Tracing Inequalities
Dara Strolovitch, assistant professor of political science, pushes students to think critically about social and economic inequalities. In her seminar, “Inequalities, Representation, and Group Politics in the U.S.,” she and her students tackle subjects from same-sex marriage to racial profiling, school desegregation, campaign finance reform, immigration, and reparations for past injustices.
Photo by Terry Faust
Strolovich’s students are often struck by the parallels between such occurrences as the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II and the world they now inhabit—a world of tightened immigration restrictions and of persistent inequalities based on race, income, national origin, and gender.
As they examine the continuing tension between those realities and democratic principles of equal opportunity and equal representation, students engage in lively debates over such issues as sentencing disparities in the criminal justice system, the uneven distribution of wealth and income, affirmative action, civil rights, and Title IX.
Strolovitch believes the seminar approach is especially effective for new students, some of whom have never experienced this kind of guided give-and-take of ideas and perspectives. Even the shy students enter into the fray, exchanging viewpoints and examining data with classmates from a broad range of backgrounds. They are challenged to test their assumptions about the world, to construct good arguments, and to become intellectually engaged students and citizens.
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