Along with excellence,
student-centeredness,
learning, community,
and civic engagement,
'diversity' is listed as one
of SU's official core values.
"...Salisbury University views itself as a just community
where there is respect for the value of global, societal
and individual differences and commitment to equal opportunity.
Diversity is purposefully cultivated as a way to strengthen
and enhance our University community..."
As faculty members at
SU, we are expected to incorporate
"issues of diversity" into our classroom...
.......yet what exactly does that
mean?
"Diversity is not simply a matter of the changing demographics in students or faculty. Attending to it has also altered the very knowledge base upon which the intellectual integrity of the academy rests. Institutions across the country are taking advantage of the explosion of new scholarship about the diversity of cultural traditions and histories in America and around the world. Diversity has also provided additional interpretive lenses through which to analyze ideas and society. In response to this intellectual change, college courses today offer students a deeper, fuller, and more challenging picture, which better prepares them for increasingly complex and diverse communities and workplaces. It also equips students with new modes of understanding and means of approaching any issue." - from Diversity Web (www.diversityweb.org)
Incorporating diversity into your classroom means many things -
and SU faculty need to eventually know how to do all of them:
learn how to keep cultural/diversity issues in mind when drafting a syllabus/curriculum
foster a classroom environment that promotes open discussions and allows non-majority experiences and points of view to freely arise
find resources that concretely broaden student experiences within your classroom
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Pertinent websites on incorporating diversity into the classroom
Scholarly articles on incorporating diversity into the classroom
Curriculum change - (pdf handout)
Classroom environment - (pdf handout)
Database / resources research help - (pdf handout)
Checklist to get started transforming your curriculum.
What have YOU done to incorporate diversity into your curriculum?
Tell us so that we can share it with your colleagues!
Stories, suggestions, tips, etc. from other colleagues will also be posted here -
check back frequently to find out what your fellow instructors are doing in this new and exciting area...SEB - last updated 8/2005
