Ohio University

Education to offer Diversity Studies Certificate

First class begins winter quarter

Sep 10, 2010
From staff reports

The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education and Human Services has created a new diversity studies certificate (DSC).

The program, which will be housed in the Department of Educational Studies,  will consist of 28 credit hours (or approximately seven courses). Students will begin the program by taking the introductory course EDCS 101, “Introduction to Democracy and Diversity.” The program finishes with a Tier III capstone course, EDCS 405, “Diversity, Social Change and Leadership.”

Between the introductory and capstone course, the students will be able to choose from a variety of courses from five diversity domains: race/ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation and disability. Students will be required to take courses from two different diversity domain categories in order to provide both depth and breadth. Successful participants will be conferred with a diversity studies certificate.

"The Diversity Studies Certificate program will encourage more students to study diversity by providing a structure to the relevant courses that exist in many departments across campus,” said Gordon Brooks, chair of the Department of Educational Studies.

Jaylynne Hutchinson, associate professor of Cultural Studies in Education, developed the program and submitted the proposal to the University Curriculum Council. She will serve as the director of the program and has already begun implementation.

"As students take advantage of this academic Diversity Studies Certificate, we will build a better informed student body that will lessen instances of racial and ethnic, gender, social class, religious, disability and sexual orientation discrimination," wrote Hutchinson, in her proposal to the University Curriculum Council.