"Being White in a Multicultural Society": Understanding Whiteness in an Intergroup Dialogue

The purpose of this study was to investigate students??? experiences in a 7-week intergroup dialogue course focused on Whiteness. Using qualitative methodology, the author investigated students??? (n = 6; 5 females and 1 male) general perceptions of the intergroup dialogue course, as well as examined what they learned in the course. Participants engaged in semi-structured interviews, and interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. With regard to their overall reactions to and perceptions of the course, three primary themes emerged from the data: (a) perceptions of dialogue course pedagogy, (b) comments on racial composition of the class, and (c) reactions to co-facilitators. Five themes also were identified about students??? learning outcomes: (a) increased knowledge, (b) increased self-awareness, (c) social/relational outcomes, (d) affective outcomes, and (e) behavioral outcomes. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed