19 Anti-Racist OER Examples
Below are revised syllabi and antiracist assignment(s) that are openly licensed, organized by course name, and available in the OER Commons repository.
| Course Name and Link to Materials | Course Description | Assignment |
| General Biology | This course will introduce biology to non-science majors, which provides an introduction to biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, evolution, biodiversity, physiology, ecology, and environmental biology. | Create a 15-60 second video of yourself and share why you want to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. If you have already received a vaccine, feel free to share your experience! Choose a license for your video. |
| Probation and Parole | In this course, you will analyze the essential elements of probation and parole by examining the history of sentencing and post-sentence release from its beginnings to the contemporary institution to which it has evolved. | After completing assigned readings on the concepts of probation and parole, examine the role of parole and probation and assess the success of this approach. How would you improve the probation system? Can the current system ever be successful? |
| History of California | This course examines the social, economic, and political development of California from its pre-European past to its post-industrial present. In addition, we will explore the historical uniqueness of California’s environment, population, institutions, and economy. | Produce a 3-5 minute student reflection video on an aspect of California history (e.g. agriculture, migration, transnationalism, labor, civil rights) inspired by the content from the Dolores Huerta virtual exhibit. This is a chance for students to provide their perspectives on what they find meaningful in California history. |
| Principles & Practices of Childhood Education | Examines underlying principles of quality practices utilized in early childhood programs emphasizing the key role of relationships, constructive adult-child interactions, and teaching strategies to support physical, cognitive and social/emotional development for all children. | Students will research contributors to the field of early childhood education who are non-white, reflecting on the person’s background, why their contribution is important to the field, and how the students themselves can elevate the person’s voice. Students will then engage with each other on their findings. |
| Fundamental Chemistry | This introductory course is designed to prepare the student for Chemistry 1A. Students will develop problem-solving skills related to the nature of matter, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, energy transformations, as well as atomic and molecular structure. | I want you to help me create material for my future science classes where you can help me show how “science looks” and be part of adding a bit more diversity and inclusion to STEM. And what is coolest about it is that the author is you! |
| Introduction to Business | Introduction to Business is a survey business course providing a multidisciplinary examination of how culture, society, human behavior and economic systems interact with le-gal, international, political, and financial institutions to affect business policy and practices within the U.S. and the global marketplace. | Students will identify an entrepreneur with whom they closely identify and write prepare a two-page memorandum on who they are, how they got their start, what surprised their students in their research, and some background information about them. |
| College Success Skills | Provides students with the skills and knowledge necessary to reach their educational goals. Topics include academic learning strategies, college and life skills, diversity awareness and assessment of personal characteristics related to educational success. The role of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation and age in higher education and personal identity is a central theme of the course. | Students will read “From Safe Spaces to Bright Spaces” and write 5-10 full sentences on their takeaway from this article. Students will also read over the community agreements for the class and share any additional ones they would like to add. |
| College Reading and Composition | Reading, analyzing, and writing college-level prose with emphasis on the expository; studying writing as a process; exploring different writing strategies; summarizing; editing, and critiquing; conducting research (gathering, organizing, evaluating, integrating and documenting information). | Students will add to the course’s reading list by finding resources that they feel are applicable to the course content. These readings will then be added to the course’s LibGuide for future students to refer to, and will be maintained by the professor. |
| Introduction to Social Work/Human Services | This course provides an overview of social service agencies, social work, and human services. Students will understand the historical and current delivery of social services by exploring problems of living such as poverty, substance abuse, and mental health. Emphasis is on the knowledge and tasks used by skilled, ethical, and culturally responsive social service workers. | After reading through the provided case study examples, students will develop a case study in the format of their choice (essay/video/podcast/other format) that explores an aspect of social work careers as the students relate to it. |
| Elementary Statistics with Probability | In this course, students learn about the ethical use and the basic practice of statistics. Students will also explore how statistics have been used unethically to create enduring and false myths about African Americans, and how statistics can be used to illuminate injustice and offer clear information upon which we can act to become anti-racist agents in our communities. | Students will be introduced to the African-American sociologist, historian, activist and writer, W.E.B. Du Bois, and his extensive scholarly writings and activism through a series of videos. Specifically students will study the sociological diagrams produced by Du Bois and using the criteria David McCandless developed for his and his team’s work on informationisbeautiful.net (http://informationisbeautiful.net), select two of them and write a critique for each. |
| Emergency Medical Technician (FTEC144) | EMT principles that are covered throughout this course include, but are not limited to: leadership, followership, communication, safety, situational awareness, basic life support (BLS), patient assessment and professionalism. | Students in OFAR cohort created two case studies for future classes to learn from, which are provided in the OER Commons collection. |
| American English Pronunciation I (ESL) | American English Pronunciation I introduces English language learners to the basic sounds of American English. Students will learn how to recognize, produce, and differentiate between the various sounds of American English. They will also strengthen oral communication and reading skills. Special attention will be directed towards the correction of vocal techniques when pronouncing difficult sounds in letters, words, and sentences. | A homework assignment is to give three sentences about the Tongva or other indigenous people of the students’ choice. |
| Psychology 2 | Introduction to the fundamental principles and concepts of human behavior and mental processes. Topics include psychology as a science, biological bases of behavior, lifespan development, perception, conditioning and learning, memory, cognition, motivation and emotion, personality, psychological disorders, methods of therapy, and social and applied psychology. | Students will discuss what they learned about diversity and the field of psychology in a previous lecture. Their responses should include the personal impact of microaggressions, exploring uncomfortable experiences, and sharing a situation where they experienced discrimination. |
| English 1A | Students will explore ideas about virtues in our society such as love, success, compassion, happiness, and justice through readings and writings. This course will explore how the phenomenon of these different ideas manifests in our culture and in our language. How do we define love? What is success? Who desires justice? And how do this definition change in regards to ideas about race, sex, gender, age, and other cultural constructs? | Students will write about their own experiences with Black Lives Matter. First they will find photos of BLM marches and events, placing them on a timeline in order to provide context. Then they will analyze the photo using causal analysis, compare and contrast, definition, and/or narrative to describe the event. |
| Introduction to Race and Ethnicity | Ethnic and racial groups in the U.S. and social factors leading to prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes. Four major ethnic groups (Blacks, Asians, Native Americans, and Latinos) examined with emphasis placed on historical experiences, contemporary circumstances and future trends. | Students are to write a reflection about their experiences with discrimination. They can write about a time that they, a friend, or a loved one has experienced discrimination and explore how it made them felt, as well as what kind of power dynamics were at play and what the person’s capacity to resist oppression in the moment was. |
| Freshman Composition | Instruction in writing compositions from personal, reflective, and argumentative perspectives. | The students will combine your research skills with your narrative writing to complete an essay called an autoethnography. An autoethnography is an essay in which the author connects their personal experiences to larger cultural, political, or social issues. |
| Introduction to College Chemistry | Chemistry 143 is an introductory course designed to provide an overview of basic chemical concepts, specifically designed for those pursuing a career in the health sciences. In providing the framework of basic chemistry, the student will obtain the background necessary for continuing course work in subjects such as organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, pharmacology and physiology. | Students will prepare questions for the final exam. Write a problem using one of the concepts from this course – since the final exam is cumulative, your problem could cover anything in the course. |