Diversity Council

Diversity Council

Studying at TWU prepares you for the career you want with experience employers are looking for

TWU Diversity

A critical element of a transformative learning experience for students is one that values and affirms diversity in all its forms including but not limited to students of color, LGBTQ+, students with disabilities and international students. It seeks to create an inclusive student, faculty and staff community and to develop rich opportunities to share varied perspectives, traditions, and cultures.
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Key Objectives include: 

  • Expand efforts to recruit diverse students, faculty, and staff to learn and work in the TWU community

  • Increase the number of diverse speakers, lecturers and visiting professors to expose students to varied points of view

  • Develop lecture series on global humanities

  • Provide regular training opportunities on diversity, equity, and inclusion

  • Increase the global-learning opportunities, inclusive of financial resources to the greatest extent possible, through study away experiences for all majors

  • Expand offerings in the cultural diversity category of the Wesleyan Essentials program

  • Develop job duties and deliverables to launch and sustain diversity initiatives throughout the campus community

  • Invest in creating an environment to promote and acknowledge the rich culture of the TWU campus and Athens community

Diversity Council Members

Diversity Council Members

Ms. DeLunda “Candy” Maddux – Co-Chair
Director of Career Development and Multicultural Affairs

Dr. J. Chris Schutz – Co-Chair
Professor of History, Chair – History

Dr. Ana Barrios
Assistant Professor of Spanish, Study Abroad Coordinator

Dr. Augustin Bocco
Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Coordinator of International Student Services

Ms. Sara Denny
Director of Student Success

Ms. Ariana Conwell
Admissions Counselor

Dr. Stedmon Hopkins
Director of Master of Occupational Therapy Program

Ms. Alex Sharp
Assistant Professor of Library Science

Mr. Riley Morrow
Senior Library Assistant, Night Manager

Diversity Statement

Tennessee Wesleyan University promotes diversity, justice, equity and inclusion to champion understanding across differences to create conditions to support the development of the whole self. As such, TWU Faculty, Staff, and Students hold ourselves accountable to work together to foster an equitable environment for all. In pursuit of this, TWU acknowledges and celebrates the value of all members’ contributions to our campus community regardless of background and experiences, including those in marginalized and underrepresented communities. Through these actions, we strive to become better global citizens and servant leaders.

Study Abroad

Opportunities to study abroad provide experiences for students to grow academically and personally. Immersing their lives into other cultures while gaining course credit helps to develop critical skills that employers are looking for. At Tennessee Wesleyan, these cross-cultural educational experiences come in several forms. To learn more visit our Study Abroad page.

International Students

One of the best parts about being a student at Tennessee Wesleyan University is interacting with others from all over the world. Our international students enrich the campus community and help us all expand our worldview. To learn more visit our International Student page.

Diversity Courses

To both expand campus understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as produce a more welcoming environment for our diverse students, the university requires every student to take at least two courses on issues of diversity.  These include:


FRE 305: THE FRANCOPHONE WORLD OUTSIDE OF FRANCE.  This course introduces students to the social institutions and ways of life in the present-day French-speaking world in Africa and the Caribbean, focusing on cultural and linguistic identity as well as changing family structures, customs, and the challenges within increasingly multi-ethnic societies.


HIS 245: HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY WORLD.   This course surveys the twentieth century’s major global, political, social, economic, cultural and technological developments, with particular attention paid to their impact on the non-Western world (and its emergence from the colonial era).


MUS 209: WORLD MUSIC.  An introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, this course surveys the musics and music cultures of the world, focusing on those distinct from the Western European tradition. 


ENG 243: MULTICULTURAL AMERICAN LITERATURE. The course is focused on Multicultural American literature from a diverse group of American writers.


BIO 224:  CULTURAL DIVERSITY – VOICES FROM SCIENCE.  This course critically examines readings from major non-fiction science works and issues such as social class, gender, sexuality, and race from predominately non-Western cultural perspective.


REL 314: ASIAN RELIGIONS.  This course surveys the beliefs, practices, and representative literature of selected Asian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. 


HIS 266: CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT BIOGRAPHY.  This course will tell the story of the movement largely through the biographies of the extraordinary people who made it happen – African American and white, male and female, journalist and activist, politician and foot soldier.  


SPA 304: HISPANIC CULTURE THROUGH LITERATURE AND FILM.  This course broadens students’ understanding of the Hispanic culture through the examination of  films, short stories, and other artistic works.


THR 209: WORLD THEATRE HISTORY I.   Students will explore the nature of dramatic performance and literature since prehistory, develop a deeper understanding of theatre from prehistory to the present, learn the context and impact of historically significant plays, explore the fecundity and variety of theatre in world cultures.


ART 320: CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART.  Art styles and artistis of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries will be studied including the examination of ethnic bias and colonial complicity of the contemporary art world.


HIS 241: THE MAKING OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD.  One the world’s great civilizations, students will learn the history of Islam and its expansion to areas around the globe up to the fifteenth century.


HIS 242: HISTORY OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST.  A studny of the Middle East and the Islamic world from the fifteenth century to the present, including the evolving relationship between Islam and modernity.


BUS 352:  INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT. Analysis of operating policies, procedures, and managerial problems of multinational companies along with the various cultural diversities will be emphasized.


REL 207: WORLD RELIGIONS.  A study of the great living religions of the world (Judaism and Christianity excepted), with their historical development and present trends.


COM 310: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. This course is designed to introduce students to the processes of developing and improving effective intercultural communication skills in relational contexts by exploring interpersonal, small group, and organizational communication settings.


ENG 237: DISCOVERING POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE.  This course introduces students to a range of postcolonial literatures focusing on the Anglophone literatures of India, Africa, and the Caribbean with an emphasis on the effects of colonialism on these cultures.


HIS 223: HISTORY OF MODERN CHINA.  This course is an introduction to modern Chinese history from approximately 1800 to the present, during which China has faced colonialist oppression as well as many internal disruptions as it has risen back to a global power.


REL 312: ISLAM. This course is an introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of Islam.


EDU 225: CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY FOR TEACHERS. This course is designed to develop basic geography skills to enhance the study of physical and cultural geography in order to explain the web of relationships among people, places and environments. 


ENG 260: CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND NARRATIVE FORM. This course introduces students to the formal characteristics of a variety of narrative forms including short stories, novels, memoir, and graphic narrative and how these forms have been employed by authors from a range of culturally diverse backgrounds.


THR 301 DRAMATIC LITERATURE.  Analytical and critical study of dramatic literature, with attention paid to genre, literary movements, and historical context.


BUS 386: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING.  An emphasis on designing marketing strategies for the international and global arena.


MUS 215:  MUSIC LITERATURE II.  Beginning with the Romantic Period and progressing through the Twentieth Century the student will study composers, major musical works, and compositional forms, including Jazz, the American Musical, Rock and Nonwestern Music.


SMG 230: DIVERSITY IN SPORTS. This course will offer strategies for managing diversity and inclusion, focusing on non-western settings in global organizations and international work groups. 

Multicultural Student Organizations
Black Student Union (BSU): The Black Student Union (BSU) is a social organization that aims to offer the community opportunities for both cultural enrichment and intellectual growth through educational, social, and political programming. BSU advocates the needs of students at TWU, empowering, teaching, discussing, and exploring the Black experience. We provide an opportunity for students of all races to celebrate black culture, lifestyle, and history.
Black Student Union
The Spanish and Latino Student Association (S.A.L.S.A.) is an organization dedicated to promoting the Hispanic cultures and the study of Spanish at TWU. The S.A.L.S.A. provides a place for Hispanic/Latino students at TWU to come together and share their love for their heritage. The S.A.L.S.A. welcomes any TWU student.
 
Prysm: Prysm’s mission is to provide a safe space where students and guests can discuss and learn about the LGBTQIA+ community, their own gender and sexuality, and have support in their acceptance of themselves and others. Through meetings, social events, service projects, and more, we create space for LGBTQIA+ students to build relationships within the Queer+ community, as well as with allies, while demonstrating representation at TWU.
PRISM
International Students Club: The International Club exists to bring all the international students together, and to help them transition into the American culture and environment, make friends and be successful academically while studying at Tennessee Wesleyan University.
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Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (COTAD) To empower occupational therapy leaders to engage in practices that increase justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI); anti-racism and anti-oppression for a transformative occupational therapy profession.

TWU prepares students with the transformative experience and to be well-rounded leaders who make a positive impact on the world.

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