“Whatever the answer we arrive at, we cannot fail to become heavily involved in the issues of moral and political values. Indeed, political propaganda frequently masquerades under social policy labels.”  (Richard Titmuss, 1974) 

This foundation course focuses on social work relevant policy positions and the political processes in the US, particularly as they affect vulnerable populations and the context in which social work functions. The emphasis in the course is on critical thinking, policy analysis, social action, new media, and advocacy. As the course is taking place during a time of great uncertainty about critical areas of social policy, and social media is a powerful influence in all aspects of contemporary life, including politics, we will track social media use in real time during events such as the policy debates, media coverage, and the various emergent occurrences that accompany electoral politics. Where relevant we will examine social theories that can provide perspective on these events, such as those related to social justice, networks, communication, confirmation bias, organizational, community and identity management, social awareness, and “difference” theories related to race, ethnicity, and gender.  

The course takes a social constructivist perspective and emphasizes the role of economics and the market economy in social policy and politics, and provides perspectives to help make the connections between personal life, social institutions, and social structure, and use those understandings to challenge traditional approaches to social policy development. The main objective of the course is to introduce the student to the ways that narrative, textual interpretation and analysis, and new media, broadly defined, are applicable to the development of effective policy development and political argument.

Students will have the opportunity to plan how to construct and disseminate an informed point of view about existing and proposed social policies of interest to social work, and to work collaboratively to formulate and disseminate policy positions and arguments via social media. It is anticipated that student products may take a variety of forms, including a blog, a video, graphic story, or photographic essay.