Diversity is not a rarity in Penn's course catalog.
Classes such as "Race and Ethnic Relations" and "Discrimination: Sexual and Racial Conflict" attest to student interest in such material.
Yet one class, "Cross-Cultural Awareness," has managed to establish itself as unique among the sea of diversity-based offerings.
"It's more than just a course -- it's an experience," said Sean Vereen, associate director of the Greenfield Intercultural Center.
The class, which was created 10 years ago by then-Penn graduate student Navneet Khera, is a seminar-structured course run through the Graduate School of Education and the GIC-sponsored Programs for Awareness and Cultural Education.
According to GIC Director Valerie DeCruz, the goal of the course -- which was recently expanded so that two sections are run each semester -- is to "introduce students to diversity in its complexities."
The two groups of 16 to 18 students delve into the examination of "various dimensions of diversity," including socioeconomic, disability and gender issues, DeCruz said.
The two sections begin the semester by participating in a group retreat, but the heart of the course lies in its "dialectic" style, according to Erin Cross, associate director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center.
Cross, who taught the class last fall, attributed the course's success to its discussion-based method of teaching.
"It really gets everybody's voice to be heard and allows for a fuller, richer learning," she said. She described the sessions as "people trying to learn and grow as humans."
DeCruz added that the "combination of theory and experiential works" were also integral to the course's uniqueness.
Students not only learn from their assigned readings, but from each other, as the class' makeup is specifically crafted to promote diverse interaction.
"We're going to try to make [the class contain] people from the West Coast, the South, black people, white people, Latinos," Cross said.
Because of what Vereen describes as the "labor-intensive" nature of the class, an application process is necessary to pare down the 40 to 60 students who are interested in being involved.
This application process enables the course's coordinators to assemble a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse student representation, which aims to create a more open learning environment than comparable classes.
"The selection process has a lot to do with the longevity" of the program, said Dahlia Setiyawan, a second-year Education graduate student who took the class last spring.
Although Setiyawan participated in the PACE program almost a year ago, "Cross-Cultural Awareness" is still an active part of her life. Students are required to perform a year of service in facilitating discussions upon completion of the class.
"I think the community benefits from the fact that [the students are] trained," Vereen said.
The students themselves benefit as well.
"It kind of changed the way I thought," said College sophomore Sarah Rashid, adding that the course "changed the way I see the world."
Setiyawan too said she felt transformed by the class.
"I emerged from this class with this sort of peace of mind that I sort of have -- now I feel comfortable with my identity."
Rashid noted the difference between student-professor interactions in this class as compared to other courses she has taken.
"We as students are not used to speaking at such a level of honesty -- we've grown up taking classes and just listening to a lecture and just saying what [teachers] want us to say," she said.
Setiyawan also emphasized the unique classroom environment that the course fostered.
"In this system of mutual learning, it would be contrary then for the instructor to stand up and lecture," she said.
Rashid appreciated this alternative teaching style.
"In all of my other classes, no one just encourages you to speak your mind," she said, acknowledging that sometimes the goal of students' comments is "to just impress the teacher."
