Race & Racism: Building an Anti-racist Society
Starting this fall, a new interdisciplinary course will be open to all students, faculty, and staff who want to practice effective anti-racism. Entitled “Race & Racism: Building an Anti-racist Society, “ the goal of the course is to take an honest look at racism and to produce action against it. Participants—students, staff, and faculty alike—will ask questions like “Where does race come from? How can I talk about race? What institutions and practices support racist systems? How do well-intentioned people like me reproduce racism? What can I do to fight racism, and which strategies work best?” By studying and critiquing the institutional and systemic practices that sustain racial inequality, participants in this course will be better equipped to do effective anti-racist work. And by examining concrete strategies for action, the class will invite and empower participants to do the work of creating social change on our own campus and beyond.
The course is designed to incorporate the wide range of perspectives from at least 20 faculty and staff from across the social sciences through guest lectures, interviews, and collaborative course design. In addition, participants in the course will have the opportunity to reflect in smaller groups with peers trained as constructive discussion leaders. Recognizing that the course is situated within a predominantly white institution, the course will prioritize the voices of faculty and scholars of color from the Wheaton community and beyond. We invite you to join us in this important conversation as we—faculty, staff, and students—come together to do the hard work of examining our society, our institutions, and ourselves.
The course is open for registration under INT 220.