American Government Home Page
The Canvas course Home Page has graphics emphasizing diversity and the following statements:
Credit: Photo by author – taken at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (2023)
OUR VALUES Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities. (Vision Statement, WA State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, endorsed by LWTech)
TRIBAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
[logo by Roger Fernandes @ WA Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum, www.k12.wa.us]
We acknowledge that the LWTech campus is on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, past and present, and we honor with gratitude the land itself, and the Coast Salish, Stillaguamish, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot and Duwamish tribes. We acknowledge these tribes by showing respect, and take an intentional step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture, and toward inviting and honoring the truth. (adopted by LWTech)
[A link is provided on this Home Page to another page, “Welcome to American Government – READ THIS FIRST!” in the Welcome Module, which includes an introduction to the DSJ focus, reproduced here in part:]
Our Learning Focus – Social Justice and the Promise of Equality. We will be learning about American Government through the “lens” of social justice – how certain groups have been excluded from the promise of equality set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and other laws. This requires a re-examination of our nation’s history, and our own individual place in it, as it relates to current issues of how well (or poorly) our government responds to all the people it is obligated to serve. The police murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations from summer 2020 show that our government and society have fallen short of the goals of equality and fairness. There are other examples. We will also explore our collective and individual responsibilities to engage in efforts to address these shortcomings, and how to do so in helpful and ethical ways. Nothing less than the survival of our democracy depends on it. (NOTE: It is NOT the intent of this class to change your views or opinions about different political issues. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts. We are here to examine politics from a certain perspective based on credible evidence, and to understand what beliefs and values Americans hold and why.)
