Seeing People:Understanding Homelessness' Roots, Stigmas & Solutions-A Berkeley Changemaker Course
The goal is to support you as an informed citizen who understands homelessness, its roots, the multilevel systems & services that exist to address it, & the levers at each level to effect change. We will focus on developing skills to be a changemaker by working together to address homelessness & “housism” in our community. “Housism” is the belief that people experiencing homelessness are intrinsically less worthy/human. We will be informed in our growth by counter-narratives by people experiencing homelessness & by theoretical frameworks, such as the Social Determinants of Health, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, the Ecological Model, & theories of stigma. Students who have experienced homelessness or unstable housing are welcome.
Topics
- 1. Explain the causes of homelessness from historical, systems, and social-ecological perspectives. 2. Discuss the roots of homelessness in the United States and in the Bay Area in systemic racism against BIPOC populations, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism. 3. Inspect and unpack your housism and begin to develop and apply an antihousist framework. 4. Categorize the different subpopulations of people experiencing homelessness and the unique forces leading to their vulnerability. 5. Demonstrate the relationship between homelessness, individual wellbeing and public health. 6. Apply changemaker principles to the goal of eliminating housism in the Bay Area.
Official catalogue course objectives and student learning outcomes
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027