DIVERSITY REQUIREMENT COMMITTEE

MINUTES

September 26, 2008

WPH 104

I.   WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Chair Jo Ann Farver welcomed those present and introductions were made. Richard Fliegel summarized the background and goals of the Diversity Requirement Committee.  In advance of the meeting the Diversity guidelines were distributed to the members, along with the committee’s charge, and a checksheet listing the various aspects expected by the committee.  These documents are posted on the Curriculum website, and may be used by departments proposing diversity courses, as well as by the DRC when evaluating syllabi. 
The DRC focuses on the diversity requirement; other subcommittees attend to syllabus structure and academic fitness.  
Syllabi must contain more than one aspect of diversity to address issues of conflict in a wider context.  From time to time syllabi are provided by departments for courses taught by faculty no longer here; in these cases the committee has to decide whether, based on what was submitted, to ask for a new syllabus.  
The committee agrees that a statement explicitly stating that the course satisfies diversity and how, must be included in each syllabus.  Syllabi for courses up for five-year review lacking this statement should be updated to include this statement; however, the committee recognizes that adding it to a syllabus for a course offered in the past alters that syllabus.  The curriculum office will communicate with departments about how to accomplish this improvement to their syllabi.  
A thorough ‘housekeeping’ of all courses with the diversity designation was undertaken this summer by new Curriculum Analyst Korijna Valenti, which yielded a fair number of courses that should have been reviewed in past years, and that is the main reason that a greater number than usual are up for five-year review this year.  A spreadsheet of these courses will be provided as an email attachment to committee members.   

II.     DIVERSITY COURSE 5-YEAR REVIEWS:

A.	MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS	
			Business Communication
			Chair: Sandra Chrystal             	
				
	BUCO-333 Communication in the Working World: Managing Diversity & Conflict (4)
Communication strategies to manage workplace diversity and conflict.  Historical, social, legal precedents. Institutional barriers to diversity. Race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disabilities, culture.
	Attachments:
	Syllabi for Fall 2008 (Warren; Little)
	Course Outline, Assignments, Discussion Questions (Warren)  
APPROVED.  The two faculty who developed the course are still teaching it.  The statement about how it satisfies diversity is included.  The two aspects are clearly race and gender.  This was viewed as a model syllabus for diversity.  [Jo Ann – do you want this last statement?) 

B.	ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION	
				Journalism
					Director: Michael Parks

	JOUR-468 The American Press and Issues of Sexual Diversity (4)
Examines how news media reflect and affect perception of gay/lesbian issues; provides historical-contemporary context; arms students to bypass rhetoric and knowledgeably evaluate facts.
	Attachment:
	Syllabus for Fall 2007 (Castaneda)
DEFERRED TO CHAIR.  The syllabus is missing an explicit statement about how the course meets the diversity criteria, and the committee wants to clarify if the two aspects are sexual orientation and gender identity. 

C. 	ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION	
					Associate Dean: Melora Sundt

	EDCO-324 Asian American Psychology (4)
Psychological issues of Asian Americans such as cultural identity, intergenerational conflict, stereotypes, interracial dating and marriage, educational achievement, and mental health.
	Attachment:
	Syllabus for Fall 2008 (Chung)
DEFERRED TO CHAIR.  The syllabus is missing an explicit statement about how the course meets the diversity criteria, and the committee wants to clarify if the two aspects are race and gender. 

D. 	COLLEGE OF LETTERS ARTS & SCIENCES	
			American Studies and Ethnicity
					Chair: John Carlos Rowe

1.	AMST-206 The Politics and Culture of the 1960's (4)
Examines political and cultural change in the United States during the decade of the 1960s.
	Attachments:
	Syllabus for Fall 2004 (Sekhon)
	Syllabus and Final for Spring 2005 (Young)
	Syllabus for Spring 2006 (Moten)
	Syllabus for Fall 2006 (da Silva)
	Syllabus for Spring 2008 (Lemelle)
DEFERRED TO COMMITTEE.  The instructors listed above are all part-time instructors, and none are still at USC.  The committee requested  to see George Sanchez’ version of the syllabus, but the department was asked after the meeting and they report he has not taught it in the last five years; and there is no record of him being instructor of record in the online class schedule for the last five years .  The Spring 2008 version passes muster, except it does not include an explicit statement of how the course meets the diversity criteria.  The department is asked to provide the Spring 2009 version, which includes that explicit statement. 

	
2.	AMST-449 Asian American Literature (4)
Survey of Asian American literature from the earliest time to the present; development of prose, poetry and novel.
	Attachment:
               Syllabus, final, and midterm for Fall 2007 (Nguyen)	
DEFERRED TO CHAIR.   The syllabus is missing a statement of how the course satisfies the diversity requirement.  It is not clear what the two aspects of diversity are.  

The remaining courses were DEFERRED due to a lack of time.  

	Gender Studies
					Chair: Lisa Bitel
3.	SWMS-385 Men and Masculinity (4)
Interdisciplinary examination of social, personal meanings of masculinity; variety of male experience by social class, race, sexuality, and age; emerging masculinities of the future.
Attachment:
Syllabus for Spring 2008 (Hawkins)		

								Political Science
					Chair: Ann Crigler
4.   POSC-441 Cultural Diversity and the Law (4)
Jurisprudential approach to the study of cultural differences. Consideration of circumstances under which law should accommodate cultural diversity in the United States and abroad.
	Attachments:
	Syllabus for Spring 2004 (Oh)
	Syllabus for Summer 2005 (Renteln)
	Syllabus for Spring 2006 (Wasserman)
	Syllabus for Spring 2008 (Veazey)		

5.	POSC-442 The Politics of Human Differences: Diversity and Discrimination (4)
A comparative perspective on social and cultural forces that affect American laws and policies concerning discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability.
	Attachments:
Syllabus for Fall 2003, Fall 2004 (Malekafzali)
Syllabus for Spring 2006 (Graham)
Syllabus for Spring 2007 (Lee)

	

E.	SCHOOL OF MUSIC		Jazz Studies
					Chair: Shelton Berg

	MUJZ-100x Jazz: A History of America's Music (4)
Gateway to the minor in Jazz Studies. Historical evolution of jazz from its origins to present day; elements of musical structures and jazz styles revealed though the study of recorded examples, live performances and video. Not available for credit to jazz studies majors.
	Attachments:
	Syllabus, Midterm, and Final for Fall 2007 (Thompson)

F. 	SCHOOL OF POLICY, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT 	

				Policy, Planning, and Development
					Chair: Elizabeth Graddy

A.	PPD-485 U.S. Immigration Policy (4)
Examination of the historical and contemporary components of U.S. immigration policy with emphasis on policies addressing legal permanent immigrants, refugees, asylees, the undocumented.
	Attachments:
				Syllabus and Reader for Fall 2007 (Pachon)