment as explored in the text.
  • Open-mindedness and Global Perspective: Students will cultivate an open-minded attitude toward different cultural expressions of identity, gender, and mental health, demonstrating a willingness to learn from peers in the other cultural context and to consider multiple perspectives when analysing and adapting the text. 
  • Critical Analysis and Adaptation: Students will develop the ability to critically analyse For Colored Girls… in its original form and then adapt its narrative or performance to their own cultural or community contexts, effectively applying intercultural literary analysis.
  • Intercultural Collaboration: Students will work collaboratively in diverse, intercultural teams to co-create a project or performance based on For Colored Girls..., honing their communication, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills within a culturally diverse group.
Participating Countries: India
Number of Participants: 16 UF students and 17 St. Mira's College for Girls students
Discipline: Art Education
UF Course Code & Name: THE4481 - Production Dramaturgy
Project Duration: 5 weeks
Activity Type(s):
  • Student-to-Student Dialogue
  • Student-to-Student Project
Time allotted to each activity:
  • Synchronous Activities (hours/week): 1 hours/week
  • Asynchronous Activities (hours/week): 3-4 hours/week
  • Local Group Activities (hours/week): 1 hours/week
  • Individual Work (hours/week): 1-2 hours/week
Technology Tools:
  • Zoom
  • Padlet
  • Google Drive
Sequence of Activities:
  • Icebreaker: Students must interview their partners using a set of questions / prompts that will be provided to them. Using the interview answers, they must write a brief introduction about their partner and post it to the shared Padlet.
  • Engagement Activity: Cross-Cultural Literary Analysis (Discussion/Essay): Students from both classrooms form intercultural groups and discuss how themes of oppression and empowerment are experienced in their respective cultures.
  • Collaboration Activity:
    • Cultural Adaptation and Performance: students select a specific poem or monologue from the text and adapt it to their cultural reality
    • Visual Representation and Symbolism: digital art, posters, photography, or short film
  • Reflection Activity: Intercultural Reflection Journals: Prompt to reflect on how their own cultural background influences their interpretation of the text and how engaging with another culture has shifted their understanding of gender, identity, and mental health.