Essential Question
- How do our various group identities shape us as individuals?
- What part do culture and history play in the formation of our individual and collective identities?
- How do our intersecting identities shape our perspectives and the way we experience the world?
- What is the difference between feeling proud and feeling superior?
- How do we remain true to ourselves as we move in and out of different communities, cultures and contexts?
- How do power and privilege change the way we express and present ourselves?
- What privilege do people have based on their identity?
- How could one person’s identity threaten another person’s rights?
- How does struggle help define who we are?
- How do our similarities and differences impact the relationships we have with people inside and outside our own identity groups?
- What do we gain when we learn about the lived experiences of other people?
- What are the challenges of celebrating what we have in common while also honoring our differences?
- How do we connect in meaningful ways with people who are different from us?
- What is the relationship between diversity and inequality?
- How are rights understood and valued differently across cultures?
- Why do some people choose to avoid those who are different? Why do others seek diversity?
- How do different people or groups represent and express their power?
- What does it mean to say that there is strength in diversity?
- What problems arise when we relate to people as members of a group, rather than as unique individuals?
- What is the difference between individual bias and structural inequality?
- How do bias and injustice affect the future?
- How do power and privilege shape the relationships people have with each other as well as with institutions?
- What shared beliefs have inspired social justice movements in history?
- How can the lived experiences of individuals reflect social inequities?
- What is the relationship between prejudice and membership?
- What is solidarity and why is it important to social movements?
- How does power determine access and opportunity?
- How is empathy a seed of social action?
- Does everyone have an equal responsibility to stand up to injustice?
- How can we effectively interrupt biased speech when we hear it?
- Why is it important to stand up to injustice when those around you do not?
- To what extent is collective action necessary to defeat injustice?
- What responsibility does an individual have to make society better?
- What factors are important to consider when choosing whether or not to speak up in the face of injustice?
- Do our obligations to ourselves require us to stand up for others?
- How can individuals learn to talk about injustice and remain civil?