Critical Perspective of Racism and Colonialism in Society

Abstract

Course Information: This course examines the processes and practices of racialization (including anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism), settler colonialism, Orientalism, and imperialism to analyze the operations of structural inequities within society and its implications to social work practice.

Course Overview: This online course will educate students on systemic racism and colonialism within society. Theories covered will include racialization, settler colonialism, indigeneity, Orientalism, and imperialism to analyze structural inequities and their impact on peoples’ lived experiences. This will include the explicit naming and examination of the historical to present day impacts of anti-Black (ABR) and anti-Indigenous racism (AIR). This course will interrogate the ways in which racism/ABR/AIR is upheld, maintained, and reinforced within social work practice, including how racist ideologies construct our subject positionings.

This course aims to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their social positionings, to explore operations of racism within a practice setting of their choice, and to create an action-based response to the issue.

Course Approach: This course is designed as an asynchronous online course with all learning activities (readings, viewings, engagement exercises) online. Students will interact with the course material and one another through online discussion boards, and a one-week period of asynchronous engagement where students respond to one another’s’ final assignment presentations.

Course Design: The structure of the course includes 8 online lessons, 3 online learning labs, and a week of guided, asynchronous engagement where students workshop their final projects for the course. Each lesson and lab affords students engaging lesson content, covering weekly readings and viewings, bringing into focus key terms and concepts, and offering opportunities throughout for ungraded activities designed to help students deepen their learning, meet learning outcomes for the lesson, and prepare for graded assessments.

Graded assessments included with the course include asynchronous discussions (discussion prompts for relevant lessons), individual reflection papers (written assignments based on the 3 online learning labs), and a final group assignment (students develop a public campaign). Detailed instructions and assessment information is provided for each assessment.