Honors Cultural Diversity in American Society

Catalog description

This course seeks to examine, describe and explain the conditions that surround a number of racial and minority groups in contemporary America. A variety of theoretical, historical and topical concerns will be addressed during the course (i.e., slavery, prejudice, discrimination, definitions of race). The course provides students with an introduction to the sociological study of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States. Emphasis is placed on understanding the social, economic, political, historical and demographic forces that have shaped the unique experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The course will address the processes that gave rise to race and ethnicity as important forces in the United States and the sociological perspectives that govern the understanding of these forces. This course will also examine how racial and ethnic inequalities are reflected in the major social institutions of the United States (i.e., housing, education, family, work, politics, and crime). The course includes significant academic discourse in sociology and other disciplines. Concepts of the course will be applied through a service learning project. Open to students in the Honors College and by permission of the instructor or department chairperson.