Write 5 page essay on Cultural Diversity Encounter
Assessment 1
Cultural Diversity and You
Details
Attempt 1 Evaluated
Attempt 2 Evaluated
Attempt 3 Available
Overview
Write a 5–7-page essay describing, examining, and reflecting upon a personal cultural diversity encounter.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Describe theoretical ideas of power in relation to policy.
Connect a personal experience to sociological concepts of power.
Competency 3: Analyze the effects of social policy using aggregated data.
Analyze data to make valid sociological inferences.
Competency 4: Analyze how laws are applied or created based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, age, and social class.
Analyze how laws or policies are applied to a diversity issue.
Competency 5: Apply diversity strategies in professional, educational, and personal contexts.
Apply strategies for addressing a cultural diversity issue.
Discuss personal characteristics or experiences that might account for feelings or reactions involving a
diversity issue.
Competency 6: Communicate effectively.
Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format and with few errors of grammar, usage,
and mechanics.
Competency Map
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Context
Understanding cultural diversity from a sociological perspective first requires understanding the concepts and
theoretical frameworks that guide sociological thinking. Cultural diversity encompasses a variety of social categories,
including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social class, age, and physical or mental disability.
Sociologists examine these categories at both the micro level (how they affect or are affected by individuals) and at the
macro level (how they impact society as a whole).
At the micro level, sociologists might explore, for example, how and why certain individuals may be prejudiced or
racist while others are not. Yet prejudice and racism are not just individual problems, but are structural phenomena that
are built into the way a society is organized. Understanding prejudice and racism requires not just focusing on
individuals but also examining overall patterns of discrimination and racism within society. Sociologists study how
those patterns have changed over time, as well as their causes and consequences for society as a whole and for
individuals and families.
Questions to Consider
To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow
learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community.
What is the distinction between a dominant and a minority group?
What are the differences among prejudice and individual and institutional discrimination?
What are the key sociological theories used to describe relationships between dominant and majority groups,
and how do these theories explain these relationships? For example, consider how conflict or functional theory
approach race or ethnic relations or the theories of inequality proposed by Max Weber and Karl Marx.
What particular issues surrounding diversity are most important or prevalent in today’s society?
Resources
Suggested Resources
The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful
context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation
menu of your courseroom.
Capella Multimedia
Click the link provided below to view the following multimedia piece:
Resource Bank | Transcript.
This is a general resource for cultural diversity topics.
Demographic Characteristics by Race | Transcript.
Taking a Stance Against Racism and Discrimination | Transcript.
FMG Video
Click the following link to view a video purchased through Films Media Group for use in this Capella course. Any
distribution of video content or associated links is prohibited.
Race and Sex: What We Think (But Can’t Say). | Transcript
Library Resources
The following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:
Rodríguez-García, D. (2010). Beyond assimilation and multiculturalism: A critical review of the debate on
managing diversity. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 11(3), 251–271.
Nier, J. A., & Gaertner, S. L. (2012). The challenge of detecting contemporary forms of discrimination. Journal of
Social Issues, 68(2), 207–220.
Abercrombie, N., Hill, S., & Turner, B. S. (2006). The Penguin dictionary of sociology (5th ed). London, England:
Penguin.
Course Library Guide
A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer
to the resources in the SOC-FP2000 – Cultural Diversity Library Guide to help direct your research.
Internet Resources
Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for
the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course
publication.
Le, C. N. (2007). The downside of diversity? Everyday Sociology. Retrieved from
http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2007/09/the-downside-of.html
Prince Inniss, J. (2011). What explains social inequality? Everyday Sociology. Retrieved from
http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2011/09/what-explains-social-inequality.html
Frontline. (1985). A class divided. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/
Bookstore Resources
The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted
otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the Capella University Bookstore. When searching the
bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific –FP (FlexPath) course designation.
Healey, J. F., & O’Brien, E. (2015). Race, ethnicity, gender, & class: The sociology of group conflict and change
(7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
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Assessment Instructions
For this assessment, you will be combining a micro- and macro-level analysis of diversity. You will discuss your
personal experiences or observations regarding a diversity-related issue and apply sociological concepts and theory
to your analysis. You will also research the broader trends regarding the diversity-related issue you have chosen to
discuss. Finally, you will discuss existing or proposed laws or policies that are applicable to your issue and reflect on
personal strategies that could be used to address or prevent the problem you have identified. One major thing to
keep in mind as you begin to explore the sociology of cultural diversity is how the social categories we belong to—
our race, ethnicity, social class, the generation we belong to—affect how we perceive the world around us and our
interactions with other people.
Deliverable
Reflect on an instance when you or someone else were unfairly excluded, discriminated against, or otherwise
neglected or treated inappropriately due to race, ethnicity, age, gender, social class, sexuality, disability, or other
category related to diversity. Depending on the setting in which the incident occurred, consider whether any laws
or policies were violated, either those established by an organization, such as a business or school, or state or
federal antidiscrimination policies.
Write an essay in which you complete each of the following:
Part 1 – Describe your experience:
Describe the event and the underlying diversity issues at play.
Describe your opinions, feelings, actions, and what you learned from the event.
Part 2 – Examine your experience:
Discuss experiences from your personal background that might account for your feelings or reactions.
Consider areas such as your ethnicity, history, upbringing, local mores, recent events, et cetera.
Connect your experience to at least three sociological concepts and/or issues. For example, if you are
writing about what if feels like to be an outsider, you could connect your discussion to the concept of
power or social structure, or the broader issue of relationships between dominant and minority
groups.
Examples of other concepts you could include are: prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes,
cultural pluralism, assimilation, structural mobility, social distance, and modern racism.
Examples of theories include functional or conflict theory, Marx’s and Weber’s theories of
inequality, Park’s race relations cycle, Gordon’s theory of assimilation, human capital theory,
scapegoat hypothesis, and the theory of authoritarian personality.
Incorporate research on the broader issue that your experience illustrates. For example, if the incident
you describe involves discrimination in the workplace, research workplace discrimination and find data
on the prevalence or nature of this problem. If the incident involves bullying at school, locate data on
how extensive this issue is. Questions to consider include:
Is the type of incident you describe commonplace?
Where might this be most prevalent?
Among what groups is it most likely to occur?
What trends did you notice in your research? For example, does the kind of incident you
experienced or observed seem to be an increasing problem, or is it declining over time?
Analyze how relevant laws or policies might be applied to this situation. These may be civil or criminal
laws or, perhaps, policies established in the workplace or schools.
Consider whether any laws or policies were violated and how those laws or policies might be
changed or better enforced to address the situation you describe.
Part 3 – Reflect on your experience:
Based on your reflections of the event and the research you have now done, share personal strategies
that are useful for informing the interactions or relationships between the involved parties, as well as
your own understanding or perspectives.
Additional Requirements
Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
Length: 5–7 pages, not including title and reference pages.
Format: Include a title page and reference page, and format the paper and your citations according to
current APA style and formatting guidelines.
Sources: Cite at least two scholarly sources.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
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