Graduate Prerequisites: HB720 - The goal of this course is to deepen students' understanding of the meanings and distinctions between reproductive health, rights, and justice and how social workers can support the promotion of healthy sexual and reproductive lives of all . Contextualizing present-day debates within U.S. history and drawing from critical theoretical frameworks such as intersectionality, disability justice, radical reproductive justice, Black Feminisms, and racial capitalism, students will learn how systems of oppression and bodily autonomy are intertwined to impact the language, practices, and policies that control racialized and gendered bodies' ability to have or not have children. Designed for both clinical and macro social work practitioners, the course provides an introduction to understanding how the control and subjugation of bodies is routinely used to oppress people and maintain oppressive social structures. Students will learn how present-day attacks on bodily autonomy are rooted in the political economy and why as social work practitioners it is important to consider bodily autonomy in our pursuit of social justice. Students will also cultivate practical skills that can be used to engage individuals, groups, and communities in reproductive justice efforts and consider; how policymakers, organizations, and others concerned with bodily autonomy can contribute to working towards a liberatory future.

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