During this course I have learned about diversity, race, ethnicity, cultural differences, stereotyping and prejudice. Much of the textbook reading has enlightened me on the immense diversity in the United States and in the world at large. The decisions that I partook in during this course have allowed me to interact with many diverse people from various backgrounds which is much like the way the United States and society is in general work. I really never thought about diversity in the way that was taught in this course; people come from many backgrounds and have rich and full cultures who live right here in my own community. Now that I see these cultures in a different light due to this course I can enjoy them more and not feel like they are so different from me and when they are different I can embrace those differences.…
The diversity in the United States has helped me to better understand and relate to others in ways that I may not have in the past. I have learned much from this class and about myself that there is still discrimination and prejudice in the United States. I have learned that I need to take the time and to get to know a person before I make any judgments against them. There are so many different kinds of people in the United States with the different backgrounds. We do not need to discriminate against anyone until we can look at ourselves first to make sure we are clean. We need to look beyound the core of there skin and what they are wearing, and the way they talk. Since this class I have steped back and looked around to see how people act with each other some get along just fine then you have the few that you can tell are uncomfortable. I have learned that everyone needs to be treated as equals it does not matter what your age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. We just need to all get along and to educate others.…
The diversity in the United States has helped me to better understand and relate to others in ways that I may not have in the past. I have learned much from this class and about myself that there is still discrimination and prejudice in the United States. I have learned that I need to take the time and to get to know a person before I make any judgments against them. There are so many different kinds of people in the United States with the different backgrounds. We do not need to discriminate against anyone until we can look at ourselves first to make sure we are clean. We need to look beyond the core of their skin and what they are wearing, and the way they talk. Since this class I have stepped back and looked around to see how people act with each other some get along just fine then you have the few that you can tell are uncomfortable. I have learned that everyone needs to be treated as equals it does not matter what your age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. We just need to all get along and to educate others.…
Teachers today have the challenging yet rewarding task of educating a classroom filled with diverse learners who represent a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Within these students lies a multitude of opinions and viewpoints about controversial topics that are imbedded in some of the content that is taught. Two of these content areas are history and social science. While avoiding controversy may be limited, what is not is the ability to teach controversial issues in the classroom. “Addressing Current Controversial Issues through the Social Studies Curriculum: Making Social Studies Come Alive” by Obed Dube (2009) explores the various ways that teachers can address controversial issues. Although this article is written with the focus of teachers in Botswana, the author provides a variety of ways that can be useful for all teachers around the world.…
There are three responsibilities for global citizenship, which are environment, education and diversity. A true global citizenship is not only a spectator, but also an active participant, who takes actions and makes contributions at home, in the society and beyond. He or she respects all people equally without considering their race, religion, belief, age and gender (Thomas, 2009, p.2). Firstly, environment issues should be considered by global citizenship. One major characteristic of globalization is the increasing of interdependence, and in some extent has caused climate change, which can be seen as the cumulative effect of human activities when viewed at the level of global scale when multiplied up to whole populations and repeated over decades or centuries(Gibson, Rimmington &…
Humankind would be a better place if we were all just citizens of the world. In Martha Nussbaum’s “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism” she argues whether children should be taught in education to be patriotic or cosmopolitan. Nussbaum’s definition of cosmopolitanism is a person whose primary allegiance is to the community of human beings in the entire world. Nussbaum begins her argument by raising questions about education and how students ought to be taught that hunger in third world countries are problems of global problems and not the countries problem. She says “We should regard out deliberations as, first and foremost, deliberations about human problems of people in particular concrete situations, not problems growing out of a national identity that is altogether unlike that of others.”(P 1)…
The information that I have learned about diversity in the United States has helped me better understand our society and relate to different people. I think that diversity is a beautiful thing that we should embrace instead of looking at negatively. The United States has come a long way in terms of discrimination and prejudice against different people from different cultures, backgrounds and races. This class has helped me gain a better understanding of what some people went through in order to gain the respect of people that looked down on them because they were of a different descent. Looking back at the way African Americans…
Prior to college, I was very vaguely interested in politics. However, my senior year of high school a classmate asked me about my opinion on Trayvon Martin; unfortunately, I had no clue who Trayvon Martin was and simply answered with, “who?” That day was a turning point for me because I chose to research Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, which drastically altered my world perspective. I learned about systematic racism, feminist issues, and other systems of oppression. I delved deep into the history of colonialism and learned that many of our current issues, such as poverty and income inequality, are a direct result of European colonialism and the underdevelopment of non-white societies and communities. At 18 years old, I decided that I wanted…
I have learned so much from taking this class. I have learned what other cultures and races had to endure to gain the respect from others that ridiculed and disrespected them as humans just because they were different. I have also learned that even though some have worked very hard, they are still not accepted by others. I have also learned that one has to be accepting and tolerant, to listen with your heart, and you could learn many new things like how others live, cook, raise their children, different religions and their beliefs. Even though the United States is so diverse, people are very…
The author begins with the claim that “we are all global citizens”, who are supposed to “revel in diversity” and to be contributive in facing the challenges of the planet. He adds a report from the Institute of International Education which suggest that more and more students are studying across national borders.…
Global Literature class has been a class that has taught me so much throughout the semester from how to write a well-thought out thesis to talking about how the different stories can affect our cultural views. After reading all of these books and short stories it has given me a better view on being a global citizen. Being a global citizen has to do with being informed person and not to assume things about another culture without being fully aware of cultural surroundings. Being able to communicate and collaborate is something that Greenville College puts a lot of pride in allowing all of their students have the opportunity to have open discussions about different things that will be taking place in the culture around them and around the world. We have done this in this class by talking about each of the books and stories that we have read. We talk about each of the cultures that have to do with each of the different countries. Being able to compare and contrast their culture to ours allows up to relate and see how things are different. In this class we communicated our different views in creative ways of writing assignments, presentations and class discussions.…
13). Wilson illustrates this importance when stating, “Most of the issues that vex humanity daily-ethnic conflict, arms escalation, overpopulation, abortion, environment, endemic poverty, to cite several most persistently before us – cannot be solved without integrating knowledge from the natural sciences with that of the social sciences and humanities” (Wilson, 1998, p. 13). Wilson argues that a balanced perspective is what will enable individuals to see the world as it truly is, and allow for individuals to approach these problems more effectively by utilizing a consilient approach. Wilson notes that political leaders often stem from the academic backgrounds associated with the social sciences and the humanities (Wilson, 1998, p. 14). Considering this, these leaders often fail to acquire a balanced perspective that allows for them to approach the problems that are facing humanity currently. Once individuals acquire a perspective that has been rooted in the unification of knowledge, individuals’ problem solving skills will completely transcend the problem solving that characterized their previous non-consilient approaches to resolving the issues that humans are currently…
Conflict is widespread throughout all cultures, mainly because of competition, individual differences, social attitudes, including racial, economic (class conflicts) and gender inequality; to finish, several people reject conformity too. Most importantly, conflicts play a great role in the economic development of society. Additionally, due to human nature, people fear what they don't know. Moreover, each society comprises of different ethnicity or faiths thus attracting various cultures and cultural ways that are different (De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012). Consequently, in such a case, it is not easy to control disagreements because every person has different thoughts; it is not easy to control the thoughts of other people.…
I would have to say that I have learned a lot of information by taking this cultural diversity class. I know that there are minorities in the United States, but I was unaware of many of the discriminations that have happened over the years. I have always thought that we were all equal and that is how I have raised my children. We may come from different backgrounds, have different colors of skin and speak other languages, but we are all people living our lives and trying to become successful. I can now see the challenges that many minority groups have to face in the United States and understand why there are so many different programs available to the minority.…