Course Descriptions
SASS 375A / 575 Health, Human and Social Development in Urban & Rural Ecuador
Register for Fall
Mark Chupp, PhD and Sonia Minnes, PhD
The 3-hour course for undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, alumni and professionals takes an integrated approach to the study of the multicultural issues related to policies and services in urban Quito, Ecuador and the surrounding rural areas. Site visits and studies include a look at HIV/AIDS, public and private hospitals, education, child welfare, disaster interventions, trafficking in human persons, U.S. Aid policy, analysis of native Quichua families, an examination of traditional and modern medicine, local religious influences, time with an Afro Ecuadorian community of Chota, and a visit to the Amazon Rainforest. You will have opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding, exploring rural villages, and time to experience Ecuadorian music, dance and cooking. Other destinations include the hot springs at Baosnear RioBamba, the Otavalo Market, the San Antonio de Ibarra woodcarving, the Museo de la CiudadSan Francisco, the Museo Guayasamin, and other places of cultural interest.
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Schedule
SASS 325 / 375B & 575 Netherlands: Amsterdam
3 sections:
1) SASS 575 The Netherlands: Social Justice – Undergraduates: Mark Singer, PhD
2) SASS 325 The Netherlands: Social Justice – Graduates: Dean Grover Gilmore
3) SASS 375B Mental Health Issues & Practices Netherlands (open to all) – Patrick Boyle, PhD
These 3-hour courses during Spring Break in the Netherlands are for undergraduate and graduate students. They take place in Amsterdam and surrounding areas. This experience is designed to familiarize students and faculty with Dutch culture, social policies and practices for homelessness; prostitution, drug use, substance abuse, mental health, neighborhood social control, multicultural aspects of healthcare, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The trip includes guided tours of neighborhoods and social institutions, and daily lectures by government officials, practicing social workers and many of Holland’s most prominent scholars. The experience will challenge students to compare Holland with the United States and help students understand the strengths and weaknesses of social policies and human services in both countries.
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SASS 375D / 575 Child Welfare in Guatemala
Zoe Breen Wood, MSW and Victor Groza, PhD
This 3-credit hour graduate and undergraduate course is designed to familiarize participants with the culture and history of Guatemala, as well as study child welfare from a community development perspective. All students will spend some time each morning to learn Spanish, followed by guided tours of programs. The experience will challenge participants to compare Guatemala with the United States at social, economic and political levels. The program is an intense, small group experience in living, learning, traveling and studying. Students will study child welfare issues, social services and indigenous community practices, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of social policies and human services in both Guatemala and the U.S. The course acquaints participants with the socio-political factors that influence the development of child welfare programs in the nongovernmental sector (private, nonprofit) and governmental sector in Guatemala. The role of the helping professions in child welfare are explored via agency visits, lectures and collaboration with Guatemalan professionals.
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SASS 375C / 575 Poland: Invisible Groups in a New Poland
Kathleen Farkas, PhD and Richard Romaniuk, PhD
This 3-hour Spring Break course for undergraduate and graduate students introduces students and faculty to Polish culture and Polish social policies and practices concerning disenfranchised, stigmatized and disempowered social groups. The course will encourage students to understand how Poland’s recent political and economic transformations affect society, in general, and some groups, in particular. The course will focus on how Polish society addresses problems of poverty, homelessness, aging, domestic violence and mental health disorders. In cooperation with the Institute of Sociology at the University of Poznan, students and faculty will use frameworks such as multiculturalism, social integration, feminism and determinants of social exclusion to understand Polish policy responses to various social phenomena. Students will have opportunities to engage government officials, practicing social workers, and some of Poland’s most prominent scholars in conversation. In addition to lectures and workshops, the trip includes guided tours of neighborhoods and social institutions. Cultural events and outings will provide additional insights into Polish society and the Polish people.
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SASS 375I / 575 (EECS 342i) Global Issues and Sustainability 
Deborah Jacobson, PhD and Sree N. Sreenath, PhD
The 3-hour course for undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, alumni and professionals is an engineering and social work collaboration which includes a short-term cross-cultural immersion. Travel to India will take place between May 21 – June 5, 2013. This course brings together a social work perspective (knowledge, values and skills) to the understanding of technical project assessment, selection, planning and implementation in India. The course is also designed to help students understand culturally-relevant community engagement strategies to ensure project acceptance in under-served and developing communities. Many field sites will be visited in order to observe first-hand the community assessment and development of projects that engineers implement. An example of these projects could include infrastructure to support water and sanitation as well as projects around energy, agriculture, human rights and women empowerment. Examples of projects include: Chitrakoot Project: A Campaign for Self Reliance, Agriculture Project, Health and Hygiene Project, Education Project and Entrepreneurship Project.
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