Diversity Curriculum

SMU’s curriculum requires every student, regardless of major, to take a three-hour course focused on human diversity.

SMU’s Ethnic Studies Program offers a major and minors in African/African-American or Mexican-American Studies; courses include African-American Literature, Blacks and the Civil Rights Movement, African Slavery in the U.S. and the African-American Urban Experience.

SMU’s Human Rights Program offers a major and a minor as part of an interdisciplinary program focused on civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights; course offerings include the Politics and Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and Race/Ethnicity in the U.S.

SMU’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program offers a minor and a major in individualized studies in the liberal arts, with a focus on women’s and gender studies. The program explores a variety of disciplines and experiences through gender; course offerings include Gender and Sex Roles, and Gender Violence.

Since 2004, SMU has sponsored a Civil Rights Pilgrimage in conjunction with a political science course. Approximately 50 students and others from SMU and the community visit civil rights landmarks and meet with civil rights leaders.