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Diversity Resources from IU Libraries

About this Guide

Welcome to the IU Libraries Diversity LibGuide!

This guide was made as an attempt to share all of the diversity related resources the IU Libraries has to offer. As you will notice, this guide is organized by department. Under each tab on the left side of this guide, you will find specific books, journals, databases, etc. that focus on diversity in that specific area. While we hope to cover most of the resources we currently have, this guide is very much a work in progress. If you are concerned about any information on this guide or feel that we are missing an important resource, please feel free to reach out to the IU Libraries Diversity Committee at libdiv@indiana.edu. 

Using the Library

Suggested Keyword Search Terms

  1. Racism and History of Racism                          
  • Racism                                                                     
  • Discrimination 
  • Racism--United States
  • Racism--United States--History
  • Race Relations
  • United States--Race Relations 
  • Anti-Racism

          2. LGBTQ+ Research

  • Gender Identity 
  • Sexual minorities
  • Gender role identification 

          3. Indigenous Studies

  • Ethnology
  • Indigenous Peoples--Research

           4. Feminism

  • Feminism
  • Feminist Studies
  • Women--United States--Social Conditions
  • African American Women--United States--Social Conditions 
  • Feminist pedagogy

           5. Racism and Anti-Racism in Higher Education

  • Discrimination in Education
  • Racism in Education
  • Education, Racism

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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility Topics

Definitions

 

Ableism: The constellation of beliefs, practices, and norms that privilege and afford power to able-bodied people, while disempowering disabled communities. Ableism presumes that certain bodies are more valuable and desirable than others, based on real or perceived abilities (or lack thereof), and hierarchically classes individuals based on socially constructed standards of fitness, productivity, efficiency, capacity, and self-sufficiency. Because it manifests not only as interpersonal bias but also through structural inequities, ableism thus has attitudinal as well as social, political, and material consequences for disabled people. 

Disability: A physical or mental impairment, the perception of a physical or mental impairment, or a history of having had a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. (IU Glossary) Disabilities can be permanent, chronic, temporary, or situational. 

Invisible Disability: An invisible disability is a physical, mental, or neurological condition that is not visible from the outside, yet can limit or challenge a person's movements, senses, or activities. Unfortunately, the very fact that  these symptoms are invisible can lead to misunderstandings, false perceptions, and judgements. (Invisible Disabilities Association)

Definitions

Ageism: discrimination against individuals because of their age, often based on stereotypes (The National Multicultural Institute).

Definitions

Advocate: a person who actively works to end intolerance, educate others, and support social equity for a marginalized group. To actively support or plea in favor of a particular cause, the action of working to end intolerance or educate others. 

Ally: a (typically straight and/or cisgender) person who supports and respects members of the LGBTQ community.  We consider people to be active allies who take action on in support and respect.

Definitions

Bias: A positive or negative inclination towards a person, group, or community; can lead to stereotyping. 

Implicit bias: Refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.

Microaggressions: The everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. In many cases, these hidden messages may invalidate the group identity or experiential reality of target persons, demean them on a personal or group level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status and treatment. Microaggressions are rooted in ideologies such as racism, classism, sexism, cissexism, ableism, ageism, heterosexism, colonialism, as well as other discriminatory belief systems.

Definitions

Cultural competence: Knowledge, awareness and interpersonal skills that allow individuals to increase their understanding, sensitivity, appreciation, and responsiveness to cultural differences and interactions resulting from them. The particulars of acquiring cultural competency vary among different groups, and they involved ongoing relational process tending to inclusion and trust-building (UC Berkeley Initiative for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity).

Definitions

Diversity: psychological, physical, and social differences that occur among any and all individuals; including but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability, and learning styles. A diverse group, community, or organization is one in which a variety of social and cultural characteristics exist (The National Multicultural Institute).

Inclusive language: words or phrases that include all potential audiences from any identity group. Inclusive language does not assume or connote the absence of any group. An example of gender inclusive language is using "mail carriers" instead of "mailmen".

Inclusion: the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. An inclusive and welcoming climate embraces differences and offers respect in words and actions for all people (UC Berkeley Initiative for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity).

Intersectionality: the ways in which oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another (African American Policy Forum).

Definitions

Equality: evenly distributed access to resources and opportunity necessary for a safe and healthy life; uniform distribution of access to ensure fairness.

Equity: the guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is needed to assist equality in the provision of effective opportunities to all groups.

Social justice: a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Social justice involves social actors who have a sense of their own agency as well as a sense of social responsibility toward and with others and the society as a whole (Adams, Bell and Griffin).

Definitions

Privilege: power and advantages benefitting a group derived from the historical oppression and exploitation of other groups (University of Maryland).

Definitions

Chicano/a: a term adopted by some Mexican Americans to demonstrate pride in their heritage, born out of the national Chicano Movement that was politically aligned with the Civil Rights movement to end racial oppression and social inequalities of Mexican Americans. Chicano pertains to the particular experience of Mexican-descended individuals living in the U.S., but not all Mexican Americans identify as Chicano (The National Multicultural Institute).

Ethnicity: a social construct which divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and ancestral geographical base (Adams, Bell and Griffin).

Hispanic: the U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic as people who classified themselves as Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino categories, which also included the subgroups Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican or Cuban (The National Multicultural Institute).

Indigenous: originating from a culture with ancient ties to the land in which a group resides (University of Maryland).

People/Person of Color: is not a term that refers to real biological or scientific distinction between people, but the common experience of being targeted and oppressed by racism. While each oppressed group is affected by racism differently and each group maintains its own unique identity and culture, there is also the recognition that racism has the potential to unite oppressed people in a collective of resistance. For this reason many individuals who identify as members of racially oppressed groups also claim the political identity of being People of Color. This in no way diminishes their specific cultural or racial identity; rather, it is an affirmation of the multiple layers of identity of every individual. This term also refrains from the subordinate connotation of triggering labels like "non-White" and "minority" (Office of Racial and Ethnic Concerns of Unitarian Universalist Association).

Race: a social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance, ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic classification, and the political needs of a society at a given period of time (Adams Bell and Griffin).

Racism: a system of advantage based on race. A system of oppression based on race, a way of organizing society based on dominance and subordination based on race. Penetrates every aspect of personal, cultural, and institutional life. Includes prejudice against people of color, as well as exclusion, discrimination against, suspicion of, and fear and hate of people of color. Racism = prejudice + the power to implement that prejudice (Exchange Project of the Peace & Development Fund).

White privilege: refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are White. White people who experience such privilege may or may not be conscious of it (McIntosh).

Definitions

Cisgender: a gender identity where an individual's self-perception of their gender aligns with their perceived sex (The National Multicultural Institute).

Gender: the socially constructed ideas about behavior, actions, and roles a particular sex performs (The National Multicultural Institute).

Gender identity: a personal conception of one's own gender; often in relation to a gender opposition between masculinity and femininity, Gender expression is how people externally communicate or perform their gender identity to others (The National Multicultural Institute).

LGBTQ (QIA): acronym for "Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (Questioning Intersex Allies)." The description of the movement expanded from gay and lesbian to LGBTQ and some include questioning, intersex, allies, same-gender-loving, asexual, pansexual, and polyamorous (Queers United Activists).

Queer: term used to refer to people or culture of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. A term once perceived as derogatory is now embraced by some members of the LGBTQ community.

Sex: system of classification based on biological and physical differences, such as primary and secondary sexual characteristics. Differentiated from gender, which is based on the social construction and expectations of the categories "men" and "women" (University of Maryland).

Sexual orientation: the direction of one's sexual attraction toward the same gender, opposite gender, or other genders. It is on a continuum and not necessarily a set of absolute categories (UC Berkeley Initiative for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity).

Transgender: an individual whose gender identity differs from the societal expectations of their physical sex. Transgender or "trans" does not imply any form of sexual orientation. (The National Multicultural Institute)