Equitable Spaces: Spring '21
Course Series on Diversity, Equity, & Systemic Racism
We are living in a historic time. The impact of COVID-19 has extended far beyond what most of us could have imagined, and is paired in the U.S. with an urgent conversation about race and injustice. The Equitable Spaces series is engaged with this social and cultural moment and connects with Nazareth's legacy of challenging norms and promoting social justice.
Antiracism in Community-Engaged Learning
Meetings: Wednesdays 2:30 - 3:20 p.m.
Instructors: Alison Albright & Emily Marchese
Description: Students will (1) explore their own identity with a particular focus on privilege and positionality; (2) understand structural racism & how it affects Rochester and/or the community they work with; (3) explore critical questions to determine how they can take an antiracist approach to their work with a community; (4) consider their role in continuing their commitment to their community through advocacy & extended learning opportunities.
Creating Justice in Health & Mental Health
Meetings: Hybrid Thursdays 9:30 - 10:20 a.m.
Instructors: Carol Brownstein-Evans; Leanne Charlesworth; Michael Chen; Cory Cummings; Rupert Johnson; Jed Metzger; Mark Primus; Samantha Sassone; Dawn Vogler-Elias
Description: This course explores historical systemic oppression in the health and mental health systems and challenges students to formulate ideas about integrating a more just/anti-racist approach to those systems through case-based learning. Cases will focus on addressing the critical concepts of intersectionality & positionality, and applying those concepts to themselves as health or mental health professionals.
Leadership, Advocacy, & Social Change
Meetings: Hybrid Mondays & Wednesdays 10:30 - 11:20 a.m.
Instructors: Adam Lewandowski & Olajiwon McCadney
Description: Students will examine and consider the roles bias, discrimination, power, privilege, and oppression have on individual and systemic levels. The course will explore inclusive leadership theories including Ashoka Changemaker, Emergent Strategies, and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias frameworks, and apply these theories experientially through service-learning, project-based learning, and engagement with innovators and leaders.
Rhetorics of Public Memory
Meetings: Online Wednesdays 1:30 - 2:20 p.m.
Instructor: Francesca Gentile
Description: Contemporary rhetorical theory defines "public memory" as the ongoing circulation of persuasive historical narratives among members of communities. These shared historical narratives are by nature selective and partial, but they shape our understanding of identity and determine the core values that drive our decision-making nonetheless. This one-credit course introduces students to rhetorical frameworks for understanding the relationship between public memory and our current political and cultural movement, asking them to apply these frameworks to local, regional, and national public memory sites and narratives.