The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment is limited to 15 freshmen.

This seminar will delve into the complexities of this thing we call diversity, to explore the rhetoric and the reality of diversity as it currently exists in America. We will do this by reading accounts of diversity as it happens—not just in the news but also in a variety of different media—and then learning how to discuss critically the central issues of diversity. The goal is not just to talk about diversity, but also to learn how to talk about diversity in ways that are both critical and constructive. Diversity is an extraordinarily sensitive issue, and too many people simple avoid the conversation to avoid the discomfort that might ensue. We won’t do that—we will talk directly about diversity, and also find a way to have that conversation in a way that avoids discomfort and resolves divisiveness. Lastly, this seminar will also offer a comparative view of American diversity. Many other countries struggle with similar issues, so we will compare the American experience with the experience of other parts of the world, to see how American diversity stacks up in a larger, global context.

Requisites

• Students with 1-2 Terms in Attendance

Repeat Rules