Teaching.

Storytelling for Social Justice

Using Virtual Reality to Develop Anti-Oppressive Social Work Training and Practice

Social Justice is a value that is central to the Social Work Profession. How can social workers approach practice, often dealing with personal and individual-level issues, while maintaining an anti-oppressive and social justice-oriented focus? How can emerging technologies be leveraged to train social workers in anti-oppressive practice?

This class has two goals. First, we will use the Liberation Health Framework for anti-oppressive Social Work Practice to introduce a model for doing social work that centers institutional, cultural, and societal barriers to wellness, including racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and ageism. Second, leveraging the Liberation Health anti-oppressive social work practice framework, the class will explore immersive storytelling for social impact, the costs and affordances of emerging technologies, and how to design, create, and disseminate their own virtual reality (VR) experiences to train social workers and illicit behavior change.

Racial Justice and Cultural Oppression

This course examines racial justice and the causes and implications of racism as a dynamic force influencing social work, and the intersectionality of racism with other forms of oppression.  The course builds on and integrates concepts presented in foundation courses.  It analyzes and evaluates the social, cultural, political, economic and interpersonal contexts of racism as they bear on our current policies and institutional arrangements.  The course is designed to familiarize students with 1) theoretical overviews of racism and oppression; 2) historical accounts and contemporary experiences of racism, 3) the formation of complex racial identity, 4) multicultural contexts and fundamentals of cultural competency, and 5) effective social change efforts based on organizational analysis.

The Social Meaning of Race

This course teaches students to think about race both as ideology, or a tool groups and individuals use to defend their own interests, and theory, a lens for understanding the social world. Students are expected to place their own thinking with social and historical patterns of racial discourse, analyze paradigms underlying racial discourse, understand race as a determinant of life-chances and life styles, and have the tools for analyzing the role of race in the life of social service agencies and social work practice. Revised and updated standard syllabus. Designed student assignments, grading rubrics, and graded student assignments, gave class lectures, and led student discussions.

The Education Crisis

This is an original course that explores the decades of research and reforms around the achievement gap, the persistent failure of urban schools, and the social, political, and historical contexts of today’s education crisis. It covers the most notable efforts, both successful and unsuccessful, to close the achievement gap in the last 60 years, the major policy debates around contemporary reform efforts, and evidence of successful reforms. Designed course syllabus including reading list and course aims. Designed lecture content, student activities, student assignments and assessments, and grading rubrics. Led student discussion and evaluated student performance.