SOC-111 - Diversity and Social Justice

3 credits

This course examines the structural foundations and systems that have historically excluded the physical presence and ideas of people of color (BIPOC), women, sexual minorities, and people of diverse religious backgrounds. The histories of diverse social identity groups in the United States will be explored and students will critically examine how different experiences of power, privilege and oppression shape the lives of individuals, families, groups and communities. The broad societal impact and cost of diverse populations being left out of spaces of power will be considered. Diversity is approached from the perspective of intersectionality, taking into account the complex relationship of multiple dimensions of identity with the multiple systems of advantage and disadvantage that shape our lives, communities, and world. Students will learn the theory and practice of “cultural humility,” including self-reflection and critical thinking, and leave the course able to apply these skills to current or future professional practice. Other concepts this course will address include: whiteness, anti-blackness, homophobia, classism, acculturation, integration, multi-culturalism, pluralism, gender-binary, xenophobia, racism and anti-racism.

Mass Transfer Gen Ed Foundation: Credits earned in this course are counted towards the Mass Transfer Gen Ed Foundation’s Behavioral and Social Sciences requirements.

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