Exploring Racial and Cultural Identity

Catalog description

This course will provide students the opportunity to study race at the individual level. Students will be asked to consider their own life experiences in relationship to the course material. We will explore several complex topics that include: What does it mean to embrace equality for all people but feel more comfortable in communities that closely resemble us? What is the appropriate response when we observe racism or discrimination of others? The course will familiarize students with the concept of what being white means in our society. By the end, students should possess an enhanced understanding of how race, particularly the concept of "whiteness," is expressed in literary texts, historical studies, and popular media. Learning is not simply a process of acquiring more information but of being open to adjusting how we think about the world in face of new information. This class requires that students take emotional as well as intellectual risks; we will cultivate discussions based on honesty, respect, and kindness.