Bias, Prejudice and Discrimination

    Course Description

  In this course students will study, debate and discuss current events relevant to bias, discrimination and prejudice. We will go back and study the root causes, throughout the first half of the twentieth century when American society was sharply segregated along color lines. Supported by both law and custom, the Jim Crow system—late nineteenth-century rules and regulations that codified a long tradition of prejudice, dehumanization, and discrimination. In the 21st century, social group categories have become more complex, perhaps transforming older biases. As our nation become more diverse, more global, and more intermarried, most people are encountering a bigger variety of people in everyday life and certainly through the media. People’s identities are multifaceted intersecting across gender, race, class, age, region, and more. The purpose of this course is to lay the foundation for these students to be able to better understand themselves and the worldwide community which they live in.