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Multicultural University Courses Committee

The Office of the Provost charged a faculty committee with assessing proposals for new Multicultural University Courses. The new courses,  announced as part of the overall University Courses initiative , address topics tied to diversity, equity and inclusion, race and ethnicity, identity literacy, and/or cultural competency within an interdisciplinary setting.

2016-2017 Multicultural University Courses

The new University Courses were approved by the relevant curriculum committees and are being offered during the 2016-17 and potentially future academic years. They are:

  1. Historic Black Nashville, led by Jane Landers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History in Arts and Science, and law professor Daniel Sharfstein, will explore a history largely erased from the city’s landscape and give students experience in research methods to recover hidden histories and explore various media and technologies that can be used to tell these stories.
  2. Justice, Mercy and Mass Incarceration, led by Ed Rubin of the Law School and Graham Reside of the Divinity School, will explore the legal structures and justifications that underlie incarceration and the moral and theological arguments that mass incarceration provokes. It also will focus on the unambiguous racial disparities of modern mass incarceration and examine alternative approaches to crime and punishment.
  3. The Nation’s Health: From Policy to Practice, taught by Tara McKay from Medicine, Health and Society in the College of Arts and Science and Gilbert Gonzales of the Department of Health Policy in the School of Medicine, will help prepare students to be more effective participants in health policy debates and promote critical scholarship through engagement with policy experts, media and elected officials.

Committee Members:

  • Chair Ifeoma Nwankwo – Provost's Office
  • Candice Amich – College of Arts & Science
  • Sharon Shields – Peabody College of Education and Human Development
  • Yaqiong Xu – School of Engineering
  • Lucy Spalluto – School of Medicine
  • Jaco Hamman – Divinity School
  • Daniel Sharfstein – Law School

Reports & News

First set of University Courses announced

Chancellor launches University Courses trans-institutional initiative; proposals due Dec. 14

Committee charged with recommending new University Courses designed to advance diversity, equity and inclusion

To offer feedback, you may email any of the committees members or submit to the Strategic Plan  leadership  directly by using this  form.