full article in Conversations in Jesuit Higher Education, Spring 2021
The temporary occupational disruption that so many have experienced as a result of stay-at-home orders implemented to fight the coronavirus pandemic, are, for many, frustrating. But imagine how frustrating it would be to experience such disruption all the time. Recognizing the depth of that frustration ultimately can lead to the recognition that, in fact, millions of people experience this marginalization on a daily basis as a kind of apartheid — a system of segregation based upon limiting access to an experience of purpose and meaning that comes with true occupational justice.
Long-standing marginalization due to life circumstances or systemic constraints, including but not limited to poverty, refugee/asylum seeker status, quarantine, racism and other “isms,” trauma, mental illness, incarceration, substance abuse, homelessness, and others, bring about an occupational marginalization. That is, the inability to participate in desired occupations due to invisible social, political, or cultural norms.
By living our Jesuit mission of walking with the marginalized, we, as educators, can address how prejudice, bias, and systemic constraints affecting our fellow neighbor create occupational marginalization and apartheid…….
Integrating the Jesuit Mission in E Pluribus Unum (UNST 100-07) "Persons with Disabilities as a Discriminated Minority"
Georganna Joary Miller, M.Ed., OTR/L
Mentor: Cecile Walsh, MSN, RN, CNS (Nursing)
The Opportunity:
This class titled "Persons with Disabilities as a Discriminated Minority" is one of the many offerings of the University Studies courses known as "E Pluribus Unum", which is required as part of the Xavier core curriculum for students in their sophomore year. The basic intent for any section of E Pluribus Unum is to broaden the student's understanding of cultural diversity, and hopefully an appreciation for commonality among humans or developing awareness that they are "one out of many" as the translation for the course implies. Many sections of E Pluribus Unum focus on the discrimination experienced by minorities based on racial differences. This specific section is devoted to educating students about the minority population of persons with disabilities, who also face discrimination in their lives. "Disability is a combination of the condition, limitations in functioning, and societal prejudice and discrimination." (Smart, J., 2001, Disability, Society, and the Individual. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. p. 18.) Over 50 million Americans are disabled, which is roughly 20% of the population. One in five people worldwide is disabled, most of them impoverished. (Stone, K., 1997, Awakening to Disability. Volcano, CA: Volcano Press p. 4.) The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990 to end discrimination towards the disabled and open doors for employment and independence in community living. Yet the unemployment rate today for people with disabilities is 70 percent, the same as it was in 1990. In many cases, people with disabilities are penalized for working because they stand to lose critical medical benefits if they make more than a few hundred dollars a month.
Men and Women with Others: Learning, Occupational Justice, and Service in Guatemala
Joan Tunningley, M.Ed., OTR/L, BCP
Mentor: Cecile Walsh, MSN, RN, CNS (Nursing)
Overview
I. Occupational Justice (HOCS 405)
and Service Learning
II. Ignatian Mentoring Program
III. Inspiration - Transformation
Four pillars: self-awareness, ingenuity,
love and heroism
IV. Supporting the future
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