Class Spotlight

IDIS-210: Contemporary Multi-Ethnic Voices, Prof. Keith D. Leonard

Have you ever thought about the beautiful complexity of ethnic cultural identity, nationalism and global mobility? Are you interested in cross-cultural communication and global diversity? Do you want to investigate the international cultural diversity of Washington DC? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then General Education and the Multi-Ethnic Studies Minor has just the course for you!!! This course examines how ethnicity affects the organization of society, the relationship of the individual, communities, and society, and how artists negotiate their own understanding of ethnicity in contemporary American society. Literature, films, theatre, walking tours, and a community service project introduce students to the critical concepts, patterns, and issues that reflect multi-ethnic perspectives. The course also explores the relationship between ethnicity, values, and ethics in American society and fosters critical thinking based on reasoned evidence. Prerequisite for General Education credit: ANTH-150 or PSYC-105 or SOCY-100 or WGST-125. The course will soon be posted on the schedule of classes. Look for it under the Interdisciplinary Studies prefix (IDIS)

Faculty Spotlight

Consuelo Hernández, Associate Professor of Latin American Studies Professor

Consuelo Hernández teaches courses on Latin American Literature, poetry, Central América, Colombia and Afro-Latin America. Professor Hernández specializes in Latin American poetry and her other research interests include Colombian and Central American studies, Afro-Latin American culture and music. She has received distinctions from the International Poetry Contest of “Ciudad Melilla" in Spain and at the “Letras de Oro” Contest at the University of Miami. She has read her poetry in many countries including at the International Poetry Festival in Medellín, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Pablo Neruda Foundation in Chile, and the Institute of Iberoamerican Cooperation in Spain.

Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Performing Arts

Caleen Sinnette Jennings is an associate professor of theater at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she teaches first- and second-level acting and playwriting courses, as well as academic courses in theater. She also directs for main stage and writes and directs for two student performing companies. Jennings is also a performer and a member of the acting faculty for the Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library. She received a bachelor's degree in theater from Bennington College and an M.F.A. in theater from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Dr. Steven Taylor, Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs

Dr. Steven Taylor is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. In his research, Dr. Taylor focuses on issues regarding urban politics, politics of race and ethnicity in the US, civil rights and liberties as well as political culture in the US and in West Africa. Some of the courses taught by Dr. Taylor include Metropolitan Politics which focuses on the growth of cities and metropolitan areas. Evolution of the city and its surrounding areas as a focus of public policy. Dr. Taylor's Minority Politics in the United States course covers how various minority groups have shaped the American political system, and how American political structures have affected their involvement in the political process at the local, state, and national levels. Individual Freedom vs. Authority is a course taught by Dr. Taylor that studies major philosophical discussions of the conflict between individual freedom and authority with analysis of the relation between this conflict and the problem of organizing a government.