Diversity Journal

This Diversity Journal is a place to express all your inner thoughts and feelings concerning the deep and somewhat controversial subject matter that relates to diversity in the workplace. The goal of this writing assignment is for you to begin to understand yourself through writing, you can then move closer to knowing who you are and what adjustments you may need to make in order to better value diversity. Your feelings, your breakthroughs, your desires - record them all here. Discover yourself.

Journaling as you complete this course can help you with:

1. Understanding your own feelings about the issues discussed and connect you to why you feel as you do.

2. Provide you with an opportunity to release the stress you might feel as we discuss the various topics. Putting your thoughts on paper, can take them off your heart and mind.

3. Journaling can help you address issues that you may feel angry about and help you get to a place of forgiveness and healing.

4. Connecting with your inner thoughts, no matter what they are as we address these controversial topics, can provide you with insight and peace. Also, providing you an opportunity to see how your own perspectives may change as we move through the topics presented in the text.

General Directions are to write out your response to the statements that correlate with each chapter. The amount of detail will vary depending upon your writing style and views. Please utilize complete sentences to translate your thoughts.

Chapter One Thinking Journal Topic:

Think about two positive messages you have been told through-out your life or when you were a kid or two positive things you believe about yourself. Now indicate below how these messages have manifest themselves in your life.

How does thinking negative instead of positive impact you when you encounter someone different than yourself?

Chapter Two Thinking Journal Topic:

How do you change your own ways of thinking to positively impact dealing with diversity.

Chapter Three Thinking Journal Topic:

You were born an Intersexed person. This is the state of a person whose sex chromosomes, genitalia and/or secondary sex characteristics are determined to be neither exclusively male nor female. A person with intersex may have biological characteristics of both the male and female sexes. At the age of five your parents changed your biological sex to what you have determined as an adult to be the wrong gender. What do you do?

Chapter Four Thinking Journal Topic:

Patriotism, Loyalty To Country, And Political Involvement: We believe that we are to be good citizens. This means we are loyal to our nation: we are to support our Armed Forces, law enforcement officials, and we should participate in the political process. We live in a free country but we must all be loyal and not question authority in order to be patriotic. What is your viewpoint on these statements?

Chapter Five Thinking journal Topic:

What is your viewpoint regarding the issues women in the workplace often face?

Chapter Six Thinking Journal Topic:

What is your thoughts regarding organizations and school systems that feel they have the right to utilize stereotypical mascots.

Chapter Seven Thinking Journal Topic:

What are your thoughts on Blacks & Whites uniting during slavery?

Chapter Eight Thinking Journal Topic:

What is your viewpoint on the issues of immigration that caused the creation of laws that banned equal opportunity to nonwhite immigrants and how does this relate to the issues of immigration today?

Chapter Nine Thinking Journal Topic:

Religious Freedom and what does this mean In the United States workplace.

Chapter Ten Thinking Journal Topic:

You have just learned that you have HIV. Now indicate how you would want to be treated at work/school by your supervisor/colleagues/peers.

Chapter Eleven Thinking Journal Topic:

Is racism a disorder: Can extreme bias be an illness? Can extreme forms of racism, homophobia and other prejudices be addressed by a psychiatrist in the course of therapy because some patients are disabled by these beliefs?

State why you believe this way and if you do not believe this way indicate what your belief is regarding the issue.

Chapter Twelve Thinking Journal Topic:

After reading this chapter, indicate what tool you would utilize in the workplace or indicate what topic(s) in the text touched you most.