SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP): As the U.S. wrestles with how to respond to a series of volatile racial incidents, the University of Notre Dame is offering a class this semester on white privilege that it says aims to help students become more aware of injustices.

The course description says the one-credit elective, offered in preparation for a conference, is designed to educate students about the definitions of white privilege and its causes and effects.

Though the school offered a similar workshop last year that was not for credit, the class has drawn some objections this time around.

Notre Dame's sociology department Chairman Rory McVeigh says he believes whites do have privileges that non-whites don't, and the seminar is appropriate for a Catholic university that prides itself on social justice.