Racism, Oppression, & Health
Boston | 1 credit
3-day immersion at Simmons University

This three-day immersion will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, home of Simmons University. Throughout the immersion, students will be exposed to Boston as their classroom, learning about the city’s history of race and racism and how it is reflected across the urban landscape of transportation, education, employment, health care, and other institutions.
Students will:
- Analyze racism and other interconnected systems of inequality and oppression that shape health.
- Explore the social construction of race and history of racism, particularly in the United States.
- Examine how structural, institutional, personally mediated, and internalized racism shape health.
- Engage in team and individual reflective activities to appraise their own position and privilege, assumptions, biases, and motivations.
- Learn about collaborative models for social change.
Various tools will be used to analyze impacts of racism and oppression on health in the local context. Students will learn from local organizers, public health professionals, and advocates about ongoing local and national models of racial justice as core endeavors toward health equity.
This immersion is typically offered each October.