Stacy Davis-Stanford

Reflection

I have taken several political science classes at SLCC, two from the Professor Hubert now. Last year, I decided to add political science as a double major along with social work, and with this new focus I am finding political courses more and more applicable to my intended career path. I am unable to have a job out of the house right now, and so I am working to expand my disability advocacy blog into something which will eventually be profitable. That expansion goal includes the plan to reach beyond writing solely about disability issues to the political and social concerns of all types of minority groups.

This semester, I found three classes which worked together fabulously toward that end goal; Human Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity, and this International Politics course. All three were from different departments, Family and Human Studies and Sociology for the other two, yet they all had interconnecting principles and similar potential application. In the sexuality class I studied minority groups like gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals and transgender, intersex, and genderqueer people. The race and ethnicity class covered all racial minorities, including concerns and historical fight of immigrant and refugee groups. Through this International Politics class I was able to take more generic information about different groups, and apply it in more specific political context, domestically and internationally. Specifically, the chapters on logical fallacies and basic political science, and the chapter on human rights both took my thinking (and my coursework this semester in all three classes) to the next level.

I would love if there was an entire class which just expanded on the human rights material covered, because that is exactly what I plan to do for my career- fight for basic rights for all people on earth, regardless of race, nationality, disability status, etc.

The three learning outcomes which I found most applicable, for reasons noted above, were:

• Students develop literacies necessary for their chosen field of study

• Students develop knowledge and skills to be civilly engaged

• Students develop the knowledge and skills to work with others in a professional manner