Exploring Social Justice across Cultures and Professions

This presentation will describe a recent student and faculty exchange between Haifa University and the University of Maryland Baltimore focused on social justice and community engaged learning and service. The course combined a global and inter-professional approach to critically examine how social justice is framed and conceptualized in different contexts and from different disciplines (law, welfare, health) and how interventions, services, programs and policies reflects changing perceptions of social justice. Through this course, 24 students from the two Universities examine the historical relevance of social movements and social struggles to overcome inequality and injustice, used alternative research methodologies for the study of social justice.  Theater of the oppressed, “photovoice”, and participative action research were included in the January 2014 exchange in Haifa.  Students and faculty met with community partners of  Haifa University’s Flagship Program which brings together communities of diverse ethnic/religious background to address and enhance the health and welfare of community members.  Examples of projects include a community leaders educational program, an Ethiopian immigrant story telling project, a community gardens project, and a multicultural performing arts project.   As an adjunct to the course at Haifa University, the primary author visited and will discuss community projects in the West Bank that provide employment opportunities and other forms of support for Palestinian residents including an Arabic language call center and residential well drilling. “Photovoice” techniques used to document and encourage critical dialogue of the concept of social justice among individuals from difference cultures and profession will be presented.