Class Descriptions

SW635

Restorative Practices in Social Work

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course will explore restorative practices as they relate to social work practice. The course will apply restorative conceptual frameworks and principles, while teaching applied restorative practice skills. Students will learn to apply restorative practices to a number of social work settings and across client populations, and will be able to identify how restorative practices can impact those involved. Ethical dilemmas, decision making, and ways to center issues of identity within restorative practices will be discussed.
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SW638

Theories and Principles of Socially Just Policies

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
SW508
Pathway Requirement For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Management & Leadership, Program Evaluation and Applied Research, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
In this course, students will be exposed to various theoretical frameworks informing policy development and gain an understanding of basic economic principles frequently employed in policy debates and discussions. With this knowledge, students will be able to identify, in a more sophisticated and nuanced way, policies that promote social justice and those that do not; understand how certain theoretical frameworks and ideas have been used to oppress and empower different groups, and identify points of interventions within existing institutions. One part of the course will cover different concepts of justice, fairness, and equity as they apply to public policy. Students will also interrogate ideas about neoliberalism, capitalism, globalization, and financialization and their influence on policies. Students will be introduced to concepts from economic theory that are often used to promote or thwart the development of certain policies. This includes the concepts of supply and demand; market failure; and public goods.
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SW639

Methods for Socially Just Policy Analysis

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
SW508
Pathway Requirement For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Global Social Work Practice, Management & Leadership, Program Evaluation and Applied Research
Description:
This course will introduce students to a set of analytic tools and skills for critical policy thinking, reading, and writing. Analytic tools introduced in this class include frameworks for policy analysis and using feminist, intersectional, and critical race lenses for policy analysis. The impact of race, gender, and class on policy development and enactment are emphasized throughout the course as well as an exploration of global approaches to policy analysis. This course will enhance critical writing skills and teach concise and persuasive writing methods, issue framing, and legislative literacy for effective policy writing. Students will learn qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods frequently used for policy analysis. Students will also be introduced to policy document writing, including policy briefs, memos, factsheets, op-eds, and public comments. Finally, students will learn how to locate, read, and translate policy for community consumption.
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SW640

Political Social Work

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
SW509
Pathway Requirement For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change
Description:
This course will introduce students to political social work, which is social work practice, theory, and research that focuses on the use of policy and politics to create social change. Students will gain an understanding of how politics impacts their lives as well as the lives of those served by social workers on both a micro and macro level. This course will prepare students for work in political settings, such as on advocacy and electoral campaigns, as staff for elected officials, and running for office themselves. Students will develop practice skills for policy advocacy and engaging with policymakers, influencing policy agendas, and empowering clients to become politically engaged. Students will critically examine the role of social workers in politics throughout history and the ethics that govern practice in political settings. Finally, students will develop a political engagement plan to facilitate their continued involvement.
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SW643

Policies Affecting Older Adults

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Requirement For:
Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Policy & Political Social Work
Description:
This course will examine social policies, problems, and trends in social programs and services for older people. It will focus major attention on the strengths and limitations of existing policies and programs related to health, mental health, income maintenance, income deficiency, dependent care, housing, employment and unemployment, and institutional and residential care. This course will provide a framework for an analysis of the services provided to older people. This analysis will include the adequacy with which needs are met in various subgroups of the elderly population and across core diversity dimensions (including ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation). It will also include proposals for change in policies, programs and services. Programs will be compared in terms of access to benefits and services provided to older people.
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SW645

Criminal Justice Policy

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host)
Description:
This course will survey major criminal justice issues facing adult populations in the U.S. Current criminal justice policies and policy alternatives to promote socially justice responses to crime and justice will be reviewed. Special topics such as mass incarceration, policing, and health and mental health needs in the criminal justice system will be covered, including relevant state and federal social policies aimed at addressing these issues.
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SW648

Critical Discourse Analysis of Social Policy

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Policy & Political Social Work (Host)
Description:
Power and ideology become established and (re)produced in social policy through its discourse and language. Critical analysis of policy discourse thus enables social work to make that power and ideology visible and then make change. This course will examine social policies by looking at the narratives, frames, representations, values, priorities, and omissions that are produced and reproduced in policy, and ways of challenging. Students will examine how discourses of deservingness, worth and productivity are deeply entrenched in US policies on various domains, such as public assistance, refugee resettlement, climate change, disability, health and poverty. Students will complete a mini or abbreviated Critical Discourse Analysis of policy of their choice by the end of the course.
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SW649

Practicing Policy with Current Events

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
SW508
Description:
This policy skills course will help students develop an understanding of how to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and/or environmental justice through the application of critical thinking skills. Content area will be drawn from current events (e.g., immigration, child welfare, health care debates), and students will learn how to critically analyze the policy implications. Students will develop strategies to engage in policy practice to effect change and advocate for clients.
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SW650

Theories and Skills for Community Change: Concepts, History and Approaches

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
Foundation Essentials Required
Pathway Requirement For:
Community Change (Host)
Description:
This class will focus on the theories and approaches for community change, with emphasis on the relationships between theory and skills (‘praxis’). It will familiarize students to a range of critical change theories and core concepts and help students to develop their own understanding of frameworks for community change. Students will engage with transdisciplinary theories in examining community change, which may include critical intersectionality, critical race, empowerment and liberation, social movement, and feminist theories, as examples. It will also look to historical and contemporary examples of community and social change movements to explore theory and skills including US and global community change movements, and the work of organic intellectuals and social change leaders (e.g. Grace Lee Boggs, Ella Baker, Myles Horton, ACT-UP, Black Lives Matter, #metoo, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Zapatistas, #GirlsLikeUs, World Social Forum, Climate Change). Throughout the class, students will also use these examples to examine and understand the major range of models and skills for engaging in community change, for example: community organizing, community development, community-based policy advocacy, and popular education, and be able to assess the differences, purposes, and theoretical basis for the practices. For Community Change Pathway participants: We strongly recommend that this course be taken before or concurrently with the other required pathway class.
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SW652

Organizing for Social and Political Action

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work
Description:
This course examines transdisciplinary methods of organizing people for social and political action on their own behalf or on behalf of others. Students will analyze different approaches to bringing people together for collective action, building organizational capacity, and generating power, with emphasis on the role of labor unions, coalitions, political organizing, and community-based policy advocacy. The course includes the study of skills in analyzing power structures, developing action strategies, conflict and persuasive tactics, challenging oppressive structures, conducting community campaigns, using political advocacy as a form of mobilization, and understanding contemporary social issues as they affect oppressed and disadvantaged communities. Special emphasis will be placed on organizing around social, economic, racial, and political injustice in the US and globally. Additional emphasis will be placed on organizing with communities of color, women, LGBTQIA2S+ populations, and other under-represented groups.
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