Students are encouraged to sign up for a course taught by Professor Geoff Greif titled "The Lives of Interracial Couples."
With one-in-six U.S. marriages now interracial/interethnic, understanding these families and potential clinical implications for social workers will be of great importance in the future. This 3-credit elective focuses on the lives of interracial and inter-ethnic couples and the challenges they may face raising multi-racial children. Discussion topics include how couples deal with microaggressions and acceptance by families, friends, and society, as well as how they negotiate around any differences about race, ethnicity, gender, and religion. In class time is limited to Mondays 12:15 – 1:45 to allow out-of-class time to complete three interviews. Students will complete IRB and in-class training on how to conduct a qualitative interview with one partner in an interracial/interethnic couple using a survey and interview guide to learn what their experiences are as a couple. Students are encouraged to find the three participants. Students will read and discuss other students’ interviews during class time, participate in class discussions where the central themes and clinical implications from the interviews will be discussed, make a 10 minute in-class presentation of their insights, and turn in a 10-15 page paper that includes clinical implications for practice with adults or children.
Co/prerequisite: SOWK 670.
Victoria Stubbs and Michael Woolley are also engaged in this project. Feel free to email Dr. Greif for more information – ggreif@ssw.umaryland.edu