Overview
For this portion of the course, we are going to talk about how to promote social justice, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are surrounded by all kinds of diversity: racial, gender, class, ethnicity, linguistic, physical ability, religious, sexual orientation, political, and beyond. We also all have implicit biases, prejudices, and lack of understanding. The #metoo and Black Lives Matter movements have also pushed us to see the problems of systemic racism and gender inequality embedded in our institutions, problems that often can have devastating and long term negative consequences for specific individuals and groups. And, sadly, there are some very bad people in the world, too often in positions of power, who exploit their status and privilege for personal gain and even to abuse others.
But, with all that said, I still believe that people are innately good. I regularly talk about my love of superheroes, and there’s a reason I love those stories so much: When a young writer and artist first imagined a being with fantastic powers, a super man, they imagined him using those powers for good. I like to think we started out imagining power benefiting others right from the get go, and that is what made Superman such a great and popular hero from the start.
But in our world, even without superpowers, I believe that the vast majority of people, when given the chance, will always choose to help others and t0 do the right thing if they can. I’m an optimist, and that optimism is certainly linked to my own race, class, gender, and other identity characteristics. I acknowledge that not everyone has been as fortunate as I have been. Still, we need to start somewhere. And I really do believe that we can make the world a better place, one student at a time. This unit is part of that important work. I like, especially, that people have argued that DEI should not simply critique problems and attack privilege, but that we have an obligation as educators to help all students gain a sense of belonging within and without the academy. That’s the direction I believe we need to go. I hope you will join me in undertaking this important task and exploring these vital issues together.
Guiding Question
- How can we make our courses promote justice and universal inclusion?