Practicum In Human Development

Catalog description

This course will provide students with opportunities to engage in the integration and application of theory and practice through a practicum. Students will explore the pragmatic, nuts-and-bolts type issues of the practicum experience to a more in-depth exploration with concerns such as hierarchical relationships in service-delivery contexts, the implications of social justice, and the long-term as well as everyday workings of agencies. Building on a critical approach to work in the field of human development, a critical emphasis will be placed on how power relations structure organizations and communities within their broader socio-historical, political, economic and cultural contexts. As such, students will examine the implications of social identities and positionality in relation to race/ethnicity, gender, social class and sexuality for experiences in the field as interns and eventually as human development practitioners. During this process, students will engage in critical analysis and thoughtful reflection in exploring and challenging their values, assumptions, perceptions, and biases related to their work as practitioners in communities. This course is only open to students with senior standing. Offered: fall, spring, and summer.