Educators

Student groups use RACE to better understand the origins of the concept of race and manifestations of racism in everyday life. Here is information to help prepare your visit and focus students’ attention:

• The current scientific understanding of human variation and where that understanding is inconsistent with racial categories and explanations;
• The history of the idea of race, with an emphasis on the role of science in establishing and naturalizing racial concepts;
• The contemporary experience of race and racism in the United States, and the often-invisible ways racism has infiltrated our laws, customs, cultures, and institutions.

We find that students get the most out of the tour when the information presented is related to their personal experiences. Here are teacher resources to help guide your visit:

• RACE: A Teacher's Guide
  Written by the American Anthropological Association as part of the RACE project
• RACE Educator's Guide
  Written by the Science Museum of Minnesota for use with the exhibition; includes pre- and post-visit activities. It also provides examples of activities that can be used to focus students' attention while they tour the exhibit.

"Education either functions as an instrument
which is used to facilitate integration
of the younger generation into the
logic of the present system
and bring about conformity
or it becomes the practice of freedom,
the means by which men and women
deal critically and creatively
with reality and discover how to participate
in the transformation of their world."
-Paulo Freire