Teaching Diversity: Encouraging Words

Martha Balshem, Professor of Sociology/Special Assistant to the President for Diversity ()

Intolerance and inequality thrive on silence. Cultural norms of silence breed guilt, defensiveness, and anger between social groups divided by inequalities and act hand-in-hand with structural discrimination to hide and perpetuate social injustice. One of higher education’s greatest contributions to the development of a peaceful and just society would be the breaking down of this silence. Teaching to diversity learning goals, however, can be challenging. I think about teaching diversityin terms of three levels of challenge, with greater teaching challenges linked (of course!) to greater opportunities for student learning.

CHALLENGE 1: Diversity issues can be covered in any course—although it’s not always easyto see how.

In some disciplines, it takes creativity and commitment to relate diversity issues to course content. Ask your faculty colleagues what they have used to teach to diversity learning goals. Don’t hesitate to ask across disciplinary borders—scientists asking social scientists, mathematicians asking women’s studies faculty, engineers asking artists, and the like. You may be surprised at how well some diversity topics travel across disciplines.Here, I’ve listed five diversity-related topics that could be adapted to a wide variety of courses. The topic of identity development is probably a winner for many courses; identity is a major personal focus for many college students, and they often feel compassion for diversity-related struggles when these issues are linked to issues of identity. Professional identity issues may help tie diversity issues in many disciplines. Paula Rothenberg’s reader Race, Class, and Gender in the United States[Worth Publishers, 2009] includes many brief articles touching on identity development issues for a wide variety of groups, including women, men, people of color, sexual minorities, and people with disabilities.

  • TOPIC: Identity Development. Try the Opening Dialogues lesson “Unmasking Whiteness” ( This lesson, an affecting yet gentle way to begin talking about the construction of social identities and group histories, uses the PBS video “American Experience: Hawaii’s Last Queen”(2004, 60 minutes; DVD is $19.95 plus shipping from For background on race identity development (and a great read), look at Beverly Tatum’s book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (Basic Books, 2003, revised edition)
  • TOPIC: Race and Genetic Medicine. Are genetic researchers reinventing race as an inappropriately centralbiological category? This is an ongoing and serious debate in the medical community and among scholars of race. The critical, social science point of view is presented in accessible and reasoned fashion in Pamela Sankar et al., “Genetic Research and Health Disparities” (JAMA 291(24)2985-2989, 2004). This article is short and simple enough to be assigned to undergraduate non-science majors, although it will require some in-class processing.
  • TOPIC: Oregon History You May Not Know. Many students are not aware of Oregon’s history of racial prejudice. The video “Local Color” (Oregon Public Broadcasting, 1991, 58 minutes; E185.93.O7 L633 2008 DVD at Millar Library) presents an excellent documentary history of Oregon’s Black population. As one of my White students said, “How come I went all the way through school in Oregon and never heard any of this?” I also like the video “Grandma Zula’s Legacy” (Grandma Zula Productions, 2006, 46 minutes; E185.86.G6446 2006 DVD at Millar Library). It tells some of the same history by tracing several generations of strong women in one Portland family. Both videos present information on the Vanport flood, an important event in the history of Portland State.
  • TOPIC: Environment Justice. Type the search term “environmental justice” into Google Scholar and look at the maze of choices. This is a truly interdisciplinary issue. Medical and environmental scientists debate disease causality; social scientists focus on the power inequalities that cause toxic waste and noxious industry to be placed in communities of color and poor communities in the U.S. and around the world. The issue of water rights in Bolivia and other countries, another environmental justice issue,is covered in one segment of the documentary “The Corporation” (Big Picture Media Corporation, 2004, 145 minutes; HD60 .C696 2005 DVDat Millar Library).
  • TOPIC: Beyond Dichotomous Gender. Look at Millar Library’s Gender and GBLT videos list ( for videos that explore sexual identity and orientation as varied and complex beyond the female/male dichotomy. Anne Tamar-Mattis, Executive Director of Advocates for Informed Choice, has a short piece on the controversy concerning gender assignment to infants with unusual genital anatomies (Endocrine Today 6(20):3-4, 2008). For a bibliography on this topic, see

CHALLENGE 2: Deep learning about diversity can require open conversation in“safe space.”

Simple coverage of diversity content transmitsvaluable factual information related to diversity learning goals, which is a worthy accomplishment in itself. Such lessons, however, also create “teachable moments” in which our students might be able to think more deeply about power, inequality, and social and professional ideals related to excellence, inclusion of multiple perspectives, and pluralistic democracy. Learning theorists, diversity trainers, and seasoned educators all point to open discussion in a safe space as being the best way to take fuller advantage of these teachable moments. In this context, “safe space” does not mean that these discussions will be comfortable and easy. Just asking “How did this [video/article/presentation] make people feel?” can bring up some strong emotions.

If the prospect of facilitating class discussion of diversity issues makes you nervous, please join the crowd. After twenty years of teaching social science, my own confidence on this challenge still waxes and wanes. Fortunately, there is a lot of support in the teaching community on this issue. Ihighly recommend Shari Saunders and Diana Kardia’s article, “Creating Inclusive College Classrooms” ( which covers both best practices and missteps to avoid in our attempts to create safe classroom space and facilitate discussion of diversity. Remember, too, that you can start simply, with general questions and brief discussions. If a particular discussion seems too challenging, give the students three minutes to write down a few thoughts on a piece of notebook paper and hand it in to you (you can tell them to do this anonymously, or you can have them sign it and give them one extra-credit point, which they will love). Then you can read through the comments after class and simply report at the next class meeting as to the nature and variety of the views that were expressed.

Look at “Game for Encouraging Discussion,” “Grateful Listening,” and “Pick-a-Passage” on the “Opening Dialogues” site ( these lessons will give you ideas of ways to create a good participatory classroom environment, one in which all voices can be heard in a respectful manner.

Specifying guidelines for class discussion and behavior is a good idea.You may want to work with your students to brainstorm and agree on “class rules” early in the term—no interrupting, don’t hog the air, and the like—but be careful to recognize that some of the “rules” that usually end up on these lists are culture bound (“stay on topic” and “everyone should participate,” for instance). In any case, you should voice the guideline or “rule” that you may from time to time interrupt the class to focus for a few moments on a process or diversity issue that comes up in the course of things. Voicing this possibility will be especially helpful if a Point Three situation arises (see below).

CHALLENGE 3: Whether you plan it or not, diversity issues will arise in unexpected and upsetting ways. Most of your students do not expect you to be all-knowing and capable of dealing with any situation. They do see you, however, as an authority figure and as a representative of the University’s values. In addition to managing the uncomfortable discussions described in Point Two, you may from time to time find yourself confronted with a sudden “hot moment” in the classroom. Perhaps a class discussion has degenerated into a shouting match, or a student has used a hurtful word or phrase in class, or you’ve overheard one student saying something hurtful to another, perhaps before the class has actually begun. In these situations,

you have to act—to invoke the University’s policies about

“safe and respectful environment[s]” but also to use the

moment to further student learning about diversity.

This is oftenmore easily said than done. Hearing a racist,

sexist, or homophobic slur is shocking. Often, faculty

freeze and end up not saying or doing anything. Other

times, we respond angrily, effectively shutting down the

student who used the hurtful term. We can learn,

however, to respond so as to identify the language in question as inappropriate and yet continue to include the student in question in a “safe space” environment. Remember, too, to be forgiving to yourself. If you freeze or respond angrily, you can always return to the issue in your next class (“I’d like to talk about something that happened in class the last time we met. I realized later that I wanted to respond differently than I did in the moment.”)

For more on dealing with “hot moments,” continue to the next page, “Interrupting Intolerance in the Classroom.”The classic piece “Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom” from Harvard’s Derek Bok Center, is available at ( The Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) can help;e-mail or call 503-725-5919 to schedule presentations and services tailored to your needs.