Diversity and Social Justice Requirement
Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s mission is to prepare students for today's careers and tomorrow's opportunities. In today's culturally diverse global workforce, this mission goes beyond teaching our students the technical skills they will use in their industry. It is important that our students have the knowledge and skills that prepare them for the multicultural workspace they are entering and the broader communities in which they will live.
To help accomplish this mission, starting in the 2021-2022 academic year a course on diversity and social justice is required at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech) of all students seeking a certificate of proficiency or associate degree. The required course dives deep into concepts of diversity and social justice. This requirement does not add costs to degree requirements and no additional time is needed to meet degree requirements.
Students taking the Diversity and social justice classes, would be invited to choose from a variety of "DSJ" designated classes. The entire course will be dedicated to or contextualized around diversity and social justice. Some of the "DSJ" designated classes are technical classes, while others are General Education courses.
To be approved and designated as a Diversity and Social Justice course, student learning outcomes, and course content must satisfy four learning outcomes: One learning outcome that focuses on communication, one learning outcome that focuses on appreciating differences, and two learning outcomes that focus on Power, Privilege, Inequity.
Approved Diversity and Social Justice Courses
Below are lists of approved Diversity and Social Justice courses in general education and professional programs. Please note that not all the sections of these courses meet the Diversity Requirement. To choose sections that meet the diversity requirement, please use the “Diversity and Social Justice” course attribute value in the Class Schedule.
| Department | Course |
|---|---|
| Science | ENVS&101, NUTR&101, BIOL&175, BIOL311 |
| Humanities | HUM215, CMST280 |
| Math | MATH&107, MATH&146 |
| Social Science | SOC&101, PSYC&100, PSYC&200, PSYC&220, POLS&202, CJ101 |
| English | ENLG&101, ENGL&111 |
| Department | Course |
|---|---|
| Digital Gaming and Interactive Media | GAME108 |
| Welding Technology | WELD203 |
| Early Childhood Education | EDUC140, ECED180 |
| Occupational Therapy Assistant | OTA110 |
| Funeral Service Education | FSE141 |
| Physical Therapy Assistant | PTA255 |
| Human Resource Management | HRM215, HRM265, HRM240 |
| Behavioral Health | BHAV222, BHAV 110 |
| Computer Security and Network Technology | CSNT115 |
| Architectural Technology | ARCH100 |
| Design | ART252, ART102 |
| Business Technology | BTE190 |
Our Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the LWTech campus is on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, past and present, and we honor with gratitude the land itself, and the Coast Salish, Stillaguamish, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot and Duwamish tribes. We acknowledge these tribes by showing respect, and take an intentional step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture, and toward inviting and honoring the truth.
Student Testimonials
"The diversity class that I’m taking has been a rich experience and opened my eyes to many things. In the past, I think I would have scrunched up my nose at the thought of taking such a class, to be perfectly honest, but I am thankful that I was put in the position to take it. The reading has opened my eyes and my heart to the world around me in a new, more mature way"
“Having the opportunity to learn about different cultures, groups, etc. helps me to be aware of differing perspectives, but also see parts of myself in other groups that I previously thought I had nothing in common with”.
“Finding commonality assists me in my studies because I'm going to interact with people from all different backgrounds. Having classes address diversity also gives me a platform to offer my unique perspective that the class members might not have talked about if I wasn't there”.
"I truly enjoyed the class atmosphere. It was definitely a place where my classmates and I could discuss difficult topics with respect and without any judgment at all. I love that everyone can speak their mind, and everyone is very mindful of each other".
"Throughout the class, we were encouraged to provide opinions on whatever subject we were discussing, and questions were asked from multiple points of view in order to require us to think more critically. People were respectful and built upon other people's ideas in discussions".
"The class activities that I found most useful were the ones where we discussed hard topics that you would not normally talk about. Instead of just on the surface conversation we talked about more in-depth and personal conversations. It helped me to better understand different subjects".
