Course Title
Lift Every Voice: Studies in Media and Cultural Diversity
Faculty
Kathy Corley, Colette Cummings, Linda Holtzman
Curriculum
This course is designed to accomplish the following:
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examine the history, images and experience of groups and individuals whose voices have historically been marginalized and reconstruct blocks of information that have often been omitted from curriculum;
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understand theories related to diversity, including culture and cultural competence, liberation theology, and racial identity formation;
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engage students experientially in understanding the relationship of the individual to the historical and theoretical issues presented;
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engage students interactively with video instruction and production in order to examine values and provide role play in a variety of situations;
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enable the students to create individual and group projects designed to examine the status of diversity and to propose changes that "lift every voice."
The course will begin and end with overnight retreats. In the opening retreat students will engage in both theoretical and experiential learning regarding diversity and begin to create a learning community. During the final retreat students will present their projects and participate in setting future goals and closure activities. Issues to be examined will include class, gender, race, and sexual orientation. While the primary focus will be on U.S. culture, a global context for diversity will be introduced.
Throughout the course students will be engaged in theoretical and experiential learning involving these issues as well as examination of individual and cultural values, personal and collaborative goal setting and planning and conflict resolution.
Students will receive instruction in video production and editing and will maintain individual video diaries and design group video projects that address a diversity issue on campus.