Educate Yourself: How Ethnic Studies Courses Influence Stereotypic Conceptual Associations

The proposed studies will examine how higher education courses that include components from the discipline of ethnic studies may modify implicit stereotypic associations associated with race. In two studies, participants will complete a Race Implicit Association Test at different time points to measure how they associate Black and White people with either positive or negative qualities. The first study will focus on two methods of presenting information to participants. Participants will learn about a moment in American history either in factual or personal narrative form. The second study will examine if what participants learn from ethnic studies courses from different departments such as Africana, Chicanx/Latinx, and Asian American Studies can be generalized to stereotyping of Black and White people. Both studies will confirm that participants will start at the same level of stereotypic associations. However, the motivations behind the studies predict that implicit stereotyping will change after participants engage narrative, first person portrayals about a moment in history involving people of African descent. In addition, while some level of generalization is expected, participants in Africana studies course will show the greatest change. Keywords: Stereotype, Conceptual Associations, Education, Ethnic Studie