Diversity, Racism & Social Justice (2.0 Social Science Credit)
FEE: $170
Components may be completed simultaneously
COMPONENT ONE: History of Race & Cultural Diversity in America (Brief Overview)
INSTRUCTOR: James D Anderson
SPONSOR-HOST: University of Illinois
DESCRIPTION: Learners will deepen their understanding and appreciation of ways in which race, ethnicity and cultural diversity have shaped American institutions, ideology, law, and social relationships from the colonial era to the present. Race and ethnicity are ideological and cultural categories that include all groups and individuals. Hence, this course is designed in significant part to take a broad look at the ideology of race and cultural diversity in America’s past and present. The primary focus is on the historical and social relationships among European Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Latino/as, and Asian/Pacific Americans. Issues of race and ethnicity are examined across different ethno-cultural traditions in order to interweave diverse experiences into a larger synthesis of the meaning of race and ethnicity in American life. In this course, we conceive of “race” and “diversity” as references to the entire American population, even as we recognize that different groups have unique historical experiences resulting in distinctive and even fundamental cultural differences. We treat race and ethnicity as dynamic, complex ideological and cultural processes that shape all social institutions, belief systems, inter-group relationships, and individual experiences.
COMPONENT TWO: American Civil Rights Movement
NSTRUCTOR: Bernard LaFayette, Jr.
SPONSOR-HOST: Emory University
DESCRIPTION: The Modern Civil Rights Movement is a significant landmark in United States history. This movement was a struggle for human rights directly challenging the nation to extend its democratic principles to African Americans and all peoples. This course sheds light on the often overlooked strategic planning that supported the direction of the events and is told by a voice intimately involved in the organization of movement—Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Topics include the history of the campaigns, the different coalitions and groups, philosophy and methods of nonviolent direct action, and the contemporary application of nonviolent conflict transformation. The course hosts several guest speakers, including Andrew Young, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Henry "Hank" Thomas, and Constance Curry. Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to: ● Discuss the contributions and involvement of civil rights activists and leaders in the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) campaigns in the United States. ● Examine the chronology and phases of the Movement and CRM campaigns. ● Recognize and characterize the diverse activist groups involved in the CRM. ● Discuss Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence from a historical perspective. ● List and define the principles and strategies of nonviolence. ● Examine organizational and social change applications related to nonviolence. ● Identify the role of nonviolence in modern activism along with additional resources to broaden knowledge of principles of nonviolence. ● Recognize the application of nonviolence theories to activism, current issues, and everyday life.
COMPONENT THREE: Police Brutality in the US
INSTRUCTOR: Teach Out Team
SPONSOR-HOST: University of Michigan
DESCRIPTION: The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked a wave of renewed protests against police brutality across the United States. These nationwide uprisings have transformed into an intense interest from the public around understanding systemic racism and abuse of power. Millions of Americans and people around the world are watching incidents of police violence and excessive force captured on video, but are looking to learn about the inequalities at the root of these incidents. While the calls of Black Lives Matter protesters to #DefundThePolice are being heard for the first time by many Americans, they are part of a longstanding effort by communities and activists to reinvest in communities rather than policing and prisons. In this course, you will learn about the history of police violence in America, become aware of laws and policies that prevent accountability, understand the demands of protesters, and gain the knowledge and tools to fight for change locally. The content for this Community Awareness course is adapted from a Teach-Out launched in July of 2020 from experts from across the United States involved in activism, social work, law, government, and higher education.
COMPONENT FOUR: Understanding the Black Lives Matter Movement
INSTRUCTOR:: Dr. Tristan Cabello
SPONSOR-HOST: John Hopkins University
DESCRIPTION: The #BlackLivesMatter movement is the most significant political movement in African American life in the United States in the last fifty years. BLM leaders denounced anti-black racism, white supremacy, and police brutality and reshaped how we think about gender, sexuality, social justice, economic injustice, and crime. The movement is grounded in a long history of African American activism. From slave revolts to the Black Panther Party, from the founding of the Congressional Black Caucus, to the eruption of the #BLM Movements, this course is an interdisciplinary and historical exploration of the BlackLivesMatter movement.
COMPONENT FIVE: Love as a Force for Social Justice
INSTRUCTOR: Anne F. Murray
SPONSOR-HOST: Stanford University
DESCRIPTION: The objectives of this course are: To introduce participants to different concepts of love, to empower them to be conscious of the power of love and the possibility of practicing it in everyday life, and to highlight in particular the idea of love as a force for social justice. -To communicate a sense of personal strength and empowerment by actively learning from each other and beginning to define how participants can apply their learning in service to society. This course will explore the concept of agape love (compassion/kindness) as a force for social justice and action and as the inspiration for service and the application of knowledge to positive social change. Biological, psychological, religious, and social perspectives of love will be discussed, drawing on the expertise of people from a variety of disciplines. During the six-week course, the following topics will be raised and discussed: kinds of love/defining love; non-violent communication; love and the biology of the brain; love as a basic concept of religious and ethical beliefs (e.g., Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Gandhian); love applied in action, and poetic expressions of love as a social force. This curriculum aims to foster a sense of the importance of love as a key phenomenon in creating community, connection, and functional societies among humans. Course materials will draw from a variety of sources. One of the goals of the class is to provide participants with some knowledge of the literature of love, and readings for the course are listed in the outline of the course on the pages that follow.
INSTRUCTOR: James D Anderson
SPONSOR-HOST: University of Illinois
DESCRIPTION: Learners will deepen their understanding and appreciation of ways in which race, ethnicity and cultural diversity have shaped American institutions, ideology, law, and social relationships from the colonial era to the present. Race and ethnicity are ideological and cultural categories that include all groups and individuals. Hence, this course is designed in significant part to take a broad look at the ideology of race and cultural diversity in America’s past and present. The primary focus is on the historical and social relationships among European Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Latino/as, and Asian/Pacific Americans. Issues of race and ethnicity are examined across different ethno-cultural traditions in order to interweave diverse experiences into a larger synthesis of the meaning of race and ethnicity in American life. In this course, we conceive of “race” and “diversity” as references to the entire American population, even as we recognize that different groups have unique historical experiences resulting in distinctive and even fundamental cultural differences. We treat race and ethnicity as dynamic, complex ideological and cultural processes that shape all social institutions, belief systems, inter-group relationships, and individual experiences.
COMPONENT TWO: American Civil Rights Movement
NSTRUCTOR: Bernard LaFayette, Jr.
SPONSOR-HOST: Emory University
DESCRIPTION: The Modern Civil Rights Movement is a significant landmark in United States history. This movement was a struggle for human rights directly challenging the nation to extend its democratic principles to African Americans and all peoples. This course sheds light on the often overlooked strategic planning that supported the direction of the events and is told by a voice intimately involved in the organization of movement—Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Topics include the history of the campaigns, the different coalitions and groups, philosophy and methods of nonviolent direct action, and the contemporary application of nonviolent conflict transformation. The course hosts several guest speakers, including Andrew Young, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Henry "Hank" Thomas, and Constance Curry. Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to: ● Discuss the contributions and involvement of civil rights activists and leaders in the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) campaigns in the United States. ● Examine the chronology and phases of the Movement and CRM campaigns. ● Recognize and characterize the diverse activist groups involved in the CRM. ● Discuss Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence from a historical perspective. ● List and define the principles and strategies of nonviolence. ● Examine organizational and social change applications related to nonviolence. ● Identify the role of nonviolence in modern activism along with additional resources to broaden knowledge of principles of nonviolence. ● Recognize the application of nonviolence theories to activism, current issues, and everyday life.
COMPONENT THREE: Police Brutality in the US
INSTRUCTOR: Teach Out Team
SPONSOR-HOST: University of Michigan
DESCRIPTION: The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked a wave of renewed protests against police brutality across the United States. These nationwide uprisings have transformed into an intense interest from the public around understanding systemic racism and abuse of power. Millions of Americans and people around the world are watching incidents of police violence and excessive force captured on video, but are looking to learn about the inequalities at the root of these incidents. While the calls of Black Lives Matter protesters to #DefundThePolice are being heard for the first time by many Americans, they are part of a longstanding effort by communities and activists to reinvest in communities rather than policing and prisons. In this course, you will learn about the history of police violence in America, become aware of laws and policies that prevent accountability, understand the demands of protesters, and gain the knowledge and tools to fight for change locally. The content for this Community Awareness course is adapted from a Teach-Out launched in July of 2020 from experts from across the United States involved in activism, social work, law, government, and higher education.
COMPONENT FOUR: Understanding the Black Lives Matter Movement
INSTRUCTOR:: Dr. Tristan Cabello
SPONSOR-HOST: John Hopkins University
DESCRIPTION: The #BlackLivesMatter movement is the most significant political movement in African American life in the United States in the last fifty years. BLM leaders denounced anti-black racism, white supremacy, and police brutality and reshaped how we think about gender, sexuality, social justice, economic injustice, and crime. The movement is grounded in a long history of African American activism. From slave revolts to the Black Panther Party, from the founding of the Congressional Black Caucus, to the eruption of the #BLM Movements, this course is an interdisciplinary and historical exploration of the BlackLivesMatter movement.
COMPONENT FIVE: Love as a Force for Social Justice
INSTRUCTOR: Anne F. Murray
SPONSOR-HOST: Stanford University
DESCRIPTION: The objectives of this course are: To introduce participants to different concepts of love, to empower them to be conscious of the power of love and the possibility of practicing it in everyday life, and to highlight in particular the idea of love as a force for social justice. -To communicate a sense of personal strength and empowerment by actively learning from each other and beginning to define how participants can apply their learning in service to society. This course will explore the concept of agape love (compassion/kindness) as a force for social justice and action and as the inspiration for service and the application of knowledge to positive social change. Biological, psychological, religious, and social perspectives of love will be discussed, drawing on the expertise of people from a variety of disciplines. During the six-week course, the following topics will be raised and discussed: kinds of love/defining love; non-violent communication; love and the biology of the brain; love as a basic concept of religious and ethical beliefs (e.g., Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Gandhian); love applied in action, and poetic expressions of love as a social force. This curriculum aims to foster a sense of the importance of love as a key phenomenon in creating community, connection, and functional societies among humans. Course materials will draw from a variety of sources. One of the goals of the class is to provide participants with some knowledge of the literature of love, and readings for the course are listed in the outline of the course on the pages that follow.