Why is diversity an important area of study?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

This is perhaps the most difficult discussion question to help the students navigate. Here it would be helpful to direct the students back to the three perspectives of diversity discussed in the chapter. Help the student reframe this question. Why is it important to examine benign differences among people? What are the implications of looking at diversity as a social justice issue? Finally, is it important for diversity to have a "performative" component? You may find that students initially answer this question from a practical point of view saying things like "it's important to study diversity in case you end up working for a corporation that has overseas offices.". In keeping with the theme of the chapter, and the theme of the text, reinforce the idea that in college, what may be more important is the civil discourse, that is, the on-going conversations about this topic as opposed to arriving at a concrete answer. You may, for instance, point out that when the topic of diversity was initially introduced in academic circles the idea of tolerance was at the forefront of the conversations. In some communities the idea of appreciating differences and diversity takes precedence over tolerance. This question may be used as a spring board for discussing how civil discourse can shift thinking, help formulate new ideas, and promote different perspectives on concepts and topics.