Having
diversity in the diversity class
Rachel Moten, posted Nov. 27, 2006
Many students search for interesting courses to enroll in
when attempting to fulfill college credits. Enrolling into
a course that sounds enjoyable and helps students earn credits
toward a degree is enough to attract enthusiastic students.
In the winter semester of 2007, Lizette Ojeda and Rocio Rosales,
two doctoral students in Counseling Psychology, will be teaching
Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the U.S.
The objective of the course is “to examine cultural
diversity in the U.S. society and to increase self-awareness
related to worldviews and beliefs about diversity issues,”
said Ojeda. The course is not designed as a lecture, but as
a discussion/seminar. “We expect to create a learning
environment that is conducive for students to express their
informed opinions on the range of topics we will explore in
the course,” Ojeda said.
A goal of the course is to encourage students to develop and
expand their knowledge as well as to think critically about
diverse cultural groups. The course also encourages students
to comprehend the role of prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination
and privilege on diverse cultural groups in the U.S.
The most important thing in class is “[allowing] students
from all different races and genders to come together and
discuss issues that we face each and every day,” said
Kristin Hughes, former student in the class. “Some days
were more emotional than others and some days were more light-hearted.”
“The best part of this course was the diversity within
the class itself, and the guest speakers that came and gave
faces to the issues we had been discussing,” said Blair
Meister, an MU student.
The course entails discussions and guest speakers to help
the students in the class experience diversity issues. Three
sections will be offered next semester and there are 25 slots
in each section.
Lisa Flores, MU faculty supervisor of the instructors for
the class, highly supports this course because it is a “critical
topic for students in all majors and backgrounds and is important
that the university offers courses like this.”
“During class, Lizette had a topic of the day that she
presented in a power point format on a smart board,”
Meister said. “We covered a wide variety of topics that
contribute to diversity, not only race, but also ability and
body image. It was very comprehensive and covered Whites,
Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, Latinos, the Gay community,
the deaf community, women, men, class and religion.”
Students tend to feel “very positive about the skills
[they gain] when taking the course,” Flores said. Not
only that, but the students form relationships with one another.
“I made friends with the people in this class, the majority
of who were of a different ethnicity than me,” Meister
said. “I was able share fears and stereotypes I had
or had heard about them, and they were able to tell me fears
and stereotypes they had or had heard about me. There was
a true honesty in the dialogue that this course facilitated.”
Some of the techniques that are taught in class are using
“the correct name for different groups in America, such
as Latino rather than Hispanic,” said Meister. The class
also explains to students the underlying structure that affects
everyone in America and how not to contribute to that structure.
“It makes you consider the world from a perspective
other than your own,” Meister said. “A college
education should not just be about learning facts. It should
also be about maturing and learning how to respect people
who are different than you. The diversity class is a way to
start towards this process, of not only embracing difference
but understanding it.”
Ojeda encourages all students to take this class because it
benefits students from “learning about cultures that
are different from their own,” Ojeda said.
“It sounds like a lot to have gotten from one class,
but I think that everyone grows up around the issues that
are addressed by this course,” Meister said. “When
it is presented and discussed and you are made to really look
at yourself and your actions, thoughts and beliefs, it heals
wounds and makes clear a lot of life experiences.”
