WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
CIIA > SHOWCASE INDEX > 2014
Center for Instructional
Innovation and Assessment

INNOVATIVE TEACHING SHOWCASE

2014
2015
ISSUE 16

This year's Showcase theme, Infusing Multicultural Perspectives into the Curriculum, seeks to honor faculty who have infused their courses with diverse perspectives to include the many facets of the human experience.


AMBER SUDDUTH BONE, Assistant Professor in the Music Department, emphasizes inclusivity in her music, theatre, literature, history, and visual arts courses by enabling students to express themselves�both by bringing the diverse cultural backgrounds of students to their work and by bringing nontraditional artists and works to the curriculum.

HEATHER DAVIDSON, Instructor in the Communication Studies Department, fosters empathetic interpersonal communication and appreciation for all perspectives by making these things a part of every learning activity�from in-class communication exercises and assigned reflective writing to the incorporation of guests and community resources. She encourages students to challenge assumptions, reflect on understandings, and �to enact the empathy skills they develop as agents of positive social change.�

LYSA RIVERA, Associate Professor in the English Department, shows her commitment to multiculturalism via the courses she teaches (Chicana/o and African American literature), the books she assigns for those courses (written by and largely about people of color), and the classroom conversations both often invite. From large survey courses to senior seminars, her students explore perspectives, experiences, and voices�often marginalized and racialized perspectives vastly different from their own.
"If one of the goals of college and university teachers is to teach students how to function in a global environment, then students must develop a sophisticated sense of cultural awareness."

— Cohn & Mullennix ("Diversity as an Integral Component of College Curricula" in Diversity across the Curriculum (2007)

"Western Washington University serves the people of the State of Washington, the nation, and the world by bringing together individuals of diverse backgrounds and perspectives in an inclusive, student-centered university that develops the potential of learners and the well-being of communities."
-WWU Mission Statement