While not a formal course offered by the Honors college, each Honors student has the option to “enhance” one of the classes in their major, given it is above the 300 level, by working one-on-one with the professor to create and present a project focused on the course’s content at the biannual Showcase. In lieu of completing an Honors course during the Spring 2022 semester, I chose to enhance SOWK 325 – Diversity: Populations at-Risk, due to its real-world implications for social work practice and growing importance within society at large.
Social Work 325, or Diversity: Populations at-Risk, is a mid-level course offered at Longwood University. The class covered topics such as racism, sexism, and colorism in the social work field, while presenting relevant information on a variety of different cultures. The emphasis on culturally relevant practice was so strong, that the end-of-term project involved interviewing a member of a specific culture to understand their beliefs and cultural practices.
However, for my Enhancement, I chose to focus on populations as a whole. At Longwood University, there is no requirement for DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) coursework, nor are there many resources for faculty to use in making their syllabi and class plans. My Enhancement served to rectify this issue by creating a DEI focused webpage with curated articles written by me, resources for books, films, and TED Talks, and even a reflection on the class trip to the Virginia Holocaust Museum. For my artifact, I have embedded the link to my webpage for review.
This class has been influential to me in so many ways. I can see this class having great impacts on my future career as a social worker, as being culturally competent is one of the major requirements of the field. Additionally, this knowledge will help me connect to my clients by providing a basis for understanding their beliefs.