Neuroscience offers a unique lens for understanding what makes us different, how we perceive those
differences, and the results of those perceptions on our daily lives. Some of the topics associated with racial
justice, including diversity, bias, stereotypes, prejudice, racism, ethnocentrism, judgments, and threat
evaluation are extensively pursued by researchers to attain a basic understanding of their fundamental
processes such that we might apply a neuroscientific understanding to real-world issues. Today’s combination
of available technology to examine these topics, combined with the public’s increased desire to understand and
address issues of racial justice, have made this one of the most important areas of research in behavioral
neuroscience.
Find two topics in this course that are relevant in terms of understanding racial justice through the lens of any
of the following topics: diversity, inclusion, equity, prejudice, discrimination, and/or stereotypes (or a related
topic – please confirm with me via e-mail prior to assuming an additional topic outside of those underlined at the
beginning of this sentence). For each topic from your textbook readings (your “textbook topic”), identify a page
number in your textbook where the topic is discussed in detail (and if possible, a relevant figure associated with
the topic) and offer a brief explanation of the topic using your own words (do not restate or rephrase the
textbook explanation, create your own). Then, draw a clear connection between the textbook topic and at least
one clearly and explicitly identified “racial justice” topic including a clear, specific description of how this
connection can be understood at the cellular/molecular, systems, and/or cognitive/behavioral levels and how
this is relevant in understanding racial justice. Do this for both textbook topics you identify.
Sample Solution
