We've talked about the potential value of a diverse learning environment.
According to the American Council
on Education and the American Association of University Professors,
racial and ethnic diversity in classrooms helps our universities meet
our education goals. The suggestion is that this particular kind
of diversity (rather than just geographic, socioeconomic, or other
forms) expands the learning experience in ways that having a
non-racially diverse one might not. Presumably non-white students
ask questions, bring up issues, offer life experiences that white
students don't. Let's put that suggestion to the test. For
this test question, I want you analyze the contributions to our class
"discussion" (as represented by blog posts) by differently raced
students.
1. Go to the
course webpage without logging in (http://majorsmatter.net/raceblog)
2. There you will see
ten blog posts that either say "Final White# Posts" or "Final NonWhite#
Posts". In each of those ten blog posts are the words "Click Me".
3. When you click on
the words "Click Me" in on of those initial blog posts, the blog will
pull up ten of the blog entries written by either a White student in the
class or a Non-White student in the class. These ten students are
your respondents for the exam. It might be easier to print out a
copy of each student's blog contributions; the videos/pictures probably
won't print.
5. Create a chart in
which you tabulate how many times the ten different students mention any nine of
the following issues. In addition to 9 from this list, add 1 of
your own to this list and tabulate how many times the students mention
them as well. Your final chart should have the ten (white and then
nonwhite) students
listed across the top and the 10 issues listed down the left hand side:
|
Personal experience with racism |
A
description of a close friend or family member's race experience |
Conversation with white person about race |
Conversation with non-white person about race |
|
Television or other media depiction of race/racism |
Another Vanderbilt discussion about race/racism |
Discussion of affirmative action or some other race-related
policy decision |
A
link to a news-story or other blog that deals with race/racism |
|
Intersection of race and class |
Intersection of race and gender |
Intersection of race and sexual orientation |
Intersection of race and geographic origin (e.g., mention
of their own geographic origin) |
|
Questions about their own race, ethnicity, or culture |
Anger or some other clear emotional expression about race/racism |
Specific mention of some race other than Black or White |
Mention of minority organizations, colleges, universities, or
cultural centers |
|
Extension of or questions from one of the course readings |
A
specific mention of their own race or ethnicity |
Discussion of the impact of race on some secondary institution (i.e,
employment, crime, or education) |
Discussion of the impact of race on some primary institution
(i.e., friendships, family, dating) |
6.
Sum up the numbers for the individuals and then get an aggregate of the
mentions of these issues for each of the two groups (i.e., white v.
non-white). For example, of the 50 White blog posts, how many of
them have "a specific mention of the student's own race or ethnicity."
7. Using everything at your disposal (particularly the concepts,
issues, and theories raised in this course’s readings, discussions,
and lectures), answer these two questions as comprehensively as
possible:
-
- Can your
findings be used to make a case for (or against) the need for
diversity in Vanderbilt classrooms, particular a class on race and
ethnic relations? Are white students as likely to bring up
these ten issues as are non-white students? Are there certain
issues that are more likely to be raised by non-white students than
by white ones? If there are similarities in how much
white/non-white raise certain issues, are there differences in the
actual content of those issues (e.g., if both offer links, do
non-white student tend to link to less mainstream or minority news
sources)?
-
- Given your knowledge
of why we attach meaning to race, how we attach meaning to race,
and the impact of race on how different communities might experience
the world, what 3
explanations might you be able to offer for why white students
in this class and non-white students in this class might raise
different questions and issues in our in-class and online
discussions. If there is evidence of this in your findings,
use them in this answer.
