HUM370 Full Course (May 2019)

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 1 Discussion

Discuss the role of language in cultural and ethnic diversity. Identify terms and/or phrases that were “acceptable” when you were younger, but are now considered insensitive or offensive. Are these changes for the better?

In addition to your main response, you must also post substantive responses to at least two of your classmates’ posts in this thread. Your responses should include elements such as follow-up questions, a further exploration of topics from the initial post, or requests for further clarification or explanation on some points made by the classmates.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 2 Discussion

Listen to or read the following letter to the editor:

I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending someone or their culture. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language, and our own lifestyle. This culture has developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. If you wish to become part of our society, learn the language! “In God we trust” is our national motto. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, based on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is entirely appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express opinions, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE. God Bless America.

Discussion Prompt:

Who is intended to be included in the “We” of the last paragraph of the letter?

Is our society more accepting of some immigrant groups versus others?

After writing your initial post, reply to at least two of your classmates.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 3 Discussion

Choose one of the following incidents involving religious freedom.

A Jainist student attending public high school has requested that the cafeteria staff clearly list the contents of each dish so that he can be certain he does not eat any animal products.

Native American members of a church want to be allowed to ingest peyote because this drug has historically been part of their religious rituals.

Following his baptism, a Sikh student wants to wear his required symbolic knife (kirpan) to school.

An employee who is a Seventh-Day Adventist wants to be excused from work every Saturday because it is their Sabbath.

Discussion Prompt:

Describe how each of the different perspectives on diversity (Anglo-conformism, melting pot, separatism, and pluralism) would assess the situation.

Are the individual’s rights to behave in accordance with their faith in danger of being violated?

How do you think the incident should be resolved?

Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 4 Discussion

View this TED talk on racism, politics, and solutions and then post your answers to the questions below:

Discussion Prompt 1:

Do you think racism is predictable?

Which factor mentioned do you think plays a larger part in the prevalence of racist attitudes: education level or geography/neighborhood?

Discussion Prompt 2:

What do you think of the solutions to the problem of racism that were proposed in this talk?

How do these solutions address or fail to address the types of racism we learned about this week?

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 5 Discussion

View the following video, and then post your answers to the questions below.

Discussion Prompt

Who do you think the poor are in the United States?

How do you define welfare?

Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 6 Discussion

View this TED Talk on violence against women and then post your answers to the questions below.

Discussion Prompt 1

What is your understanding of the “bystander” approach?

Discussion Prompt 2

Explain an incident you have witnessed or participated in that demonstrates the “bystander” approach mentioned in this video.

Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 7 Discussion

View the TED Talk, “What the Future Looks Like” and then answer the questions below:

How did you respond to Gabriella Huggins’s film?

Which, if any, images or narration spoke to you personally?

Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 8 Discussion

Let’s discuss disabilities as being sorted into three groups: physical, emotional, and physiological.

In your discussion post, choose one of these groups and profile a person (real or imagined) who has a disability from that group.

Describe the disability. To which group(s) does it belong? What are its effects on the person you are profiling?

Explain some of the challenges that this person has to overcome to function in everyday society.

Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 1 Assignment

Culture and Conflict Reflection Essay

In this essay, you will reflect on the causes and consequences of prejudice, and apply the theories and strategies of conflict resolution to a fictional situation.

Respond to the following statement:

“All those women on welfare have it made. All they do is stay home and make babies while the rest of us have to work and pay taxes to support them.”

Reflect on this statement in the context of what we have learned about prejudice. This should not just be writing down your first reaction or what you already know. Reflection involves critical thinking, which means rethinking your existing knowledge and previously held opinions in light of what we have learned about prejudice.

Propose strategies that could resolve this particular prejudice.

Your essay should be 1-2 pages in length.

Remember to use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 2 Assignment

Racial Oppression Reflection Essay

Choose one of the following scenarios which illustrate a variety of incidents that have occurred on a university campus.

Imagine that you are a residence hall counselor on campus, and the student described in the incident has come to you to ask for advice.

What sort of advice would you give to the student?

Explain why your advice represents the best course of action for the student to follow.

Your essay should be 1-2 pages in length.

Remember to use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/0

Scenario 1: Jessica

Jessica is a 22-year-old Mexican American who moved from Illinois to attend college in California. Lately, she has noticed that the majority of her Hispanic classmates are able to speak both English and Spanish fluently, and most speak Spanish to each other in her Chicano studies class and socially.

Jessica’s parents spoke Spanish at home but did not insist on their children becoming bilingual. For this reason, Jessica understands Spanish when it is spoken to her, but she does not speak it fluently.

Jessica has found that she feels more comfortable and relaxed in classes where most of her classmates are white rather than in her Chicano studies class, where she does not share the experiences of the other Hispanic students. This realization has upset her, and she has come to you for advice.

Scenario 2: Jim

Jim is an 18-year-old white student living away from home for the first time. He and his girlfriend were hanging out at the park when they noticed a car pull into the empty parking lot. No one got out of the car for nearly an hour, and it was getting dark. Jim and his girlfriend had planned to stay a while longer, but the car made them feel nervous.

As they left the park, they passed nearby the car, and Jim knocked on the window to see if the occupants needed any help. As the window rolled down, Jim noticed that the men were black. He said, “Hey, what’s up? What are you guys doing here?” One of the men was insulted, became angry, and stated that they had every right to be in the parking lot. He claimed that Jim was racially profiling them. He has gone to the campus mediation center to report the incident and is demanding that Jim formally apologize.

Jim is very upset because he feels he is being unfairly called a racist.

Scenario #3: Anthony

Anthony is a 20-year-old Chinese American student who recently transferred to your university from the community college in his hometown. He met with his advisor earlier today to discuss his schedule. As he was leaving the office, his advisor said, in a friendly and jovial manner, “The restaurant on First Street has the best wonton soup in town!”

The more Anthony thought about this, the more upset he has become.

In this assignment, you are asked to reflect on one of the presented scenarios. This should not just be writing down your first reaction or what you already know. Reflection involves critical thinking, which means rethinking your existing knowledge and previously held opinions in light of what we have learned about prejudice.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 3 Assignment

Religious Oppression Reflection Essay
How would you define pluralism? Write a 1–2 page essay on pluralism, concentrating on religion and religious oppression.

Use concepts and specific examples from this course, history, current events, the media or other external sources, and the textbook to either support or oppose the following statement:

“Pluralism is the greatest philosophical ideal of our time.”

Remember to cite your sources and use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 4 Assignment

Legacy of Racism Reflection Essay

Identify your earliest exposure to people who were racially or culturally different from you through movies, television shows, or music.

What was your age?

Who was the person and how was he or she different?

What impressions did you have about these people from these media?

From a cultural pluralist’s perspective, do you think this experience was positive or negative for you?

Your essay should be 1-2 pages in length.

Remember to use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/0

This should not just be writing down your first reaction or what you already know. Reflection involves critical thinking, which means rethinking your existing knowledge and previously held opinions in light of what we have learned about race and culture.

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 5 Assignment

Classism Reflection Essay

Watch this TED Talk from Gary Haugen, The Hidden Reason for Poverty the World Needs to Address Now.

Write a 1–2 page paper using what you have learned in this course and at least one external source.

Explain your interpretation of the complexity of social class, poverty, and discrimination in terms of the interconnections among race, ethnicity, age, gender, and schooling.

How are they related? How are they unrelated?

Remember to cite your sources and use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 6 Assignment

Sexism Reflection Essay

Read the article, “When Men Experience Sexism.”

“Women have been fighting against sexism for a long time. If men can learn from them, it will be to everyone’s benefit.”

— Noah Berlatsky, The Atlantic, 2013.

What is meant by this statement?

Cite specific examples from the article to support your conclusions.

Your essay should be 1-2 pages in length.

Remember to use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/0

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 7 Assignment

Signature Assignment: Research Paper

Research Paper Instructions

In this paper you will discuss various elements of a pre-approved cultural study. Some examples are below, but always confirm with your professor first:

Please provide the following information about your culture:

Content

Introduction with a thesis statement

Provide a brief history of your culture

Explain how your chosen culture is represented in the United States

Is your culture individualistic or collectivistic? Provide at least one example

What are some of the artistic (art, music, architecture, dance) contributions of your culture?

What are some values of your culture? Provide at least three examples

Discuss your culture’s religion(s)? Include name and basic belief system of at least one of the major faiths

What are some of the sex and gender role differences in your culture? Provide at least three examples

Discuss what we would need to know to acculturate into your culture (if a past one, what would we need to do for preparing for our time machine to fit in). Provide at least one concrete suggestion

Conclusion

Specific Paper Requirements:

Four page minimum: six page maximum (Times New Roman; One inch margins; Font 12; Double-spaced)

Quality of writing: must contain in-text citations in APA format

Spelling & Grammar

Correct APA format http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Minimal Four credible sources (books, journal articles, magazine/newspaper articles, etc.) (4 points)

Paper Outline:

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY

CULTURAL CONTEXT

Represented in US

Individualistic/Collective

Artistic

Values

Religion

SEX AND GENDER ROLES

ACCULTURATION

CONCLUSION

References

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 7 Assignment

Heterosexism Reflection Essay

Write a 1–2 page paper using what you have learned in this course and at least one external source.

Examine each of the following topics for one group of your choice in the LBGTQ community:

Historical and current terminology, language, and labels regarding the group you have chosen. Have members of your group reclaimed any labels?

Current issues being faced by individuals in the group you have chosen.

Remember to cite your sources and use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Week 8 Assignment

Ableism Reflection Essay

Watch the PBS segment on Georgia’s segregation of students with disabilities. Write a 1–2 page paper in which you address the following:

What might be the state of Georgia’s rationale for this practice?

Other than the obvious, horrific examples given in the video, how could such segregation be damaging to students with disabilities?

How might the state of Georgia address this issue? Remember to take into account their possible rationale for the practice.

Your essay should be 1-2 pages in length.

Remember to use appropriate formatting as per APA (6th ed.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/0

HUM 370 Cultural Pluralism

Term Paper

In this course you will write a term paper on a current topic of your choice related to cultural pluralism. You must fnd a topic related

to one of the following current medical ethics issues:

? The Legacy of Racism

? Religious Oppression

? Classism

? Sexism

? Heterosexism

? Ableism

Due Dates

Week 2: Topic submitted

Week 3: Outline submitted

Week 5: Rough draft submitted

Week 8: Final paper submitted

Term Paper Requirements:

? Discuss the historical and contemporary aspects of your topic.

? Discuss current public policy debates relevant to the topic you choose. This section should cover proposed solutions to

problems related to your topic and arguments in favor of and opposed to those solutions.

? Express your personal opinion regarding the proposed solutions and arguments.

? It is expected that you have the following:

o A title page

o The body of the paper: 4-6 pages of text, double-spaced, 12 point font with clear and understandable language with no grammar or spelling errors. Provide adequate justification that supports your response with at least three appropriate references using textbooks, websites, and articles are required.

o Subheadings (historical and contemporary aspects, public policy, and personal opinion/conclusion.)

o Appropriate in-text citations throughout paper

o A reference page with only the sources that you used in the body of the paper. Sources should be less than 5 years old unless there has not been recent research available. At least one reference must be a peer-reviewed article from a profession journal. Do not use Wikipedia or encyclopedia as they are not considered a reliable academic source to use.

o Appropriate formatting as per APA 6th ed. website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu