ISSS 3455 - Demystifying Diversity

This course acknowledges the myriad overtones, undertones, complexities, shadows, and “politicizations” with which the topic of diversity is fraught and which–for many of us–make the issue hard, maybe even a little scary, to approach and difficult to understand. At bottom, however, the course will argue that diversity basically means “difference” and how we react and relate to it. The course will use a variety of social science perspectives, tools, concepts, and models (historical, sociological, political, organizational, and psychological) to explore the American experience with difference (ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc.) from Revolutionary times through the present. It will provide the student with a robust framework for understanding and “doing” her/himself as a person of difference in an increasingly diverse society.

Credits: 3