Social Work Trip Challenges

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Social Work Trip Challenges Students to Connect Human Rights Issues to Everyday Experience
Bethel senior Alyssa Knight ’18 climbs the gleaming limestone steps of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Tower of Hope, the architectural spiral staircase leading to a large viewing platform from which the lit tower shines as a beacon of optimism over the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Knight is one of 22 Bethel social work juniors and seniors who, along with three faculty members, traveled over 400 miles to visit the museum this January.
After noticing strong connections between social work course material and the museum’s exhibits, Professor Eydie Miller Shypulski presented the idea of the Winnipeg trip to a group of Bethel upperclassmen in August. Although not affiliated with any particular course or degree requirements, the trip provided an incredible opportunity to expand the students’ understanding of human rights throughout history. After quickly gaining student interest and commitment, the next step was to make the trip a reality. Student Katie Cudo ’18 explains the level of work required to realize the idea: “It took a lot of
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For many students, the exhibits made the topic of human rights, previously learned about primarily in a classroom, real and relevant to their everyday life. “Human rights is an issue for all people,” Knight declares, saying the trip expanded her awareness of what was going on right around her. “Everything that I experienced at the Human Rights Museum I could tie back to the things that we’re learning in class and at our internships, so it was very applicable.” Cudo agrees, “Part of becoming a well-informed social worker is having experiences to advance our learning and this trip definitely taught us all more about human rights, historical trauma, and