Academic Diversity: College and University Programs and Initiatives

Western continues to place increasing emphasis on recognizing and valuing diversity, and we are dedicated to understanding and appreciating the excellence and richness that come from this, especially in an educational setting. The University has articulated this commitment in its Strategic Plan—“Engaged Excellence”: “Western appreciates the importance of diversity of thought and people and seeks to become more diverse.”

This page, when complete, will gather the many academic programs and enrichment opportunities related to diversity that make up the Western Experience. You will find that the faculty in each of the colleges recognize that we live in a global society with a widely divergent perspectives and experiences.

Since the study of diverse cultures and perspectives is implicit in Western’s strategic goals, examination of multicultural perspectives, values and literatures is interwoven into many classes throughout the university’s curriculum. All Western students take courses in the area of comparative, gender, and multicultural studies as part of the General University Requirements.

From accounting courses that recognize that accounting practices around the world reflect varying cultural expectations, to issues in intercultural communication, to explorations of international borderlands, to international study tours centered on the arts, history, politics and the life, to courses in race and ethnic relations or cross cultural psychology — the Western academic experience represents diversity in the fullest sense of the word.

While this page is under construction, take a look at the Diversity Handbook, available here.Please check back.