New Course for Fall 2013: LIS 8370
LIS 8370: Multicultural Competence for LIS Professionals CRN 17814
LIS 8370 examines multicultural competence concepts and their relationship to the field of library and information science. The course begins by having students self assess their level of cultural competence using a survey instrument that the instructor developed and that has been published in an award-winning journal article.
The course topics fall into the three main categories including: selfawareness, education, and interaction.
Course readings draw from multicultural education, urban studies, sociology and related disciplines. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to become culturally competent professionals equipped with knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to serve in increasingly diverse library and information science communities. Some areas of inquiry that will be explored include:
• Awareness of the ways that cultural beliefs impact understandings of individuals from other cultures.
• Awareness of ways to provide library service to patrons from various cultural backgrounds (for example race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and/or sexual orientation).
• Familiarity with the history of library service to individuals from various cultures.
• Recognition of how individuals from various cultures access information.
• Having personal interactions with individuals from various cultural backgrounds.
• Visiting libraries that are patronized by users from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
• Awareness of the ways that cultural beliefs impact understandings of individuals from other cultures.
• Awareness of ways to provide library service to patrons from various cultural backgrounds (for example race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and/or sexual orientation).
• Familiarity with the history of library service to individuals from various cultures.
• Recognition of how individuals from various cultures access information.
• Having personal interactions with individuals from various cultural backgrounds.
• Visiting libraries that are patronized by users from a variety of cultural backgrounds.