LAWWA600-04 Race, Diversity, and Employment

This course will examine the regulation of race discrimination in employment through Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other related laws. More specifically this course will offer a framework to analyze policies, laws, practices, attitudes, and biases in employment and other institutions that place minoritized persons in "racial subgroups" that make them more susceptible to discrimination and harassment. Through selected reading, research, and writing, students will seek to answer the following questions: Which traits and characteristics that are commonly and historically associated with minoritized persons have the most salient impact on workplace and education outcomes due to institutional bias? How does the existing legal framework either protect or exclude claims brought by minoritized persons that possess these traits and characteristics? How can people in "racial subgroups" that are more susceptible to discrimination and harassment most effectively assert and claim rights? How can laws, policies, practices and attitudes in the context of employment adjust to protect minoritized persons from discrimination where the discrimination takes the form of "proxy discrimination? In answering these questions students will also analyze practices related to "diversity, equity, and inclusion" in the workplace and assess these programs' ability, if any, to improve inclusivity amongst minoritized persons who belong to subgroups or possess characteristics or traits that cause them to be more susceptible to workplace exclusion, discrimination, and harassment. (Credits may be applied toward the Public Interest Practice concentrations.)