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Show lessons, Spring/Summer 2002 page 17 Requiring Diversity: Thinking Beyond the Classroom BY jacqueline cheney photo BY deb jensen "Welcome to the real world." It's a phrase diversity class instructors haven't come right out and said to their students, but it's the point that they're trying to get across. In a required course where many students come dragging their feet, these instructors are struggling with much more than attendance and grades; they're trying to get students to open their minds. It's a challenge that goes beyond students learning about others because, in turn, they must learn about themselves. "There's a comfort factor of being a part of the majority, but students need to learn that it's okay to be different. If they see the world as it is, then they can function in the world as it is," said Haruko Moriyasu, director of Asian Pacific-American Studies at the University of Utah. Moriyasu, who teaches Asian Pacific-American Experience classes and Asian American History classes, has had her fair share of what she calls "strange experiences" with students who have little knowledge or understanding about the diversity around them. Her strangest experience was a student's reaction to a film about working class minorities and their experiences. The film included bar scenes and profanity. One male student told her that he didn't think it was appropriate to show the film, not only because of the strong language used, but the bar setting. He said students shouldn't have to learn about "those types of people" since he was sure "those types of people" don't live in Utah. He then told her that Utahns were college-educated businessmen who didn't associate with those types of activities. Moriyasu was shocked, and tried to turn the comment around by explaining to students that there are all types of people in Utah, and until they started to be aware of the diversity around them, they would never be able to get along with the variety of people they will encounter in their lives. "I have students who think that if they don't talk about [diversity issues], they will go away. What they don't understand is that nothing will improve until they begin to talk about it," she said. And talking and thinking, according to diversity class instructors, is what the requirement is all about. The Diversity Requirement is the result of a student-driven initiative. In the early 1990s, the Associated Students of the University of Utah pushed for a requirement that would help students come to a greater understanding of the diversity of culture in the United States. It was passed by the Academic Senate and began Autumn Quarter 1995. The requirement mandates that all undergraduates must complete at least three credit hours from a list of designated diversity courses before graduating from the U. A Diversity Requirement Committee was also established to decide what classes fulfill the requirement, and to review those classes every three years to make sure they continue to be effective. The committee's mission statement explains: "The Diversity Requirement stands as an institutional commitment to develop and teach ways of thinking drawn from multiple histories and cultural heritages that shape the United States. The goal of this requirement is to extend cross-cultural understanding, perhaps replacing the impulse to stereotype with better informed reasoning, understanding and judgment skills." It's a hefty goal, but one that instructors think is possible, even if these classes are just getting the ball rolling. "I have students who think that if they don't talk about [diversity issues], they will go away. What they don't understand is that nothing will improve until they begin to talk about it." |