Pulkrabek learned that the prejudices she held against others were not reality and were just preconceived notions, she said. There is more to this world than I have learned growing up in an almost all-white Minnesota town. These classes have really helped me wake up to the truth. Faculty say the minor has been changing attitudes about cultural sensitivity, women's issues and issues about minorities and homosexuals on the campus. They provide a different way to understand our society.
Students learn that there are other ways to act toward others than they are used too.
The stereotypes people hold of others often are created from one culture or society trying to have power over another, said Tamrat Tademe, an assistant professor in human relations and multicultural education. It is how governments prepare people for warfare. By dehumanizing cultures and people over the years, stereotypes have developed that aren't accurate pictures of people, Tademe said. We give students different levels of awareness, said Les Green, a human relations faculty member. What we teach students make them become activists to fight discrimination and oppression.