At Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School, students experience transformative global education through short-term study abroad. Students broaden their perspectives on the world and gain new insight on how different countries and cultures approach social welfare issues, policies and practices. Through our international courses, students visit social work agencies, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, prisons, mental health facilities, foreign universities and organizations that serve the needs of children and families. Students see and experience the world in a way a tourist never would.
Social Justice/Social Work, International Learning through Community & NGO Internship
(SASS 357L/575L) | 3 credits
Summer Break
May 24–June 4
Pre-/Post-Trip Saturday Seminars
TBD
Experience dynamic cultural, environmental and social justice development in the stunning beauty of Cape Town, South Africa, and surrounding locations in this 3-credit course. In a country still working on overcoming the bitter vestiges of apartheid, students will be exposed to current social and economic conditions, simultaneously reflecting on modern cosmopolitan experiences and vast economic disparities. Students will be embedded in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and immersed in learning activities that will provide opportunities to challenge their own perceptions while developing a broadened perspective to address social issues and problems regardless of location and nation.
A highlight of the course will be a wilderness experience in the Groot Winterhoek Nature Reserve, where students will gain a better understanding of themselves while acquiring first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced and conquered by South Africans. Joined by their South African counterparts, students will leave behind many western creature comforts and find countless personal rewards: learning to face and overcome obstacles, acquiring introspective insight into their own abilities, and developing lifelong connections with people from different cultures and experiences who also work for social justice and the betterment of all peoples.
Maximum of 12 students may enroll in this course.