A MULTICULTURAL FRAMEWORK - TRANSFORMING CURRICULUM, TRANSFORMING STUDENTS

This paper discusses efforts to bring a multicultural perspective to a 200-level course on the sociology of health and aging as a means of a ddressing broader multicultural curriculum transformation issues. This course uses a systems of inequality approach. The selection of compat ible reading materials is discussed, as is the challenge of introducin g small-group work to provide more direct exposure to the privileges a nd disadvantages in students' lives. Four semesters of small-group wor k are summarized in the content analyses of students' responses to fou r questions: What is a source of pride in your racial/ethnic backgroun d When have you been discriminated against? When have you discriminate d against others? How are you privileged? Results reveal an implied wh ite racism, frank gender discrimination toward women, a tendency to pe rsonalize and individualize discrimination toward others, and perceive d class privilege with regard to education. These findings are discuss ed within the context of the systems of inequality approach, within th e context of the course, and within the wider multicultural transforma tion enterprise.