DIVERSITY IN THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT

Catalog description

This course explores human diversity and resilience within rural social environments through the lens of a multidimensional perspective on human behavior. Grounded in the biopsychosocial and ecological models, students examine how individual development, social identity, culture, and contextual forces intersect in rural settings. Emphasis is given to understanding rural populations (e.g. agricultural families, Indigenous communities, migrants, aging residents, frontier dwellers) and the challenges and strengths unique to rural life, such as geographic isolation, resource scarcity, social capital, and population decline. Students will critically assess how diversity - across race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and migration status - manifests in rural contexts, and apply this to social work engagement, advocacy, and micro/macro practice strategies.