Engage with Experienced and Approachable Facilitators

Meet weekly with a team of instructors who model how to allow space for learning to happen for those at every level of familiarity with diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

Participate In and Cultivate Inclusive Communities

Develop the skills to help shape inclusive spaces where everyone feels valued, respected, and heard. This program is a great fit for those who might worry about saying the wrong thing at times and want to gain competence and comfort in talking about oppression and inclusion in professional spaces. It is also a good fit for those looking to build their skills in facilitating inclusive learning environments with diverse groups.

Apply What You Learn

Practice skills in small group dialogue, and leave the program with practical strategies and resources with which to dismantle oppression in your personal and professional lives.

Expand Your Impact

Brainstorm on how to customize learning opportunities for diverse audiences that resonates and inspires, making a lasting impact in your communities. Build your confidence in facilitating content that challenges norms, dismantles stereotypes, and promotes empathy.

Build a Network for Change

Connect with others who strive to dismantle oppression and establish a community of accountability and resource-sharing for continued growth and development beyond the course.

Power and Oppression: Foundation

This module provides participants with engaging with a structural framework of oppression as well as the NASW Code of Ethics to include the obligation to challenge social injustices. After a self-assessment of personal biases, common agreements will be introduced to be utilized while discussing dynamics of power and oppression.

• Identify biases by completing a self-assessment.
• Describe a systems framework to oppression.
• Identify ethical considerations related to dismantling oppression.
• Identify common agreements to utilize when dismantling oppression.

Power and Oppression: Tools of Oppression

This module introduces four common tools that are used to support the perpetuation of systemic oppression.

• Identify tools of oppression.
• Utilize common agreements to utilize while engaging in dismantling oppression.
• Describe ethical considerations related to dismantling oppression.

Tools of Oppression: Knowledge

This module provides an opportunity to expand terms and definitions to knowledge and understanding of tools of oppression in relation to implicit and explicit bias and the impact on historically marginalized individuals and groups.

• List and describe specific tools of oppression.
• Differentiate between implicit and explicit bias.
• Identify at least one impact of power and oppression.
• Identify personal privileged and oppressed identities.

Anti-Oppression as a Strategy

This module provides information on policies, procedures, and practices that are recommended to mitigate the harmful impacts of oppression at the individual and institutional level.

• Outline research findings on the experience of traumatic stress as it relates to oppression.
• Describe epigenetics.
• Identify anti-oppressive strategies for policy and practice.

Commitment to Action

This module is designed to support participants in creating a plan of action to actively engage in dismantling racism based on their sphere of influence.

• Describe methods to address conflicts and oppressive actions within an organization.
• Describe one's area of influence and change.
• Identify a strategy to respond when oppression is present.

Practice Implications

This module will be utilized to identify potential challenges and barriers to implementing anti-oppressive behaviors. Methods of implementation and advocacy of increasing access to resources in practice will be reviewed.

• Develop script to interrupt interpersonal oppression.
• Create personal plan of accountability.
• Describe potential challenges to interrupting oppression in practice and identify potential solutions.

For the live interactive sessions, hosted via Zoom, participants require access to high-speed Internet and a computer with a camera and microphone. You do not need special skills to participate successfully in a distance-learning environment. We will provide detailed, user-friendly instructions and technical support through our web-based learning management system, Canvas.

We are dedicated to prioritizing the accessibility needs of participants in this program. If you have any questions or concerns related to your learning needs, please contact [email protected].

$525 for the 18-hour certificate program

$450 for U-M SSW field instructors, faculty, and staff.

For 5 or more registrations from the same organization in a cohort, the cost is $450 per person. Please contact our office at [email protected] for instructions on how to register a group.

The University of Michigan School of Social Work, provider #1212, is approved as a provider for social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.aswb.org, through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. The University of Michigan School of Social Work maintains responsibility for the program. ASWB Approval Period 5/15/2023-5/15/2026. Social workers should contact their regulatory board to determine course approval. Social workers participating in this course will receive 11 synchronous interactive online, 1 synchronous interactive ethics, and 6 asynchronous online social work continuing education contact hours.