Experience Day 2025

Mini Classes

• Ecological Justice

  We often hear of environmental justice, but what is ecological justice? In this mini-course you will learn how you as a social worker will be activated into ensuring a healthy and flourishing future for people, all other species, and Earth.

  Taught by Clinical Associate Professor Sarah Bexell.

• Weighing our Worth: An Introduction to weight stigma and weight inclusive practice

  This mini-class begins by introducing the concept of weight stigma and how body weight and appearance is a part of our intersectional identity (and a source of potential privilege or discrimination). Next, we examine how weight stigma infiltrates public health messaging and the potential harms of that stigma. We will briefly review some of the science that supports taking a weight-inclusive approach to health and mental health practice. We end the mini class discussing some brief recommendations for clinical practice.

  Taught by Assistant Professor Erin Harrop.

• Grief and Loss: A Promotion of the Right to Grieve

  This mini-class will help to define grief and explore how client systems and communities experience grief, not only as it relates to the loss of a loved one, but as it is universally experienced through nontraditional forms of loss. We will explore the spectrum of grief and how we as social workers can promote the human right to grieve as a promotion of our core social work values.

  Taught by Clinical Assistant Professor Amity Good.

• Leading for Belonging: Systems Thinking for Social Work Leadership and Activism

  How can social work leaders apply systems thinking to create lasting change and foster belonging within organizations and communities? This mini-class explores how leaders can use belonging strategies to assess and shift power dynamics, leverage system strengths, and apply change models that drive activism and equity. Participants will examine how social work frameworks—such as person-in-environment, liberatory design, and regenerative practices—can be used to dismantle barriers and build inclusive, justice-centered systems.

  Taught by Assistant Clinical Professor Garett Brownlee