Meeting the Challenge: Teaching Sensitive Subject Matter

When teaching diversity courses that discuss sensitive issues, such as racial, gender, sexuality, religious, and ethnic discrimination, it is possible to encounter student resistance, which can subsequently prevent students from comprehending the content. While teaching an introductory course on African American history in a Black Studies Department at a predominantly white institution of higher education in Middle America, I experienced such resistance. This article discusses how I initially taught the course, evaluated and then restructured my active learning approach to include reflective learning and Black Studies techniques to address that resistance.