Sodality: Reading for Change
Title
Sodality: September 2020
Document Type
Blog Entry
Publication Date
9-2020
Original Post
Our reading this month is a post from the New York Daily News.
University of Pittsburgh Introduces Mandatory Anti-Racism Course for Incoming Freshmen
- Do you think a required course or speaker series would be a better idea at Fontbonne?
- Why do you think this course is required for freshmen only? Do you think this was the right decision, or should all students have this requirement?
Publisher
Fontbonne University Archives
City
St. Louis, MO
Recommended Citation
Fontbonne University, "Sodality: September 2020" (2020). Sodality: Reading for Change. 2.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/sodality/2
COinS
Rights Statement
Comments
Comments
Lee DeLaet: I agree this should find a way into the first-year curriculum. Maybe as a Phase I (with bigger steps to follow), speakers could be part of the Janus Seminars which take place each fall. It could be reasonable to make a minimum number of topic-focused seminars required for course completion. I also think it would be worthwhile to open these seminars to others beyond first-time, first-years. I would appreciate the entire campus community being invited to attend (either online or at a time in the future when COVID-related issues have abated).
Regina Wade-Johnson: Yes, I think this would be a great speaker series for Fontbonne. I would probably make it an optional course before making it a requirement, to gather data and feedback from the students taking the course.
I think the course was only required for freshmen as a select group, to introduce a diverse mindset to newly enrolled college students.
In my opinion, it was a good decision to only have the course required for freshmen. The freshman class would be considered a tracking group to follow up with annually and collect information to determine if the required course made an impact on their views and opinions regarding racism.