News and Screenings
Social Work Professor, Michelle Williamson, shares an "applied learning" use of "The Water Front"
Email Address:
michwmson@earthlink.netEastern Michigan University School of Social
SWK 350 is an undergraduate social work practice course for approximately 20 students. This course is supported by a service-learning experiential component. Formal course instruction paralleled the academic service learning to ground the student's training in practice theory and strategy, skill development, and professional commitment to mezzo-macro practice as part of ethical social work practice.
Students worked in teams in a forty-hour academic service learning project to develop skills in working collaboratively in task groups while focusing on a short term goal that will lead to improvements in organizational (social service agency) or community functioning.
On Using The Water Front...:
Two students volunteered to work with two Michigan environmental organizations to have "The Water Front" film viewed on campus. The students met with these organizations and traveled to Detroit to attend a Welfare Rights organizational meeting. The students organized a viewing of the film followed by a panel discussion of local environmental leaders. The director of the film, Liz Miller was also on the panel. The film and discussion enlightened those who attended as to the water crisis and how to intervene.
Additional Information:
As a social work instructor, I found THE WATERFRONT film to be a powerful learning process. Throughout the course on communities and organizations, my undergraduate students were engaged in the learning process, but yet limited when it came to understanding the plight of those trapped by poverty. When the class viewed the film, their learning process took on a different feel. They became actively engaged. They were asking questions about their communities and organizations. They wanted to know how something like this happens 50 miles from them and they are not aware of it. All the lectures and readings on how those marginalized by our society are systemically oppressed became a living reality. The film motivated the students. During the following class sessions, students were telling me how they were participating in alleviating the water crisis. Most importantly, the students began to understand how racism, sexism, and classism can take away a human essential need such as water. Thank you for the opportunity to view the film.
