This course introduces students to restorative justice as a set of practices for encountering difference with openness and empathy, exercising self-reflection and personal accountability, and implementing social and personal change. Students learn these practices in the context of exploring the intersections of identity categories (gender, race, sexuality, class, dis/ability, non/religiosity, nation, etc.) with structures of power, foregrounding the perspectives of those who have been marginalized by dominant groups over space and time, with a primary focus on the United States. The course emphasizes community building across differences in identity and experience, using Beloit College as a lab of learning. Students develop the intellectual habits, reflective capacities, and collaborative communication skills required for effective interventions in their current and future social worlds. (3B) Offered each fall. Prerequisite: first-year or sophomore standing; juniors and seniors may register with instructor permission.

This introductory-level course engages students in the development of intersectional and critical thinking about identity–a core that anchors the Critical Identity Studies curriculum. Courses crosslisted as Critical Identity Studies 140 represent a diverse array of academic disciplines and show how interdisciplinary, intersectional, and social-justice approaches are embedded in a student’s education across the curriculum. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. The 3B- and 5T-domained versions of this topics course are, respectively, Critical Identity Studies 141 and 142.

This course examines case studies at the intersection of conventional medicine with colonialism, diaspora, coerced labor, and systems and practices of inequity. How do medical knowledge systems depend on legacies of harm? How might inherited legacies be addressed in the present? How might an understanding of that history illuminate why contemporary communities resist care practices? Together, students examine how health care workers and anyone going into caring professions can develop more humane and inclusive approaches to medical care. (Also listed as Health and Society 255.) Prerequisite: Critical Identity Studies 101, Anthropology 100, or Sociology 100.

All activism is founded on the hope that society not only should change, but has the capacity to do so. This course aims to provide students with the tools they need to live the change they want to see—without burning themselves out in the process. Students develop methods of personal healing and reflection, while building strategies for individual and structural change that can be utilized beyond the classroom. In order to develop those strategies, class members experiment with approaches to transformative justice and collaborative worldbuilding. Prerequisites: none.

Topics important to the field of critical identity studies will be offered to take advantage of faculty or student interest. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. The 2A, 3B, and 5T domained versions of this course are, respectively, Critical Identity Studies 266, 267, and 268.

History topics important to the field of critical identity studies. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. (5T) The un-domained version of this course is Critical Identity Studies 270.

This course helps students assess how their critical study of identity and their liberal arts education have helped them remake knowledge for themselves and others. Students reflect on their experiences and examine the behaviors, practices, and habits of mind they have developed at Beloit. The course culminates in “doing community” through a micro-intervention project that aims to make the college more inclusive. Students learn strategies for seeking mentorship, developing as professionals, launching their post-Beloit careers, and navigating different organizational cultures. By the end of the course, each student produces a robust portfolio for job search or graduate school. (CP) Prerequisites: Critical identity studies major or minor, or permission of instructor.

This advanced-level course takes up topics important to the field of critical identity studies and will be offered to take advantage of faculty or student interest. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Prerequisite: Critical Identity Studies 101.

Individual work under faculty supervision, with evaluation based on appropriate evidence of achievement. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.

The writing of a substantial paper or project based on independent study or project. Qualified students are invited to apply in the fall of their senior year.

Work with faculty in research or classroom instruction. Graded credit/no credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

Work with faculty doing research. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.