As the spring semester approaches, students will find new course options added to the catalog. Many new courses available for students during the spring semester are diversity or minority related, such as Queering American History.

Developed by Women’s and Gender Studies professor Ashley Gilbert-Barnes, the class takes a different route than a normal history course. As the title suggests, the course is primarily about LGBTQ people throughout American history and how their lives differed from non-LGBTQ identifying individuals.  

“Queering American History serves to render visible queer lives in America’s past and also instruct students,” remarked Barnes-Gibert.  

She also wishes to include more LGBTQ classes in the College of Letters and Sciences in the near future.  

Senior Communications major Kyra Tomcheck is very excited about the potential for non-LGBTQ people to learn about how minorities are represented through different classes.   

“I’m most interested in Queer Cinema,” Tomcheck stated. “It’s gonna open a lot of discussions about how LGBTQ people are viewed in media. The only way that stereotypes are broken are by putting out accurate representation.”  

In addition to the new classes being added to the course catalog, one new program in the College of Education and Professional Studies. The program is called Early Child Care Education (ECCE) and is akin to the Early Childhood Education program. ECCE, however, is more suited to the high demand of students who wish to work with children but do not require a license.  

“What we did was develop a flexible pathway to a bachelor’s degree that allows early childhood professionals to stack credentials along with other requirements,” replied Carmen Rivers, the program coordinator for ECCE.  

In January 2019, the program will include a Supporting Dual Language Learners Credential via the School of Continuing Education. It will be a four-section online class (sections A, B, C, and D) with each section lasting eight weeks. The course itself will provide students within the ECCE program to meet the requirements needed to bring an education to young children who are learning two languages: a foundation for understanding dual-language learners in a classroom setting, providing support to learners, and creating a strong yet effective curriculum for dual-language students.  

“I want UW-Whitewater to be on the cutting edge and model how to work collaboratively for the benefit of teachers, children, and families to create career pathways based on earning a meaningful bachelor’s degree,” expressed Rivers.