COD How I Relate to the World Around me and Why

A major theme of this class is focused on how do you relate to the world around you and why? In this reflective essay, please draw on the materials from week 1-learning module 2 and explore your experience with your racial or cultural identity.

Your essay should be 3-4 pages long and be formatted in MLA style. You must write in complete sentences–although the prompts below are bulleted, you should format your answers to those bulleted points into paragraphs, organized in whatever way makes the most sense for you. You do not need to answer the prompts in order, just make sure that what you need to include is included. Please include an introduction and conclusion.

Because this is a personal reflection, you do not need to include a works cited unless you are referencing source materials. If you do include a works cited, please format it in MLA style and include it as the last page of your essay.

Please consider the following in your essay (bold print points are required to be included, everything else is optional—you can also expand on this if you have something to say that is related but I haven’t prompted below):

• Which Racial Identity Model (RIM) did you relate to and why?
• Based on the model that you used, what level do you rank yourself and why?
• What was difficult to relate to when it came to RIMs and why?
• How do you define/identify your culture/race? How do others identify your culture/race? What’s different about these interpretations and why?
• What have you learned about yourself or your upbringing/culture after studying RIMs and learning about cultural diversity?
• What has made you uncomfortable in this unit/class and why?
• What did you agree with or disagree with in this unit?
• In what way are RIMs useful? And what limits them?
• How can you be an advocate for diversity moving forward?
• What behaviors can you change and how can you increase your own racial identity awareness?
• How has learning about RIMs and microaggressions changed or challenged your worldview?
• How did you relate to the lesson on microaggressions and why/how?
• Have you experienced discrimination in the past? How did it impact you?
• Have you witnessed discrimination? What did you do about it and why?
• In your opinion, can someone be an advocate for diversity without reflecting on RIMs? Why, why not?
• In your opinion, does diversity have to be political? Why, why not?
• What experiences do you have with diversity, inclusion, or social justice? What did you learn about yourself from these experiences?
• In your opinion, should students be required to take classes on diversity, why or why not? What would your ideal diversity class look like and why?
• How will what you’ve learned about yourself, RIMs, and microaggressions impact you moving forward and why?
• What was your reaction to this assignment? Did you think it was stupid? Did you think it was useful? What did it make you think about? Did it make you upset or feel offended? Did it make you hopeful or feel good? Why, explain.