The University of Southern California’s school of social work has said that it will no longer use the word “field” in its curriculum, citing its racist “connotation.”
According to the New York Post on Wednesday, USC’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work said the change was critical to support anti-racist social work and inclusivity.
The department specifically decided to remove the word “field” from its curriculum and replace it with “practicum.”
The school said the change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that would be considered anti-Black or anti-immigrant in favour of inclusive language.
“Language can be powerful, and phrases such as ‘going into the field’ or ‘field work’ maybe have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign,” the school added.
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