Dr. Stephanie Serriere is an Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at the IUPUC Division of Education. She shares, “IUPUC’s education program continually seeks to promote an understanding of privilege and social justice. A recent senior trip was emblematic of that commitment.”
On Feb. 23, 2017, the Division of Education, Block IV Seniors, took a field trip to Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. After an in-depth study of the Civil Rights movement in their social studies methods course with Serriere, the students took a leap back in history to the transatlantic slave trade and Underground Railroad as it played out in the United States.
Yet, according to a majority of the student group, the most powerful part of the Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center was how slavery exists today in the form of human/sex trafficking, bonded labor, and child labor.
Starting with a justice orientation and multi-perspectives of
U.S. history is an important part of promoting a culturally
relevant curriculum in schools.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security -
Blue Champion 2017 website at www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking:
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States.
It is estimated that human trafficking generates billions of dollars of profit per year and is second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime.
Working in collaboration with law enforcement, government, non-governmental, and private organizations, the Blue Campaign strives to protect the basic right of freedom and to bring those who exploit human lives to justice. Educating students about the slave trade in our countries past and creating, awareness about the heinous crime of modern-day slavery of today will leverage partnerships to end human trafficking.
The faculty at IUPUC has a commitment towards student success. Faculty member, Serriere, demonstrated this commitment by personally obtaining a CDL license to operate an Indiana University bus to drive her students from Columbus, Indiana to the Freedom Center in Cincinnati.
For more information on the education program at IUPUC call 812.348.7325 or visit www.iupuc.edu/academics/divisions-programs/education/.