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AUx2 Course Overview

AUx2 seeks to create a space for dialogue and learning about race, social identity, and structures of power. The course builds upon concepts introduced in AUx1, blending personal exploration of social identity formation with a multidisciplinary approach to race. AUx2 aims to equip students to begin the practice of engaging in dialogue with recognition of impact on individuals, communities, and structures. The course also is set-up to prepare students for their Diversity and Equity (DIV) course, which aims to build off content introduced in AUx2 while highlighting faculty expertise in these areas and underscoring the university’s commitment to engaging with the larger cultural and political conversation about social equity.

Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Examine race and racism as a socially constructed system, primarily in the context of Western European settler colonialism.
  • Evaluate how racism intersects with other systems of oppression that create power, privilege, and inequality in relation to society or themselves.
  • Examine liberation, resistance, or cultural celebration efforts led by historically marginalized people and communities that confront or disrupt systems of oppression, such as racism and white supremacy.
  • Practice dialogue and self-reflection as examples of anti-racist principles.

Please see the list below for class topics for fall 2022.

  • Class 1: Introduction to AUx2
  • Class 2: Socialization and Liberation
  • Class 3: Historical Underpinnings of Race
  • Class 4: Historical Underpinnings of Race: Experiential Dialogue
  • Class 5: Historical Underpinnings of Resistance
  • Class 6: Historical Underpinnings of Resistance: Experiential Dialogue
  • Class 7: The Origin of Intersectionality
  • Class 8: Intersectionality Continued
  • Class 9: Class Choice
  • Class 10: Levels of Racism
  • Class 11: Institutionalized Racism
  • Class 12: Research Time or Class Choice
  • Class 13: When They Call You A Terrorist: Student-Led Dialogue
  • Class 14: Final Reflection

Please see the list below for class topics for spring 2023.

  • Class 1: AUx2 - Laying the Foundation
  • Class 2: Self & Community - Centering Care & Belonging
  • Class 3: Self & Community - Exploring Connections
  • Class 4: Theoretical Foundations - Individual, Institutional, & Structural
  • Class 5: Social Constructions of Race - Historical Foundations
  • Class 6: Origins of Intersectionality
  • Class 7: Dialogue 1- Examining Racism & Oppression
  • Class 8: Liberation & Resistance Practices
  • Class 9: Dialogue 2 - Examining Resistance Efforts
  • Class 10: Class Choice
  • Class 11: Expanding Our Understanding of Intersectionality
  • Class 12: Liberation & Resistance in Our Lives - A Collective Dialogue
  • Class 13: Research In Action
  • Class 14: Now What? - AUx Reflection and Preflection

A Journey Through AUx: Syedah’s Story

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Syedah Asghar shares her experience taking AUx and what she found valuable about the experience.