SWO-409 Dynamics of Racism and Oppression

This course is an intensive examination of the dynamics of various forms of oppression in U.S. society. The selection of the oppression of racism is deliberate. The course begins with an analysis of racism from structural, (social) psychological, and applied perspectives. These frames inform the analysis of other types of oppression (e.g., sexism, classism, homophobia). The course will explore the costs of oppression to all individuals and its differential impact on individuals in dominant and subordinate positions. The importance of power and the dynamics of domination and subordination in all forms of oppression will be explored. Practice issues will be examined in relation to interventions at multiple levels (individual, group, and institutional).