Violence-related Courses at Tulane

The pervasiveness of violence requires that it be examined and understood from multiple perspectives, and several courses at Tulane University provide knowledge and skills to individuals wishing to address or prevent violence. The following are being offered during the Spring 2023 semester and cover a variety of types and approaches.

Undergraduate Courses

Course Number, Name, & Description

Department

Instructor

SPHU-3500: Public Health Approach to Sexual Violence

This course provides an in-depth examination of sexual violence from a public health perspective. Theories of sexual violence, the epidemiology of sexual violence (scope, causes, risk factors, and consequences), and public health approaches to reducing sexual violence will be covered. Open to undergraduate, public health; pre or co-requisite SPHU 3110.

Public Health

Frederick Buttell

COLQ-3601: Adverse Childhood Experiences

This course examines early adversity, violence and child maltreatment from a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates hands-on experiences, small group discussions, and internationally renowned guest speakers. Assignments include enhanced writing experiences, social media posts, and attendance at outside community events. Students will learn to think and communicate across disciplines to better advocate for children exposed to early adversity through interactive lectures by faculty across disciplines, including history, journalism, and advocacy, in addition to healthcare, neuroscience, psychology, legal, and social services. The recognized Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST) course will provide students with a 360-degree perspective on the impact of adversity and trauma on children, families, and communities.

Colloquia

Stacy Drury

GESS-1900: Sex, Power, & Culture

This course invites students to learn the skills necessary to identify, analyze, and ultimately transform the cultural, social, and political forces that shape and are shaped by sex and sexuality. Approaching sexuality as a system of norms, values, beliefs, and patterns of interaction, students will learn how sexuality intersects with with gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, ability, and other axes of power and privilege. Students will be introduced to the current body of empirical data and theory to identify how these intersecting systems of power take shape in patterns of human interaction such as forming relationships, dating rituals and sexual scripts, and interpersonal conflict and violence. In sum, students will develop the skills to 1) analyze how their own interpersonal and intimate relationships are embedded within and constitutive of broader systems of power and 2) how to work individually and collectively to change them.

Gender & Sexuality Studies

Red V. Tremmel

POLA-4260: Race, Sex, & Power

This course examines the role of race and sex based classification in the law of equal protection and focuses on the political actions and events that lead to legal remedies for discrimination. For majors only. Non-major juniors and seniors may enroll in courses at the 4000-level or above only with the consent of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): POLA 2100 and POLS 2010.

Political Science

Scott Nolan

SOWK-1000: Trauma - A Survey Course

This hybrid survey course introduces students to the universal concept of trauma and the global scope and impact of traumatic experience on individuals and communities. Students have the unique opportunity to be involved in the development of TraumaQuest, an innovative online Course Game that reinforces educational objectives and challenges students to apply knowledge in a gaming environment designed to simulate disaster and promote resiliency. The techniques and methodology pioneered during the development phase of TraumaQuest will provide students with an interdisciplinary examination of trauma and resilience, as well as facilitate engagement through student input on design considerations and stylization of academic content.

Social Work

Michal Toporek

SOWK-2100: Family Trauma - A Survey Course

Trauma Foundations is an online only graduate course aimed at students being exposed to and critically evaluating the complex factors that affect people and their relationships following a traumatic event across the life cycle and across various traumatic events and circumstances. Students will focus on understanding the causes, consequences, assessment, and treatment trauma at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels. Through examination, discussion group leadership activities, and other assignments student learn about undergraduate students’ experiences with trauma, along with an examination of their own experiences and those of others in their life. They are more prepared to engage in personal refection about how their life experiences may affect social work practice. Students will develop an understanding of how differing theoretical frameworks can empower and / or oppress diverse populations exposed to trauma. They will also learn to communicate this understanding in a professional and ethical way with fellow graduate students, the instructor, and those undergraduate students in the discussion group they lead. Collectively and together with other courses, students will be more competent assessment, intervention, and evaluation in social work practice.

Social Work

Charles R. Figley

SOWK-2200: Drug Use - University & Inner City

This course is designed to explore the epidemiology, prevalence, and culture of embeddedness of polydrug use and abuse among college students and inner-city residents. Students will compare and contrast the sociopolitical, sociocognitive, legal, and economic processes that contribute to high risk health behaviors in college and inner-city communities. Participants will develop and understanding of how one's family, friends and current systemic anti-drug initiatives come to shape high-risk health behavior patterns. Panel presentations by former polydrug users from each community will be held with a focus on developing creative solutions for a growing problem.

Social Work

Reginald A. Parquet

SOWK-2510: Making Meaning of Trauma

This course is about the suffering that may be caused by traumatic events, and the way that suffering is soothed through spirituality and faith. In this class students will: *explore the early history of religion and health, and through the benefit of a mind-body spirit approach to resilience; *learn about disaster impact - to a community, a family, and an individual - and the ways in which disaster recovery tests the human spirit; *learning the basics of stress and trauma from a clinical perspective, and from the perspective of the major religions traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, non-believers, etc.; *discuss concepts such as pain, suffering, despair, pleasure, joy, forgiveness, grace and transformation; *acquire skills (e.g., relaxation and stress reduction methods) that, when practiced regularly, will be useful when life takes a dark turn for you or someone you know; and *learn about trauma theory and religions traditions, and ways in which an integrated approach to trauma recovery may be used.

Social Work

Charles R. Figley

SOWK-3500: Protests, Activism, & Social Movements

In this course you students will examine the historical, the sociopolitical, socio-cultural, legal, economic, and pedagogical aspects, and experiential processes related to EDI Activism. Students will be provided training on “how to” engage in effective EDI activism within specific contexts and environments. They will hear from nationally renowned scholars and activists who will share the “nuts and bolts” of contemporary protest and activism. Students will have the opportunity to compare and contrast styles of protest and activism during different eras of our nation’s history beginning with the Revolutionary War through the Black Lives Matter movement. Participants will develop an understanding of the insidious nature of white supremacy and its role in shaping our nation’s history, activism, protest, and issues surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion. Guest lectures and panel presentations by nationally renowned activism scholars and experts will focus on why protests and activism are necessary and offer creative solutions for achieving social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our nation.

Social Work

Reginald A. Parquet

 

Graduate Courses
Course Number, Name, & Description Department Instructor

SBPS-6500: Violence as a Public Health Problem

This introductory elective course is a designed to give an overview of the problem of violence as viewed from a public health perspective. We will look at the epidemiology of violence (scope, causes, risk factors, and consequences) alongside public health approaches to the problem. The course aims to balance a review of the problem with ideas and evidence for solutions. Local academic and community leaders in the field will lend their expertise to help students understand and address violence as a public health problem. Students will have opportunities to build skills through violence prevention training, critical analysis of media and film, and final course projects analyzing major violence-related topics; on-campus course only open to graduate students; online course only open to SPHTM online MPH, CHS program

Public Health

Amanda Y. Hammack

Gretchen A. Clum

SOWK-7015: Collective Trauma

Collective Trauma is an elective graduate course that explores the roles and reactions to collective trauma in all contexts and how best to help collective trauma survivors. The course is designed to introduce you to the concept of collective trauma following an overview of the universality of trauma, the commonly observed definitions and theories of trauma, the causes and consequences of trauma, the critical risk and protective factors associated with trauma resilience, and to provide an overview and best practices for helping those most impacted by collective trauma. Natural disasters war, terrorist attacks, genocide, slavery, and catastrophic accidents are important examples of collective trauma. Collective trauma creates In their wake, survivors who experience and struggle with similar challenges Including the psychosocial and emotional, as well as medical Injuries and conditions. The course uses an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed psychosocial lens that promotes human development.

Social Work

Ngawang Legshe

HISU-6350: History of Gender Violence

This course draws upon historical and theoretical literature, memoir, film, and fiction to examine the history of gender-based violence in the United States. Topics will include domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, forced sterilization, and violence against LGBTQ+ people. We will study power relations related to race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, gender. We will analyze resistance to violence, systems that enable violence, and the legal, medical, and social discourses that have resisted and enabled gender-based violence. This course does not have any pre- or co-requisites.

History

Karissa A. Haugeberg

PSYC-6590: Stress & Trauma

This course provides an overview of the psychobiological bases of stress and trauma reactions and related psychological disorders. Open to graduate, behavioral health, psychology; undergraduates interested must have completed PSYC3300, PSYC3330 and obtain instructor approval 

Psychology

Allisyn Swift