Class Descriptions

SW740

Social Work Practice in the Era of Fake News

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change, Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research
Description:
The term “post-truth,” the Oxford Dictionaries 2016 Word of the Year, reflects an era where everyone is a few clicks away from information that supports any goal, belief, or outcome desired whether or not that information is factual. Evaluating information and recognizing “fake news” is a critical skill for everyone. For social workers, advocates, policy makers, and others responsible for human well-being, it’s essential to find reliable data and other evidence to promote best practice and avoid the dangers of inaccurate information. Skill in locating and evaluating information can also help a practitioner work with clients and others who bring incorrect information into an interaction.
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SW741

Interdisciplinary Problem Solving (Law)

Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research
Description:
Through a team-based, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning model, small groups of U-M graduate and professional students work with faculty to explore and offer solutions to emerging, complex problems. This course is offered through the Law School’s Problem Solving Initiative and the topics vary by semester.
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SW742

Policy & Political Social Work Simulation Lab

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective
Description:
In this course, students will participate in a simulation in which they will take on the role of policymakers, policy advocates, and community stakeholders. Students will be assigned a role, will research their character, and will engage with the other participants as that character throughout the duration of the simulation. Students will engage with each other in person as well as utilize an online platform to develop coalitions and attempt to sway those with differing positions to their side. Simulation topics vary by semester. The class may be taken multiple times for credit as long as a different topic is selected.
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SW744

Adventure/Experiential Based Therapy

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This one-credit course will focus on the use of an experiential and adventure practice approach (theories, models, tools and techniques) for therapeutic purposes with individuals, groups and families. Students are expected to come with a foundational understanding of clinical work (in particular, some knowledge of clinical group facilitation), and experiential learning. Theoretical models of clinical experiential and adventure practice will be offered and discussed in tandem with clinical social work theories and models of practice. Evidence-based literature will be reviewed that promote nature-based, experiential and adventure interventions that build on strengths and resources of individuals and their families, and that integrate components of other evidence-based practices into the experiential and adventure methodologies. Inclusive and accessible practices will be discussed and demonstrated, especially due to the outdoor and natural setting involved and the physicality of many of the tools used in the approach.
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SW746

Attachment Theory in Clinical Practice through the Lifespan

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
Understanding the implications of childhood relationships on adult functioning can provide a powerful framework for creating goals and intervention in adult psychotherapy. Using attachment theory as the foundation, this course will address relationship-based intervention with adults. Students will learn the role of attachment in the development and maintenance of strategies that adults use to manage needs for autonomy and connection, in social, family and romantic relationships.
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SW749

Advanced Topics in Policy & Political Social Work

Grading Method:
N/A
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course presents advanced topics in Policy & Political Social Work. The topics may include emerging practice issues and advanced application of specific methods.
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SW750

Photovoice

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research
Description:
Photovoice is a process in which people typically those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances use video or photo images to document their environment and experiences and share them with others. It uses visual methods to communicate lived experience and to create a basis for discussion and action. The images are often used, with captions composed by the photographers, to bring the realities of the photographers lives home to the public and policy makers and to spur change. However, PhotoVoice can also be a method used direct practice, evaluation, and management settings. This course will cover basic methods for using Photovoice methods with individuals, groups, and communities. The course will provide an overview of the method and its application in different contexts, both domestic and intergenerational, and how visual images can be a powerful form of communication. This section of the class will include a walk through the School of Social Work's collection of documentary photography. The ethical dimensions of this method will also be covered. The remainder of the class will teach methods for photovoice and engage students in their own photovoice project. We will end with an exhibit of photos from the course that will take place in our School of Social Work.
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SW751

Social Media & Social Change

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work
Description:
This course teaches students about the role of social media in social change. Students will explore research that demonstrates the ways that social media has changed/is changing the social world. This will include an exploration of the harmful changes that can result from social media (such as mental health issues, and increases in extremism, polarization, and misinformation), as well as the anti-oppressive changes that are possible (such as increases in social connection and community, and the use of social media for activism). Throughout this course, students will also develop their own skills in effective digital presence and activism. Core competencies including critical thinking, social justice, and social equity are also examined and discussed.
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SW752

Intergroup Dialogues/Diversity, Dialogues & Social Justice

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse
Description:
This course is designed to increase students awareness, knowledge, and understanding of issues related to diversity and social justice, including race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability status, and the intersections between these social identity groups. Additionally, students will gain an understanding of dialogue as a method for peacefully resolving conflict that may emerge due to cultural misunderstandings or oppressive dynamics, as well as skills for effectively engaging in dialogue. The topics of this course include social identity development; difference and dominance and the nature of social oppression; our personal and interpersonal connections to power, privilege, and oppression; understanding and resolving conflicts or resistance; the process of dialogue and coalition building across differences; and its applications in multicultural social work settings.
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SW753

Participatory Facilitation

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work, Program Evaluation and Applied Research
Description:
Participatory facilitation is the process of increasing participation of diverse people within groups and community contexts. Emphasis will be placed on understanding theories of group work and group process. In this course, students will develop skills and techniques to strengthen participatory facilitation practices, including understanding intergroup dialogue, liberating structures, participatory planning activities, and alternative forms of facilitation including world cafes and online facilitation practices. Students will explore examples as well as practice skills. Special focus will be on the role of power, privilege, and social identities within a facilitation context.
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