The Kutak Ethics Center aims to highlight the importance of critical thinking and moral reasoning. It also strives to encourage its exploration. On this page we highlight the integral role understanding diversity and inclusion plays in critical interrogation and moral reasoning. We also encourage its exploration. Please, use the resources below to build your understanding and help others build theirs..

For more information or guidance, send us an call or send us an email (402) 472-8229 or ethics@unl.edu.

  • Kutak Ethics Center October Brown Bag Luncheon

    Hostile Terrain 94 Discussion

    Featuring Claire Nicholas, Assistant Professor of Textiles and Material Culture,
    College of Teaching and Human Sciences
    October, 2020
    Remote - (flier w/ details forthcoming)
    Noon - 1:30pm

  • Hostile Terrain 94

    2020-21
    Around Nebraska--including stays at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln

    Hostile Terrain 94
  • Kutak Ethics Center March Brown Bag Luncheon

    Algorithmic Bias and Biased Algorithms

    Featuring Carrie C. Heitman & Heather Richards-Rissetto, Assistant Professors of Anthropology,
    College of Arts and Humanities
    Friday, March 12, 2020
    Remote - (flier w/ details forthcoming)
    Noon - 1:30pm


Below you'll find links to pages that offer teaching resources. First we discuss continuing Husker Dialogues by incorporating opportunities for students to engage in activities that allow them to further explore diversity and inclusion in their own lives. Second we list some links to various resources around the web for incorporating diversity and inclusion learning activities.

Husker Dialogues and Continuing the Conversation

Generally, the easiest way to incorporate opportunities for students to engage in activities that allow them to further explore diversity and inclusion in their own lives is to weave into one of two components in your class—namely, participation credit or as scaffolding for a larger, more difficult assignment. Participation credit could be earned by simply attending a series of events. For instance, in the fall semester students could be required to attend Husker Dialogues. In the spring, students could be required to attend Our Nebraska events.

Likewise, continuing the conversation through participation credit is easy. For example you could requir students to attend two more diversity and inclusion events at the university other than Husker Dialogues. Simply require that they turn in a reflection on the events or some such documenting their attendance.

There are a number of ways to plan ahead for student schedule conflicts arises. For instance, my students are expected to recreate a group session like those at Husker Dialogues and record it. For continuing the conversation, students can choose from the extensive number of diversity and inclusion events taking place on campus and in the community.

Attempting to use engagement with diversity and inclusion as a bit of scaffolding for a larger assignment is somewhat more difficult, but is not too arduous. Focus on a difficult assignment that you’re asking your students to complete. Ask students to complete an assignment with the same parameters that focuses on diversity and inclusion rather than the specific course subject matter.

For instance, in my introductory level philosophy course, students will have to complete several types of concept maps. To give them practice, I ask them to complete two different types of maps. The first explores their own diverse identity and the importance of inclusion in their own lives. The second asks students to point out the ways in which diversity and inclusion intersects with some of the topics or concepts discussed in the course.

These assignments are all low stakes, but impactful. The main thing is to get students thinking about the importance of diversity and inclusion. A critical, analytic mind and mature moral reasoning are incomplete until one fully understands the role diversity and inclusion play in our practical lives and the health of a democracy.

Other Resources

Below we canvas some ways to create events that focus on diversity & inclusion.

General Events

We understand general diversity & inclusion events as those that aren't specific to a discipline, office, college, or unit at the university.  Rather, general diversity & inclusion events aim to inform participants about diversity & inclusion generally.

Example: Exploring and Promoting Diversity & Inclusion in the Classroom through Targeted Assignments

This event is geared toward helping faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants understand how to explore and promote diversity & inclusion in their classroom through targeted assignments. Though not specific to a discipline, office, college, or unit, these sorts of events work best when run by an individual from a specific discipline for that specific discipline, since they are in a better position to understand the sorts of assignments and techniques used in the classroom of that discipline.

Targeted assignments are simply assignments that target a specific idea or skill. For instance, we often take for granted that students understand what diversity & inclusion is or that they typically have positive conversations about it. In fact, students often don't understand what diversity & inclusion are and often run the two ideas together. Furthermore, it is well documented that few have engaged in conversations about diversity & inclusion. So, it's not surprising that many students are unsure what diversity & inclusion is all about and how it impacts their lives

Thus, a lesson this event would canvass, is one with a targeted assignment at its core. The assignment asks students to attend a diversity & inclusion event that is pitched at their level. For instance, your event could describe various ways that we can incorporate Husker Dialogues attendance into the classroom. Likewise, the event could go on to highlight ways in which we can include assignments that require students to continue conversations about diversity and inclusion. By the end of this event, it should be clear to faculty, staff, and students how they can effectively get students talking about and grasping the intricacies of diversity and inclusion.

Of course, you can add other targeted assignments to the event. The idea is to use this space to provide participants with a number of assignments they could use to help promote, highlight, or encourage respect for academic integrity in the classroom and beyond.

Specific Events

We understand specific diversity and inclusion events as those that are specific to a discipline, office, college, or unit at the university. So, specific diversity and inclusion events aim to inform participants about some aspect of diversity and inclusion relevant to their university discipline, office, college, or unit.

Example: Inclusive Pedagogy

This sort of event primarily highlights the importance of inclusive pedagogy and/or how to practice inclusive pedagogy. Though pedagogy is something we all do in some way at the university, the specific ways in which we practice it differs significantly across the disciplines and various methods of inquiry. Thus, an event that focuses on the importance of inclusive pedagogy and how to implement it should be geared toward a specific audience--e.g., an audience with the same disciplinary interests. As for the importance of diversity and inclusion, the event could canvas the many ways in which being diverse and inclusive has made a significant and positive impact on the discipline. Further, the event could highlight how to be inclusive when doing things designing a course, teaching, or assessing student progress.

These events can be geared toward faculty, staff, and students, since everyone in academia should find it useful to discuss the importance of inclusive pedagogy and how to implement it.

Please feel free to contact Assistant Director, Adam R. Thompson for more information or guidance about setting up an academic integrity event aligned with your college, department, etc.’s themes, values, or mission(402) 472-8229 or ethics@unl.edu.