This cultural diversity studies course examines and investigates culture, behavior, values, identity, stereotypes, personal and societal perceptions, and the cultural construction of reality. It uses culturally representative creative works such as short stories, film, visual art, and music to explore multicultural society with a mind toward improving students’ understanding of their own cultures and the cultures that surround them.
Prerequisites
ENGL& 101 or instructor permission
Quarters Offered
Fall,
Winter
Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge or skills:
- Define cultural values
- Comprehend individual characteristics which contribute to culture, including ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, and sexual orientation
- Explore aspects of their own individual cultures
- Compare local cultural groups to cultures represented in the assigned creative works in the class
- Transform negative conceptions about other cultures
- Explore the practical application of the concept of “accommodation” with regard to culture
- Recognize individuals as part of a matrix of disparate cultural cues, rather than simply representatives of a single culture.
Institutional Outcomes
IO3 Human Relations/Workplace Skills: Students will be able to demonstrate teamwork, ethics, appropriate safety awareness and/or workplace specific skills.
Course Content Outline
- The course will provide instruction in the identification and articulation of aspects of culture, as seen in examples provided by the individual student, the class as a whole, and the assigned creative works, which can include literature, art, film, music, and other creative media.
- The course will focus on broadening students’ definitions of culture, focusing on their ability to appreciate similarities between their own cultures and other cultures.
- In cases where the creative works being studied highlight unfamiliar behaviors, students will be encouraged to see as these as “different” rather than “abnormal” or “incorrect.”
- The course is designed to be discussion based, with the majority of class time devoted to student discussion in either face-to-face meetings or discussion forums. Focus should not be on lecture.
- The instructor will require at least one formal assessment that asks students to apply generalized concepts of culture to specific examples.