This course offers an introduction to the body of research and understanding about race and diverse identities and cultures, particularly in the context of the United States. Students will identify and describe terminology relating to race and diversity and will explore and describe the concepts of race, culture, class, sex, and gender identity as social constructs. Students will be asked to think critically about assumptions related to race- and sex-based hierarchical ideas and the effects of those assumptions on equitable economic, social, and political participation in the United States. Students will explore, and explain, the meaning of intersectionality as it relates to diverse identities (e.g. race, ethnicity, sex and gender, etc.).

This course examines evolving family structures in contemporary American society. The functions that a family serves are reviewed. The stages of family life and development, a variety of communication patterns, and the causes of breakups are addressed. The focus of the course is on helping students develop an ability to assess the strengths of a family system, evaluate the decision-making processes used by a family, and discuss the resiliency of the family. The course reviews a range of intervention methods that can be used to improve family relationships.

This course explores the diversity of life experiences in contemporary America and assesses structured inequality in terms of socioeconomic, racial, gender, and sexuality differences. Using the theoretical framework of the social construction of race, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, and disability in historical contexts, the course examines how and why stratification systems emerge and are reproduced. Students then consider alternatives to the categories of difference and the processes, philosophical developments, institutions, and conditions that lead to and rely on power and privilege in modern society.

Analysis of the complex social contexts of people with developmental disabilities. Explores and questions traditional approaches and the current system. Examines family and community services and resources.