School of Social Work News

Professor Joe Ryan presented his findings on how data can drive policy changes and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families at the Wolverine Caucus.  The Wolverine Caucus is a forum held in the state capital where alumni, policymakers, and the public can hear from U-M faculty experts and engage discussions on topics that impact society.

Assistant Professor Odessa Gonzalez Benson leads an action research team from U-M’s School of Social Work, School of Information, Taubman College of Urban Planning and Architecture, and Tunisia-based The Association La Terre Pour Tous who developed “Missing Migrants of the Mediterranean.” This exhibition shares stories, voices and hopes of “missing migrants” and their families, using graphic documentation and data visualization works. Through the exhibit, the team hopes to synthesize social justice, advocacy, design and technology in the form of public scholarship. "We hope to synthesize social justice and advocacy with design and technology in the form of public scholarship," stated Gonzalez Benson.

Weiser Hall Art Gallery
500 Church Street, 5th Floor
Thursday, 2/7/2020 - Wednesday, 3/25/2020

Trina Shanks, professor and director of the Michigan Social Work Community Engagement, is a panelist at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2020 Detroit Policy Conference. Local and national leaders will highlight the work underway, new ideas, opportunities and challenges that will define the next 10 years for the Detroit region. Her panel will discuss corporate support for a reliable regional transit system.

Associate Professor Karen Staller is the author of a new book, “New York's Newsboys Charles Loring Brace and the Founding of the Children's Aid Society.” The book a lively historical account of Charles Loring Brace's founding and development of the Children's Aid Society to combat a newly emerging social problem, youth homelessness, during the nineteenth century. “Many of the issues she discusses with clarity and erudition --for example, the assimilation of immigrants, poverty and homelessness among urban youth, and the role of the juvenile justice and foster care systems -- have contemporary relevance for policymakers and practitioners." - Michael Reisch, PhD, MSW, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland.

Associate Professor David Córdova has been selected to join the editorial board for the Journal of Adolescent Health.  The journal is a multidisciplinary scientific publication and the official publication of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.  Córdova's research focuses on Latino health inequities, particularly as it relates to the prevention of substance use and HIV in adolescents.

Michigan Social Work students, faculty and staff took to the Diag to perform a dance set to “Glory” by Common and choreographed by Gabryel Wilson, a first year LS&A student and a member of the U-M women's gymnastics team. The performance brought awareness to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium held on Monday, January 20.

Associate Professor 

Terri Friedline’s research on racialized costs of banking was highlighted in a recent CBS News story, “Blacks and Latinos say they pay higher bank fees — research suggests they're right.” Friedline’s research found that the average cost of maintaining a checking account was $262.09 higher for Latinos, $190.09 higher for blacks and $25.53 higher for Asian-Americans when compared to white customers.

Shanna Kattari’s series, “Nonbinary Identities and Individuals in Research, Community, and the Academy” was included in U-M’s LGBTQA resources for faculty and staff. “As a cisgender person in the academy, I wanted to intentionally create a space for nonbinary scholars to share their knowledge and/or lived experiences, to help remedy some of the erasure and invisibility experienced by this community and population,” Kattari told the University Record.