Intercultural Knowledge - The Culture of Homelessness


Attention

We see signs like this all the time...there is a deep connection between mental illness, poverty, and homelessness.


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Articulate their own cultural values and how they compare to those who are homeless.
  • Identify key aspects of the culture of homelessness.
  • Identify key aspects of the verbal and non-verbal cultures of the homeless.
  • Reflect upon personal and societal attitudes about homelessness.
  • Reflect upon personal judgments related to homelessness, homeless culture, and the causes of homelessness.

Instructions

This assignment is essentially a Service-Learning assignment. Your task is to volunteer in an organization specifically geared to serve the homeless. You may work in a shelter, a soup kitchen, a food bank, or another program. This is a much more directed SL project than ones you may have done in the past.

While working at the organization you need to identify and connect with a person who is homeless. The staff may be able to help you with this. You are going to get to know this person, interview them, and provide a case study report on them.

You will submit the case study report for this assignment. Use the rubric below to guide your writing of the case study.

Click here to view the rubric for this assignment.

Finally since this is a form of Service-Learning, I would like each of you to complete the online Service-Learning Experience Summary.

Completion of this online survey is REQUIRED for any credit to be applied to your project.