Community Engaged Global Learning: Society, Inequality & Social Exclusion

This multi-disciplinary course helps students to better understand and examine the causes of social inequality and exclusion within the context of the accelerated demographic transformation of today's urban space. They will study theories and pedagogy which aim to empower people and bridge social and cultural capital. The course will be beneficial for any student but will particularly benefit students studying in fields such as Education, Youth, Community and Social Work, Urban Studies, Health Sciences, and those wishing to work in the NGO and not for profit sectors.

This course enables students to engage with a community-based organisation at least once per week. While student engagement at the organisation is valuable, the placement also serves as a gateway into the community for students to understand the lives of their co-workers, local volunteers and the daily realities of the clients that they serve. Engaging with marginalized communities is challenging. Within a traditional course setting and in support of their placement across the term, students will undergo initial in-depth orientation that will help prepare them for what can be emotionally challenging and life-changing and helps develop their emotional and intercultural intelligences. They will study the variety of working conditions, work practices and cultural norms in the host city and placement communities. They will be introduced to group work skills and activities beneficial to their placements.

The course is cross-listed with SOC396.