SWK 6135: Cultural Diversity
Credits: 3
Key Skills: Develop self-awareness about personal cultural identity; analyze the roles of power, control, and access to resources; apply empathy to client work with individuals, families, groups, and communities; identify the role of social work in addressing issues related to diversity and oppression, socioeconomic and racial disparities, immigration, religious and spiritual beliefs, gender and sexual identity, and physical and mental disabilities
Description: Cultural Diversity is part of the core curriculum of the online master of social work, teaching students foundational awareness of intersectional issues related to age groups, ethnicities, genders, classes, religions, physical and mental disabilities, and sexual orientation. Through a process of critical thinking, class discussion, and self-examination, students will critique the social constructions of many of these issues in order to formulate professional responses that combat discrimination, stereotyping, oppression, neglect, and abuse.
The course begins by challenging students to self-reflect on and self-assess their experiences of or recognition of social injustice, the dynamics and consequences of power, and the unequal distribution of resources. By the end of this course students will cultivate an empathic awareness for their vulnerable client populations facing disenfranchisement, and utilize strategies to become agents of change on their behalf.