Rising From Complacency: A Catholic University Response to Racism

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Thirteen
  In Roundtable Session: Reframing Issues and Innovations in Catholic Education (Table 7)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the creation of a Race, Justice, and Dialogue Course (RJDC), a course initiated in the summer of 2020, when members of our university’s Black Student Union demanded more than a public statement of solidarity from our predominantly white institution (PWI). We ask: What is the impact of an antiracist course for undergraduates at a Catholic PWI on their understanding of and ability to discuss and engage in social justice and race topics? A dominant theme is transformation -- of self, community, and institution -- and the role of integrated and structured dialogue, which disrupts white supremacy by raising critical consciousness, including consciousness of self as learner and citizen, consciousness of culture, and sociopolitical consciousness.

Authors

• Rachel Skrlac Lo, Villanova University
  Presenting Author

• Sheryl Perlmutter Bowen, Villanova University
  Presenting Author

• Teresa A. Nance, Villanova University
  Presenting Author

• Edward Garcia Fierros, Villanova University
  Presenting Author