Social Justice: Fndts & Personal Commitments

3 Credits.

The course will teach historical concepts from the post civil war years to #blacklivesmatter and will cover key periods in the American experience including Reconstruction, Jim Crow, thestruggle for civil rights, and #blacklivesmatter.The course emphasizes an understanding of both policy and practice, and engages students in series of case studies, practical frameworks, selected readings, and guest lectures. Students willcontemplate and study the ways in which racial justice plays out across a variety of contexts,including public spaces, the workplace, school, family and relationships, and public policy. Theseries of guest lectures will be delivered by practitioners and leaders in the movement for racialjustice. Ultimately, the course aims to empower students to advance racial justice through self,individual and systems advocacy. At the end of the course, students can expect to walk awaywith a) a broad understanding of the drivers of structural racism, b) models of advocacy inadvancing policy change, c) individual and institutional core competencies for anti-racistpractices. Recommended background: an authentic interest in racial justice and models for social change, a willingness to engage in candid, constructive, and challenging conversations and a desire to learn tools with practical applications in the workforce, communityorganizing, and social activism.