what is the invisible knapsack course hero

Overview

This activity uses independent reflection and small-group discussion to guide students in understanding white privilege as a concept and recognizing the ways their relationship to whiteness benefits or disadvantages them and impacts daily life.

Activity Goals

To help students understand the concept of white privilege and how white privilege in the context of white supremacy benefits white people while harming BIPOC people.

Anti-Racist Pedagogy Principles

The following anti-racist pedagogy principles are incorporated into this resource guide. For a review of the principles, visit our Practicing Anti-Racist Pedagogy homepage.

Application in a STEM Course

Research has shown that exposure to diverse perspectives and meaningful engagement with peers from different backgrounds can broaden a student’s community and perspective. In this activity, discussing different types of privilege acts as a driver to opening up student perspectives.

How many items are in the invisible knapsack?

Perhaps most famously she lists over 50 “items” in the Invisible Knapsack. Here are a few of my “favorites.”

Who wrote the essay White Privilege?

In 1989 Dr. Peggy McIntosh, a white woman, wrote the influential essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” perhaps the most succinct analysis of white privilege yet written.