SOWK 5250ADVANCED CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Catalog

This course further develops consciousness about the complexities involved in working with diverse individuals, families, groups, and communities. It challenges students to explore the meanings that they ascribe to social class, race, color, ethnicity, culture, language, immigration status, gender, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, political ideology, religion, and disability. It asks students to reflect on issues of identity, power and oppression, inter-group conflict, and global human rights. It raises students' consciousness about universal qualities of the human condition, and about the myriad ways in which groups and individuals within groups differ from one another. It helps students to understand the dangers of assuming that individuals are prototypical representatives of identity groups, rather than as agents who have made choices about their own identity. At the same time, it assists students in understanding the powerful impact of culture, personal and group history, and forces of oppression on individuals, families, groups, and communities. It prepares students to use inductive methods of learning about other worldviews in order to engage and work with diverse individuals, families, and communities.