Teaching and Learning About Difference Through Social Media : Reflection, Engagement, and Self-Assessment

Teaching and Learning about Difference through Social Media considers the role social media has played in prompting public conversations about difference and diversity, including issues relating to ethnicity, race, religion, political affiliation, gender, and sexual orientation. These issues are addressed in the context of the present political climate. They are also examined with respect to occurrences of hate and violence, including hate crimes and mass fatality events. Using a historical and socio-cultural approach to how we look at these significant issues in the USA, the authors examine the ways difference and diversity are represented in online interactions via social media. In order to encourage a more informed dialogue and critical conversation with students, each chapter includes: discussion questions, self-reflection and self-assessment activities, and suggestions for further reading,.

Ideal for courses in diversity and social justice education and beyond, this content and practice-based text integrates the identification of issues of difference and diversity with suggestions for how we can address these issues in the social media age.

Lillian Vega-Castaneda is Professor of Multicultural/Multilingual Education at California State University Channel Islands, USA.

Mario Castaneda is Associate Professor of Education and an Associate for the Latin American Studies Program at California State University Los Angeles, USA.