Arizona State's new ocean studies class to include 'anti-racist' training

Arizona State University is offering a brand new oceanic course angled towards climate change, but will also train students in “anti-racist practices.”

The “Ocean Futures” course is the first class from the university’s new School of Ocean Futures. It “aims to equip future leaders and changemakers with the knowledge and tools needed to understand the intertwined relationship between ocean health and human outcomes” and states oceans are being harmed by “climate change and human activities,” according to ASU’s press release on the fall class.

Climate change aside, Amy Maas, the professor who’s teaching the course, said in a Q&A that the class will also focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

“A hurdle we want to tackle in this new program is the historic lack of inclusivity in” ocean science, Maas said, claiming it has fallen “far behind other fields in gender, ethnic and racial diversity."

Due to this, Maas boasts that her course “implements anti-racist practices, training in implicit bias,” and will imbed “historically underrepresented perspectives” throughout the course’s duration.

Maas also bragged that both her teaching assistant and herself were given a "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)” award by ASU.

Just the News reached out to Maas for comment and will update this article accordingly.

The Ocean Futures class is slated to begin on August 17th.

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