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Original poster

Diversity course at University of Kent

210 replies

andyoldlabour · 28/09/2021 14:35

The university of Kent is introducing a mandatory 4 hour diversity course for students where it will be concentrating on topics such as White Privilege, Microaggressions and Pronouns.
Apparently seconhand clothes could be seen as an example of "white privilege".
"The course, titled Expect Respect and seen by The Telegraph, includes a white privilege quiz where participants are asked to pick which of 13 options are societal benefits allegedly enjoyed by white people in the UK.
If the student ticks all 13, a gold star is awarded, and if not, a button appears directing them to retry.
Staff have also been emailed by faculty managers to consider adding trigger warnings to exam papers, and carry out “pronoun checks, make a note of them and use them correctly” when meeting new students, such as they/them or ze/zir."

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/wearing-second-hand-clothes-an-example-of-white-privilege-students-told/ar-AAOSULh?ocid=mailsignout&li=AAnZ9Ug

OP posts:
drwitch · 04/10/2021 06:55

Kent lecturer here, I don't think any of us had any input into the module. Think it was all bought in or devised by the edi people. Our teaching and degree materials are not this bad

merrymouse · 04/10/2021 06:30

Oh my word. This is a university? A centre of learning? A place where students can progress their critical thinking?

Worryingly it’s also a place where degrees are offered in both English and biology.

Igneococcus · 03/10/2021 21:05

I have a share thingie above and below. I never noticed the one above before.

MiddlesexGirl · 03/10/2021 21:03

@Igneococcus

Click on the envelope icon underneath the article and it will open an email with the share token. You'll need to sign into your email account. Copy and and paste.
Couldn't find an envelope or indeed any icon below the article. Found a share thingy above - let's see if this works:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dda2802c-239e-11ec-891d-7de285af3d9c?shareToken=7e5ad1f390173a68bf7242b18257705f

DuesToTheDirt · 03/10/2021 20:34

The Kent module also contains this gem: "Sex is, in fact, a diverse, multi-expressive form of identity, and a full spectrum." There are two possible answers to this on the test, true and false. When you click false, you are told you are wrong.

Oh my word. This is a university? A centre of learning? A place where students can progress their critical thinking?

Igneococcus · 03/10/2021 20:13

Click on the envelope icon underneath the article and it will open an email with the share token. You'll need to sign into your email account. Copy and and paste.

MiddlesexGirl · 03/10/2021 13:57

Rod Liddle has something to say about it in today's Sunday Times. (Also a bit about the hypocrisy of Starmer's latest pronouncement about James Bond). Despite having a subscription I'm not sure how to do a share token so if anyone can enlighten me I'll give it a go.

toomanytrees · 03/10/2021 06:14

I couldn't resist:

MrGHardy · 02/10/2021 23:12

Is anyone suing?

This is ideological indoctrination, pure and simple.

DottyHarmer · 02/10/2021 17:04

Not just Saudis, I think 99% of Italians would die rather than wear second-hand clothes. And a fair few have that elaborate curlicued furniture. No Italian ever has responded to, “I like your dress,” with “Oh, this old thing? I got it off the market years ago.”

merrymouse · 02/10/2021 16:35

You have to worry about the quality of some of their courses (apparently they offer a BA in Social Work) if this module was approved by the University.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 02/10/2021 15:32

Some crossed wires in the University of Kent's communications.

This page on the website, for students, currently says: The Expect Respect Module is a compulsory module for all registered students at the University of Kent, regardless of what you are studying.

www.kent.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusivity/training#student

But this newspaper article says it isn't.

...it was clarified that whilst participation was encouraged, it is by no means mandatory, and not taking the course would not result in any kind of punishment. "While we would like as many students as possible to take the module, nobody would face action for not doing so," the spokesperson added.

www.kentlive.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/university-kent-debunks-claims-students-5989708

They can't both be right.

drwitch · 02/10/2021 13:39

@GCmiddle @SelfPortraitWithEels suggested this question was liable for a challenge follower Forstater. - I think they are right. - I also think the question on pronouns + the about discrimination for non gender conforming behaviour is (It ommits sexism as a fundamental cause)

GCmiddle · 02/10/2021 13:33

The Kent module also contains this gem: "Sex is, in fact, a diverse, multi-expressive form of identity, and a full spectrum." There are two possible answers to this on the test, true and false. When you click false, you are told you are wrong.

drwitch · 02/10/2021 09:48

Yes!

SelfPortraitWithEels · 02/10/2021 09:43

That sounds like a candidate for some kind of challenge citing the Forstater ruling...

drwitch · 02/10/2021 09:37

@drwitch

what you are talking about on this thread is actually the best of the "module". - At least its coming from a well intentioned aim of making student life easier for all. - The modules on sexual harassment (that ignore the fact that its women that are most affected) or on sex and gender (that tell students to agree with statements about the fluidity of sex, that the discrimination faced by people wishing to escape the roles placed on them through their sex is transphobia (sexisim is not given as an option) or on pronouns) are much more egregious. There is also a question on the racism quiz that tells students to agree with a specific model of systemic racism
Can't share for obvious reasons but summary above
AlfonsoTheDinosaur · 02/10/2021 09:36

@merrymouse

*“I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.”

Is there a module on class, accents and actual poverty or is the assumption that all white students have this privilege?

It's OK to assume the worst about white people because they are a monolithic group whose families were slave owners, who take pleasure in flaunting their privilege (because all of them are privileged) and who are responsible for all the world's evils. Everything they do, say and think is the result of conscious or unconscious bias and microaggressions. They should never be given the benefit of the doubt because they are automatically guilty.

See? I summed it up in one (long-ish) sentence. No need for a whole module. Just put the above sentence up with a tick box saying "I have read, understood and agree with the Terms and Conditions" and Ruud's your uncle.

KittenKong · 02/10/2021 09:35

And my family in/from the ME are absolute city dwellers but yes, love the Louis style (antiques rather than repro), but are a little more restrained than some of the stores on the Edgware Road selling 3foot high gold Jaguar statues and bejewelled hookahs.

Jaysmith71 · 02/10/2021 09:33

drwitch

We'd love to critique the whole thing, but it's not publicly available.

(If anyone at UKC would care to share?)

KittenKong · 02/10/2021 09:32

Then again the Victorian’s were very Blingy. I remember when the Albert memorial was unveiled after its clean up (it was just all black before). Blimey it’s gaudy!

AlfonsoTheDinosaur · 02/10/2021 09:28

@KittenKong

Bling? They’ve never been to the ME then. Tastes differ...
Ah, yes. The famous Saudi gaudy. (Spent many many years living in various Middle Eastern countries.)

There's a kind of a back story to it, though. If you are from a desert area where there is little variation in colour (I'm talking ME desert) then anything that is bright and colourful takes on a special significance: it can mean plants, which means water and fodder. It is also a relief from the unending beige of the sand. It signifies something new and not dusty or used.

I don't know why Louis XV style furniture seems so popular across the region, though. I guess it's a case of one group taking a liking to it and others following suit.

To each their own! For example, I'm a barbarian and will happily drink instant coffee with UHT milk.

drwitch · 02/10/2021 08:42

at kent btw

merrymouse · 02/10/2021 08:42

*“I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.”

Is there a module on class, accents and actual poverty or is the assumption that all white students have this privilege?