SOC 135

Terminal Course Objectives 1 Given an example of the need to increase productivity in a workplace unit, such as a department of a large corporation, analyze the impact of cultural diversity on team building in the workplace, and formulate strategies for facilitating cooperation among members of a culturally diverse work group. Key Concepts:

Define bias, prejudice, discrimination, and ethnocentrism. Identify the impact of ethnocentrism on interpersonal relationships and communication. Develop strategies for expanding awareness and understanding of people from diverse cultures. Engage in the process of values clarification for self-assessment and learning to promote tolerance and acceptance. Evaluate strategies for effecting behavioral change to avoid stereotyping and cultural prejudice. 2

Given a simulated situation where a qualified minority candidate is denied employment based on the hiring manager's cultural prejudice and practice of discrimination, correctly assess the situation and recommend intervention strategies to correct the situation. Key Concepts:

Define stereotyping, racial/cultural profiling, and marginalization. Discuss personal situations in which bias, prejudice, or discrimination warranted intervention. Identify the personal impact of individual, organizational, or societal inequalities. Plan personal and organizational strategies to overcome bias, prejudice, and discrimination. Identify strategies to promote acceptance of people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Examine potential sources and misinformation relating to stereotyping and racial profiling, including the media. 8

Given a situation in which an urban neighborhood is experiencing conflict due to increasing cultural diversity of residents, integrate critical thinking and decision-making skills in preparing a personal plan for developing cultural competence. Key Concepts:

Define cultural competence. Describe personal strategies and skills necessary for cultural competence. Discuss strategies and practices essential for cultural competence at the organizational level. Identify learning that is necessary for societal cultural competence. Discuss current research findings relative to cultural diversity.

Assignments

Reading

Introduction to Understanding and Managing Diversity (p. xii – xvi)

Section I. Understanding individual perspectives of diversity.

Diversity Awareness Quiz (review exercise)

Thriving in a Multicultural Classroom

The Emotional Connection of Distinguishing Differences and Conflict

Section II. Understanding primary aspects of diversity

The Coca-Cola Company: Then and Now

Optional: Section V. Managing diversity: Ethical, legal, communication, and marketing issues.

Ethics and Diversity: Legal Applications in the Workplace

Assignment—Let's Be Lefties for a Day!

This assignment is designed to shift your viewpoint just a bit and hopefully help make clear what it is like to be different from the mainstream of society, as well as how the perception of normality is based on how closely you resemble the majority of people. There are two concepts at work. One is institutionalized discrimination, in which groups or categories of people are placed at some level of disadvantage by the normal way that society operates. The other is the fact that we can learn to appreciate that differences do matter and that becoming aware of those differences will make interactions with others much easier.

Spend a morning living in a world that is designed for someone else. Here's how: Hold a ping-pong ball or a similar object in your right hand (left if you are a lefty) and then slip a sock over it and tie or tape it in place. Keep your fingers folded around the ball inside the sock and try to go about your normal activities. The two main things you want to avoid are letting the ball get out of your closed hand and getting the sock wet.

Most of us are right-handed, and this should give you some sense of how much of our daily activities revolve around that fact. When you must use your left hand rather than your right, things seem to be a bit awkward, don't they? If you want a real example, try to use a wall-mounted pencil sharpener, open a bottle of wine with a corkscrew, or turn the pages of a book. Are lefties at a disadvantage? Go price a set of left-handed golf clubs. Naturally, left-handed people have adapted to the right-handed world to the extent that most are ambidextrous.

Lefties, what did you get from this? Did your life become just a bit easier?

Your assignment is to write a brief two- to three-page essay paper, double-spaced, on the importance of understanding cultural, ethnic, and gender differences by managers and professionals in a business setting. Connect your observations and ideas to the materials and readings covered so far in the class. Don't forget to include your experience with the ball and sock experiment in your paper, and be sure to relate the experiment to the importance of understanding diversity and applying this knowledge in the workplace. Please follow APA formatting requirements for this assignment, including a title page, and proofread to be sure that you have no spelling or grammatical errors.

Submit your assignment to the Dropbox located on the silver tab at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions or watch this Dropbox Tutorial.

See the Syllabus section "Due Dates for Assignments & Exams" for due date information.

Course Project

There will be a Course Project for this class. The final paper will not be due until Week 7; however, you will have additional graded deliverables during the course. Please visit the Course Project section under Course Home for complete details.

Discussions

Introduce yourself to your instructor and to the rest of the class (not graded, but required) You Eat What?! (graded) Some of My Best... (graded)

Lecture topics Why Understand Diversity? | Institutional Versus Ideological Understanding | Understanding Ourselves, Understanding Others | The Challenge | Ethnocentrism | Study Tools