August 18, 2021
New General Education courses for Human Diversity credit
Triton College professors created five new courses to fulfill the human diversity credit requirement for general education core courses. The courses take an interdisciplinary approach to covering art, performance, reading & writing, culture, economics & politics from a multicultural perspective, focusing on the experiences and contributions of Latin American, Black American, Indigenous and other people of color.
The course development was funded by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Humanities Initiatives at Community Colleges.
The five new courses are:
SPE 134 Diversity and Theatre/Performance
RHT 099 Learning Framework for College Reading and Writing
HUM 100 Arts and Culture in Global Perspective
HUM 165 Introduction to Latino and Latin American Studies
HUM 175 Race, Class, and Gender in the United States
A description of each course is below.
SPE 134 Diversity and Theatre/Performance
The course meets Mondays (remote) and Wednesdays (in-person) Noon-1:15 p.m. It explores how performance maintains, disrupts, shapes and questions U.S. culture and identity. There is no requirement for stage experience. It counts as a fine arts and human diversity credit. The course examines:
- Various dramatic expressions that reflect the experience and construction of racial or cultural minoritized identities in the United States.
- Diversity and inclusion in performance, content and form, representation and marginalization, and its role in shaping contemporary U.S. Theatre and culture.
- Performance texts on the page and stage, rituals, site-specific works and everyday performances will be analyzed.
For more information, please contact Lisa Samra at lisasamra@triton.edu.
RHT 099 Learning Framework for College Reading and Writing (Diversity Focused)
The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays 9 a.m., Noon and 4 p.m. In the course, students will explore literature, poetry, art and music through a lens of Black resistance with an emphasis on women, youth movements and Black Latinx artists and activists. The course prepares students for:
- College-level reading and writing across the curriculum.
- Essay construction of multiple rhetorical modes, emphasizing support and unity, organization, flow, audience, and grammar and mechanics.
- It is recommended for highly motivated students wanting a refresher course of previously learned material.
For more information, please contact Gail Krahenbuhl at gailkrahenbuhl@triton.edu.
HUM 100 Arts and Culture in Global Perspective
The course meets Wednesdays (hybrid) 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. It introduces a more global approach to arts and culture by reviewing the messages of artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and indigenous cultures. The course emphasizes:
- Contemporary artists, particularly artists of color and inclusive of work by women and LGBTQ artists.
- The voices and vision of ground-breaking culture-creators through their paintings, sculptures, films, poetry, dance and more.
- Works by artists from non-western cultures in conversation with global realities.
- The themes of identity, power, and resistance focusing on global artists from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
For more information, please contact Dr. Elizabeth Collins at elizabethcollins@triton.edu.
HUM 165 Introduction to Latino and Latin American Studies
The course will be offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8-9 a.m. It is an interdisciplinary introduction to the elements for studying Latin American culture, society, economics and politics, as well as the dynamics of Latino communities in the U.S. The course focuses on the following:
- Issues of race, gender and class, to emerging political and economic shifts in the Americas.
- New local and transnational efforts for social change on the part of Latin America’s peoples and Latinos in the U.S. Counts as gen ed and human diversity credit.
For more information, please contact Maxi Armas at maxiarmas@triton.edu.
HUM 175 Race, Class, and Gender in the United States
The course will be offered Tuesdays (in person) and Thursdays (remote) 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. It will investigate past and present injustices and explore solutions. The course will use book excerpts and discuss the work of Angela Davis, Alicia Garza, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tarana Burke, Raven E. Heavy Runner, Michelle Alexander, Javier Zamora and Susan Stryker, as well as other contemporary writers and activists.
- The main class project is researching and interviewing a BIPOC woman or LGBTQ individual who is a migrant or an immigrant.
- The course analyzes constructions of race, class, gender, and sexuality in relation to political power and inequality in the United States, including hierarchical ideologies, immigration, economic data, legislative history, and narratives of oppression and resistance.
For more information, please contact Dr. Christina Brophy at christinabrophy@triton.edu.