Class agenda November 19

Hello!
This week we will be hearing from Shannon Marling, from S.A.G.E. She'll be discussing issues unique to aging and elderly LGBTQ persons. She has a great talk prepared, so you won't want to miss it!

Also, we'll be covering cases # 28 and 21 for presentations this week.

Thanks, see you all tomorrow!
-Megan

Class Agenda for November 12

Hello everyone!
Our guest speaker for this week is Stacie Vecchietti, Community Organizing Manager, from Safe Harbor Shelter. She will be talking about issues related to intimate partner violence and sexual assault in the LGBTQ community. She will also talk about a great collaborative project that Safe Harbor and 6 other area organizations have put together.

In addition, we'll be hearing presentations for cases # 25 and 12, so be sure to review those before you come to class! Thanks, and see you all then!
-Megan

Class agenda and follow up from November 5

Hello again!
Thanks for an insightful conversation around issues going on in your field placements and things you learned during your interview assignment. I will share the powerpoint presentation via Blackboard, but here are the highlights:

• CSWE APM 2014: http://www.cswe.org/Meetings/2014APM.aspx
• See program from APM 2013: http://www.cswe.org/70089.aspx
• Moments of discomfort/chaos can be transformational (Jack Mezirow). https://adultlearnercharacteristics.wikispaces.com/Mezirow+Transformative+Learning

Also, we had a guest panel from the newly formed LGBTQ Psychopharmacology Clinic at MCV! Our panelists were: Dr. Lisa Griffin: Licensed Clinical Psychologist, and Will Maixner: Associate Administrator and Director of Strategic Planning & Development.

Our assigned supplemental readings were:

• (Optional) Barber, M. E. (2009). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people with severe mental illness. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 13(2), 133–142. doi:10.1080/19359700902761305
• Cochran, B. N., & Cauce, A. M. (2006). Characteristics of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals entering substance abuse treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30(2), 135–46. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2005.11.009
• Meyer, I. H. (1995). Minority stress and mental health in gay men. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36(1), 38–56.
• (Optional) Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological bulletin, 129(5), 674–97. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674
• Riggle, E. D. B., Whitman, J. S., Olson, A., Rostosky, S. S., & Strong, S. (2008). The positive aspects of being a lesbian or gay man. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(2), 210–217. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.39.2.210
• Semp, D. (2011). Questioning heteronormativity: using queer theory to inform research and practice within public mental health services. Psychology and Sexuality, 2(1), 69–86. doi:10.1080/19419899.2011.536317

Class Agenda from October 29

Hello again! Yes, I'm still playing catch-up on posting about all the wonderful things going on both inside and outside of our class. As you may recall, we had a guest panel conversation on practices, challenges, and opportunities in macro social work practice with LGBTQ persons. Our guest panel consisted of:

• Joey Honeycutt (Crisis Response Coordinator, Orange County Rape Crisis Center) 
• Dr. Liz Canfield (Assistant Professor at Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at VCU, and Queer Action Faculty Advisor)
• Beth Panilaitis (Executive Director, ROSMY)
• Dr. Alex Wagaman (Asssistant Professor at VCU School of Social Work)

I will be sending out contact information via Blackboard for these wonderful guest speakers in the event that you wish to follow up with any of them. The interview paper assignment was due November 5th, so I'll be looking forward to reading your papers this week!

Our assigned supplemental readings were:

• Natale, A. P., & Miller-Cribbs, J. E. (2012). Same-sex marriage policy: Advancing social, political, and economic justice. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 8, 155-172, doi: 10.1080/1550428X.2012.660786
• Smith, J. D. (1998). Working with larger systems. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 7:3, 13-21, DOI: 10.1300/J041v07n03_02
• Optional: Hart, P. (2011-2012). Absence and uncertainty: LGBT families in federally funded healthy relationship programs. LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School, 2, 83-95.

Twitter feed

Also, don't forget to check out tweets from our Twitter account and hashtag! There you can find tweets from students and me (the instructor) where we share information about LGBTQ issues with each other and with the greater social work twitter world. Account: @LGBTQsocialwork hashtag: #LGBTQsocialwork Tweets about "#LGBTQsocialwork"

Workshop - Building an Intersectional LGBTQ Movement w/ SONG

Hey all! Just a quick follow up from an e-mail announcement I sent out a couple weeks ago... (yes, I'm playing the catch-up game on this blog. Sorry about the delay!). The workshop hosted by Southerners On New Ground (SONG) was a fantastic community-building exercise and created some great dialogue among LGBTQ movers and shakers here in Richmond.

The workshop gave both an example of exercises to use in your own movement building efforts, but also a space to dialogue about issues related to intersectionality within the LGBTQ movement in Richmond.

Additionally, Suzanne Pharr, author of the classic text, Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, and co-founder of SONG, was there to educate us about intersectionality. I got the best picture of her in action:

Go to SONG's website to learn more about their organization, and how you can get involved! www.southernersonnewground.org.

Class Agenda for October 22

Greetings!

This week's class has a lot to look forward to! We have guest speaker Chris Carson from Cypress Counseling, and she will be discussing her work with LGBTQ clients and best practices on clinical work with this population. We also have case presentations for case #2 and case #17. Also, don't forget about this week's readings, which are: 

•  M&M chpt 7.
• Case studies: #2, #17.
• Supplemental readings: Crosbie-Burnett, Foster, Murray, & Bowen (1996), Lesser (1999), Ausbrooks & Russell (2011).
• Optional supplemental readings: Gonzalez et al. (2012), LaSala (2000), Lease & Shulman (2003).

All supplemental readings are available on our course Blackboard site.

Thanks, see you tomorrow!

-Megan

Links from last class

Hello again!
Here are links for the film we saw on October 15 about Chloe Prince and her family's experience during her transition from male to female.

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/MindMoodNews/story?id=8126749
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreatPrinkOne?feature=watch

October is LGBT History Month

Hello class!
To celebrate LGBT History Month, I want to turn your attention to a unique book about the gay and lesbian history of our fair town, Richmond. This book chronicles some interesting and little known facts about the active and productive work of our LGBT predecessors in Richmond. It is available at our library, or you can also find it online for purchase.

Title: Lesbian and Gay Richmond. Authors: Beth Marschak and Alex Lorch. Publisher: Arcadia Publications. Year: 2008.

Here is a link for more information: http://books.google.com/books/about/Lesbian_and_Gay_Richmond.html

Class agenda for October 8

 Hi class!

We will be meeting in the new building for class tomorrow so that we have more room for an in-class activity I have planned. The location is ALC 3201, which is the clinical classroom on the third floor (our social work floor). We will meet at the regular class time.

Also, please bring your case studies books to class as you will need it for our in-class activity.

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

-Megan

Agenda for Sept 24

Hey class! Here's what I have planned for our class session tomorrow:

• Check-in:
• Class climate discussion - creating safer spaces for dialogue
• Upcoming assignments
• Twitter feed: #LGBTQsocialwork @LGBTQsocialwork
• Pridefest this Saturday!
• Small group break-out discussion: last week's guest speaker presentation from Madison Moore
• Process your reactions.
• Discuss social work practice implications
• Break
• Small group break-out discussion: readings for this week
• Things to consider: 
• What challenged you in the readings this week?
• What was missing for you?
• What things did you have to rethink?
• Who is left out of the theories/studies presented in the readings?
• Whose experience would seem to fit this, and whose wouldn't?
• Case Presentation #15
• Case Presentation #7

See you then!

-Megan

Class agenda Sept 17

Hey class! We have a guest speaker coming to class tomorrow, and I'm excited to hear what he has to say! Here's my schedule of events for tomorrow's class:

• Check-in
• Discussion of assigned readings
• Guest Speaker: Dr. Madison Moore, currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Richmond. His website is: http://www.madisonmooreonline.com
• Continued discussion (readings, Dr. Moore's lecture)

Information from Sept 10 class

Hey class!
I really enjoyed our conversation on the variety of issues discussed in class on Tuesday. You all did a great job in showing up prepared to have a meaningful discussion. Here's links and information on what we watched/discussed during class:

• Microaggressions project: www.microaggressions.com
• Dean Spade's homepage: www.deanspade.net
• Against Equality: www.againstequality.org
• "Half Laughing" by Michelle Ehlen, from the DVD compilation, "The Ultimate Lesbian Short Film Festival" (2006) 
• YouTube behind the scenes video: http://youtu.be/7cg8IUgpg4A
• Family Acceptance Model: http://familyproject.sfsu.edu
• Richmond City Council session agenda and summary postings: http://eservices.ci.richmond.va.us/applications/clerkstracking/meetings_council.asp

Class agenda - Sept 10

Hey class! Here's what I have planned for today:

• Check-in
• Discussion about readings: 
• articles: intersectionality & stigma, microaggressions, "against equality". 
• book chapters: oppression, prejudice, discrimination, & violence, hate crimes, hate language.
• Watch & discuss short film: "Half-Laughing" by Michelle Ehlen
• Watch & discuss behind the scenes YouTube
• Practice Strategies (Chapter 16 in M&M book)

Looking forward to it!

-Megan

Links from last class, Sept 3

Hey! I think we had a great session last week, and I continue to be excited about learning and growing with you all this semester!

Here's some links that you might find helpful and/or that we talked about during class:

• The Prezi from last week, Unit 1
• LGBTQI terminology, from the Prezi slide
• A website that has good information about "ally identity development"
• Also, on Blackboard I'll send you the Chojnacki & Gelberg (1995) article that I used in the Prezi which discussed the stages of Ally Identity Development. 
• For those not in the class, here's the citation: Chojnacki, J., & Gelberg, S. (1995). The facilitation of a gay/lesbian/bisexual support-therapy group by heterosexual counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 73(Jan/Feb), 352-354.

Today's agenda - Class #2

1. Check-in
2. Review of assignments/syllabus
3. Unit 1: Social work practice with LGBTQ persons
1. Definitions & concepts
2. Myths & stereotypes
3. Ally Identity Development
4. Break
5. Guest Speaker: Dr. Tarynn Witten!

Today's agenda - Class #1

Hi all! Here's a brief agenda for today's session, just FYI:

• Instructor introduction, & introduction to the course
• TED Talk - Brene Brown on Vulnerability
• Student introductions
• Break
• Syllabus
• Things to think about for next time
• Survey - voluntary, but appreciated & helpful!

Hey class! I'll be posting these announcements before each class, to give you a heads up on what to expect for that day. 

Class session #1

Date: August 27

Class topics: Introductions, overview, syllabus, and things to think about for next class.

Assignments Due: Show up!

Readings Due: Syllabus (posted here and on Blackboard).

Important University Deadline: Last day to drop/add classes is August 28.