Advocacy & Organizing

Our interpersonal experiences and the personal identities we hold both shape and contribute to our individual concepts of health, as well as to our awareness of the beliefs and identities held by others. This course examines how various marginalized groups have historically organized and advocated to bring about change in communities impacted by health disparities and social injustice. How can understanding their stories and the strategies they've implemented to construct, share, and collect their narratives, inform health professionals and their allies in developing new and innovative approaches to hear, interpret, and respond to the needs of the communities they are charged with serving? At a time when a renewed focus is being placed on health equity, social justice, race, bias, resource distribution, and access, it is imperative to look more closely at the experiences of communities and the individuals within them who have been placed at greater vulnerability. With an attentiveness to intersectionality, critical race theory, and media studies, course materials will guide an exploration of narrative and its relationship to activism, advocacy, and messaging around community health.