As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative to have the understanding and resources to effectively navigate discussions aboutdiversity and inequality in the classroom and workplace. Race, class, gender and sexuality are highly personal and emotionally-laden subjects. They may evoke a range of responses, from hostility and anger to guilt and depression.

The Institute will prepare you to preempt and manage such responses and be better prepared. Our goal is to provide you with the tools, knowledge and support to create an inclusive and empowering educational setting and experience.

The name, “The Knapsack Institute” hails from Peggy McIntosh’s renowned article, "White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies,” in which she states:  
"I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks." (Peggy McIntosh, 1988 "White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies." Excerpted from Working Paper 189, Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley, MA.)