Changing People's Lives While Transforming Your Own
Paths to Social Justice and Global Human Rights
Chapter One
Paths to Social Justice
As North America and other Western countries become more culturally
diverse, members of most professions are expected to develop greater sensitivity
and responsiveness to persons of different backgrounds. Thus, one segment
of college education in all majors and specialties is devoted to reducing
ethnocentrism, that is, a limited view of the world based only on your own
background. Depending on your race, ethnicity, religion, gender, geographic
location, socioeconomic status, first language, age, sexual orientation, political
convictions, and other such variables, you may perceive the world in ways that
are quite at odds with those who have different experiences.
It may seem obvious that you can't learn greater cultural sensitivity by
listening to a lecture or reading a book about the subject. Your experiences in
this arena can best be enriched and expanded through some form of direct contact
with other cultures and people of ... read full excerpt from: Changing People's Lives While Transforming Your Own: Paths to Social Justice and Global Human Rights ebook
