My Favorite MSW Courses: Racial Justice & Community Organizing
Hi, my name is Jazmine. I am a full-time Advanced Standing student majoring in Macro Practice and I’m also the lead student ambassador at BUSSW for the on-campus program. As a full-time Advanced Standing student, I have one full year from September 2020 to August 2021 to complete my MSW degree. The one-year program requires 16 credits in the fall and spring semesters and 11 credits over the summer. Additionally, I need to complete 1,000 hours at my field placement over the course of the school year.
Every class in the MSW program meets once a week and is between one to three hours long. In my opinion, the bulk of the work for MSW students is the number of hours you put into reading articles to prepare for classes. While I can’t speak to what the traditional classroom experience is typically like for on-campus students since my year here has been predominantly virtual due to COVID, I do hope this blog gives you a sense of what it could be like for you.
Due to the pandemic, BU implemented a “Learn from Anywhere (LfA)” model for classes, meaning that students were given the option to attend classes either in-person or virtually. Last semester, I enrolled in one in-person class. A few other students also chose to participate in person and the other half of the class chose to participate via Zoom. Personally, I have enjoyed the option to do either in-person or virtual learning. This semester, all my classes are remote only.
Now for the real reason you’re here: What is my favorite class?
My Two Favorites: Racial Justice & Community Organizing
One of the best classes so far is my Racial Justice course with Professor Dawn Belkin-Martinez. All MSW students are required to take this course, generally in the first semester. Taking Racial Justice early in your program offers a huge benefit. By starting off with Racial Justice, you can take what you learn in the course to inform the rest of your academic studies and your internship experience.
Affinity Space Options for BIPOC Students
One special feature of Racial Justice is that students who identify as Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) have the option to take the course in a BIPOC affinity space. Affinity spaces allow students to choose between taking Racial Justice with students of all backgrounds or with other BIPOC students only.
I decided to take my racial justice course in an affinity space and I appreciated that it was an option. My choice was a good way for me to transition into the program because I had the opportunity to connect with other BIPOC students, many of whom were in the second year of the program. I learned a lot from other BIPOC students and heard about their experiences in the MSW program.
My Racial Justice Professor
My Racial Justice professor, Dawn Belkin-Martinez, is so kind, extremely understanding, and supportive of students. If you have the opportunity to take a class with her, I highly recommend it. Dawn is also very active in the radical social work movement. She even co-founded the Liberation Health Model which helps clinical social workers understand the sociopolitical factors at play when working with clients. If you can’t find a class with Dawn that works with your schedule, you should definitely find a chance to connect with her in another way!
Community Organizing
Another course I am really enjoying this semester is Community Organizing. As a Macro major, I’ve appreciated learning about leadership and organizing in social work and how it all comes together when working with entire communities. This course teaches students the skills needed within different models of community organizing, focusing on collective action to promote social and economic justice. Even if you are a Clinical major, a lot of the content in this course is applicable and helpful.
Both of these classes are very reading-heavy and discussion-based. I appreciate the assigned readings because I have learned so much from them. I even keep some of the articles and share them with people I know outside of the MSW program.
A lot of the professors in the program come to class prepared with slides, but do not lecture the entire class period. Instead, many professors want students to bring their personal experiences from the field to class and often utilize a group discussion format. As a Macro student, I know that what I am learning in class will make me much more confident in the future roles I hold. It is a social worker’s responsibility to facilitate democratic participation and support community empowerment based on respect, humility, and commitment when addressing all forms of oppression. Courses at BUSSW have also helped me identify the intersectionality of racism with other forms of oppression.
A Piece of Advice
In graduate school, there is always work to do whether it is preparing for class, writing a paper, working at your internship, or participating in extracurricular activities. It is a lot and I fully encourage self-care.
However, if you have extra time, consider trying to get ahead on readings, if at all possible. This past semester, I worked hard to stay ahead of my work. During the first part of the semester I was very stressed because of the workload, but once I made the time to plan ahead, I was able to stay ahead of my assignments and deadlines — making the last few weeks of the semester really easy to manage. This approach worked well for me and I highly encourage it!
My last tip: Take classes and engage in group discussions on topics you are passionate about – it adds a lot of depth to your MSW experience.
I hope this helps! Good luck as you prepare for graduate school.