Conferred Dominance in the Built Environment- A Campus Accessibility Activity

Abstract

This activity builds on Peggy McIntosh’s discussion and reflection on privilege through interactive learning. The concept of “privilege” is a foundational term to understand power and the reproduction of social inequalities for introductory and lower level sociology courses. Many activities have been developed to illustrate the effect of privilege to...

Details

Subject Area(s):

Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems

Resource Type(s):

Class Activity

Class Level(s):

College 100

Class Size(s):

Small

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Students should be able to clearly explain able body privilege.
2. Students should be able to assess and critically examine various campus locations through the lens of accessibility and able-body privilege.
3. Students should be able to describe the concept of conferred dominance and the reproduction of privilege within the design of campus spaces.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Instructor led discussion of how able body privilege is present in everyday life and is a part of the structure of society.
2. Group observation and assessment activity of the assigned campus space provides an opportunity to visualize privilege embedded in the design and structure of common campus spaces.
3. Individual written reflection and class discussion provides the opportunity to describe examples of conferred dominance in the group observations and to construct a list of campus specific physical ability privilege.