Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Covering Race

I've been working on a service-learning project with students by focusing on covering race and ethnicity in our community. As part of my curriculum, I've sought to integrate learning on personal and societal biases about race and ethnicity. As such, I've drawn upon Peggy McIntosh's exercise on unpacking the backpack of white privilege as well as used the "Authentic Voices" text that showcases some of the top reporting and writing on race and ethnicity. Students have also enjoyed taking the demonstration tests available at Project Implicit, an online project that seeks to gauge participants' internal biases. I'm particularly interested in ways to help students identify their internal biases and how these may seep into or influence their reporting and writing in covering local communities.

Any one with thoughts or teaching ideas on this front, please post!
Thanks!

Sue Ellen Christian