The USC School of Social Work offers cross-cultural study-abroad opportunities for participants to gain a deeper understanding of another culture and other models of social service in an international setting.
SUMMER 2010
Global Perspectives on Sexual Orientation, Gender and Ethnicity in Europe
Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands
Participants visit Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands to experience diversity firsthand within a European context and examine the ways sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity are approached differently in the United States and Europe. The two-week program consists of lectures; discussion panels; experiential and reflective exercises; group-based assignments; site visits to social service, community and human rights organizations; and cultural excursions. Additionally, participants can explore social action and social change strategies, and learn how European countries address oppression resulting from sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity. Open to non-USC and non-social work students and professionals.
Entrepreneurship, Empowerment and Media: Social Development in India
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
This three-week program demonstrates how community-based interventions including entrepreneurship, empowerment and media-based advocacy can be effective tools in tackling social issues in India. Students participate in community development projects in urban Mumbai and rural Tuljapur to learn about social work at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. They visit social enterprises, such as self-help groups for empowering women with micro-loans for small businesses, to better understand the global dimensions of social development and how grassroot efforts can create economic and social change and empower communities to be self-sustainable. Additionally, participants examine social change and development using media-based advocacy by making their own videos in collaboration with Indian students majoring in media studies.
Feminist Theory, Social Action and Social Work
University of the Philippines, Dilliman
Focused on the feminist viewpoint in social work and its influence in facilitating social change, this seminar offers guest speakers on labor issues, land ownership, poverty, prostitution, legislative process and healthcare, in addition to field trips to such places as a women’s prison, a peasant community and a red-light district. Journaling and completing a field research project supplement the educational experience for participants, who seek a more informed perspective of the political, economic, social and cultural forces shaping Filipino society and a new vantage point to work more effectively with Filipino immigrant clients.
The Eastern Approach to Successful Aging in China
Peking University and Beijing Normal University
Students explore issues faced by an aging population and experience how China is coping in a positive way. Utilizing China as a case study, the program provides intensive discussion and exposure to Chinese culture, helping students expand their knowledge of the country’s political, economic, social and cultural forces, as well as gain a new perspective on healthy aging that may help them work with elderly populations in the United States, particularly those who have emigrated from Asian nations. In addition to studying social gerontology theories, the learning process includes daily interactions with Chinese students, faculty and community groups.
PAST PROGRAMS
International Social Work Practice in the United Kingdom
MSW Post-Graduate Certificate Program
Designed for MSW graduates who want to gain work experience overseas and learn about the theory and practice of social work in a comparative international context, the United Kingdom Post-Graduate Certificate Program offers participants a unique opportunity for a yearlong immersion into the UK’s social welfare profession. Through a professionally supervised and paid practice placement in a social welfare agency, students gain an intercultural experience that offers opportunities for personal growth and professional development, in addition to competence in conducting comparative research at the international level.
Social Conflict, Empowerment and Creative Problem Solving
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Participants explore Israel in an intensive two-week immersion where they observe practice with a variety of client groups in the region’s urban and rural, Jewish and Arabic, and immigrant communities in different social settings including schools, immigrant-absorption centers, prisons and community centers. The program offers a comparative perspective on similar social issues approached differently in the United States and Israel, and showcases expressive practice skills and techniques, including the use of community-based theatre and art therapy. As part of the curriculum, students also examine how the country's social conflicts, including issues of nationality, race, class and immigration, impact its residents. Outside the classroom, students take part in the social and cultural life of Israel through daily interaction with Israeli faculty and students and field trips to Galilee and Jerusalem.
Social Work Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean
University of Puerto Rico
Drawing from the rich history and experience of the Puerto Rican people, students examine how diversity shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity. During the three-week program, students increase their knowledge of diversity and social work practice by looking at issues such as race and identity, colonization and oppression, immigration/migration, environmental racism and other influences on health and well-being. Students are immersed in social and cultural interactions with students, faculty and alumni from the University of Puerto Rico and gain field experience at practice sites which include recovery systems of care, community organizing settings and ecological preservation sites.
