Learning Across Difference: Understanding the Roots of Anti-Blackness, Whiteness and Racial Bias in the United States, A Course for International Students

USF prides itself on being one of the most racially and culturally diverse campuses in the United States. One critical aspect of that diversity is the 1,300 international students from over 90 countries we welcome to campus each year. Many international students, particularly undergraduates, come to the U.S. with an incomplete understanding of the history of race and racism in the U.S. and with different theoretical frameworks of race and identity from their own cultures; many are not aware, for instance, of the Black Lives Matter movement. As a result, they encounter concepts of race and identity in the US that are confusing or disorienting, and may lack the tools and resources to grapple with race and identity in the U.S. context and in the context of an American college campus. 

For this project, ISSS (International Student and Scholar Services) created the "Learning Across Difference" course for international students. The course focused on disrupting racial bias and anti-Blackness, increasing awareness of institutional, structural, and systemic inequity through race, and applying this information to increase understanding.

Video Transcript