SOCW 300

Diversity: Identities & Issues

Credit: 3 hours.

The School of Social Work has decided to create an additional, unrestricted, section for the overall campus population.  The class will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 – 10:15 a.m.  The description for the course is below.  SOCW 300 – Diversity: Identities and Issues fulfills the Gen Ed requirements for both an Advanced Composition as well as a U.S. Minorities/Non-Western.  Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

This introductory course explores multiple dimensions of diversity in a pluralistic and increasingly globalized society. Using a social work strengths perspective as well as historical, constructivist, and critical conceptual frameworks; the course examines issues of identity, culture, privilege stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. The social construction and implications of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and other dimensions of difference is examined at individual, interpersonal, and systems levels. Students are expected to use the course material to explore their personal values, biases, family backgrounds, culture, and formative experiences in order to deepen their self-awareness and develop interpersonal skills in bridging differences. Finally, students apply learning from the course to identify characteristics of effective social work and other health and human service provision among people culturally different themselves; and to identify opportunities for change contributing to prejudice reduction and cross-cultural acceptance at home, work and in society.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria in SPRING 2014 for a
UIUC: US Minority Culture(s) course , and UIUC: Advanced Composition course

Trent Shumway, Academic Advisor

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1010 W. Nevada St. MC-082 | Urbana, IL 61801

phone | 217.244.5246

email | tshumway@illinois.edu

socialwork.illinois.edu

facebook.com/socialwork.illinois