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Robert Joseph Taylor Interviewed by WEMU About African American FriendshipsProfessor Robert Joseph Taylor spoke with WEMU about how unmarried African Americans form family-like relationships with their close friends to fulfill each other’s needs. “In general, women are closer to their friends than men and there are some differences in terms of friendship contact.”
- December 4, 2024
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Lexx Brown-James Speaks with SELF Magazine About Temperature PlayLexx Brown-James, director of the School’s Sexual Health Certificate Program, spoke with SELF magazine about how to incorporate temperature play into your sex life.
- December 4, 2024
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Fernanda Cross Receives Career Development GrantAssistant Professor Fernanda Cross received a K01 Career Development grant from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities for her project entitled “Enlace Familiar: Combating Mental Health Stigma, Improving Mental Health Literacy, Supporting Mental Health Discussions at Home, and Access to Care among Latinx Adolescents from Mixed Status Families.”
“This funding will allow me to both learn about intervention development and then develop and test an intervention to increase access to mental health treatment among Latinx adolescents from mixed-status families,” said Cross. “I am very excited because this will be one of the few interventions that specifically focus on mixed-status families and it will respond to an important community identified need.”
- December 4, 2024
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Terri Friedline’s Research on the Connection Between Race and Financial Services Featured in DBusinessProfessor Terri Friedline’s research on how financial institution locations are influenced by a neighborhood’s racial composition is featured in DBusiness. Friedline’s study analyzed the placement of banks, credit unions and alternative financial services — such as payday lenders — in six Detroit area counties. Her research shows that banks and credit unions tend to withdraw from areas as Black populations grow, whereas alternative financial services target these areas.
“Some may argue that payday lenders open storefronts in ways that respond to market demand, but this argument is rooted in a disingenuous interpretation of demand,” said Friedline.
- December 3, 2024
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Ayesha Ghazi Edwin Receives 2024 James T. Neubacher AwardClinical Assistant Professor Ayesha Ghazi Edwin is the recipient of the 2024 James T. Neubacher Award. The annual U-M award is presented to a student, alumn, faculty or staff member who has exhibited leadership and service in support of the disability community.
“I am deeply honored to receive the James T. Neubacher Award. This recognition reflects the work of so many people committed to disability justice within our university and community. My journey as an advocate began with my own experiences as a student facing new health challenges, and it has grown through partnerships with incredible students, community members and colleagues at the School of Social Work. These experiences have also guided my work on the Ann Arbor City Council, where I strive to help create a more accessible and inclusive community. I am grateful to contribute to our shared work of building spaces where all of us can thrive.”
- November 8, 2024
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Roland Zullo Discusses the Impact of Unions on ElectionsAssociate Research Scientist Roland Zullo spoke with The American Prospect on the historical impact of unions on presidential elections.
Unions “help working-class people get out the vote,” he said, because unions “underscore the importance of voting and educate members on why it’s important. One of the big effects unions have on politics and our society in general is they help make democracy work.”
- November 6, 2024
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- Social Work Essential Certificate
Beginning in January 2025, the MasterTrack Certificate (MTC) program, currently available on Coursera, will change its name and platform. The same great content and curriculum will be available as the Social Work Essentials Certificate (SWEC) and will replace the MTC as our School’s certificate program. It will be hosted on Canvas and maintained by our own social work program. All existing course content will be maintained in the transition, with only minor changes to accommodate the Canvas platform. The transition will be finalized in April 2025 when Coursera will no longer offer the MTC Certificate.
The SWEC will continue to be a way for students with a social service work history to significantly reduce the cost of an MSW education at U-M. The certificate offers these students the ability to complete the MSW program in 45 credits (rather than 60). For more information, visit our website or email: [email protected].
- October 29, 2024
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Anao Zhang and Rachel Brandon Receive Children’s Cancer Research Fund GrantAssociate Professor Anao Zhang and PhD student Rachel Brandon are part of a team that recently received a grant from the Children's Cancer Research Fund. Their project evaluates the virtual delivery of a strength-based psychological treatment to young adults with cancer.
“We are excited to receive this grant and conduct a pilot clinical trial at Michigan Medicine's Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program,” said Zhang. “It is also very exciting to involve Rachel Brandon, a joint social work and psychological doctoral student, as a study co-investigator and project coordinator to further boost the implementation of the trial.”
- October 23, 2024
Fatima Salman Appointed Vice President of the National Association of Social WorkersENGAGE Program Manager Fatima Salman, MSW ’15, has been appointed Vice President of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Previously, Salman was president of the NASW Michigan Chapter and chair of the NASW Council of Chapter Presidents.
“I am excited to step into the role of vice president of this very critical organization that serves all social workers in the country,” said Salman. “I look forward to bringing my diverse background and strong skill sets to this organization and hope to be an asset as we champion social justice and empower social workers. I also am happy to be able to represent the University of Michigan School of Social Work —the top social work school in the country — in this national role.”
- October 23, 2024
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Social Justice Changemaker Lecture: Realizing Justice and Equity in the Long Arc of HistoryNikole Hannah-Jones was the keynote speaker at the fourth annual Social Justice Changemaker Lecture presented by the School of Social Work at the Michigan Union in October 2024.
Hannah-Jones is the Knight Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University, where she founded the Center for Journalism & Democracy. Over the course of her career investigating racial inequality and injustice, she has earned numerous awards including a MacArthur Fellowship. But she is probably best known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project, which began as an initiative from The New York Times Magazine and has grown to include two books and a docuseries on Hulu.
The 1619 Project aims to reframe American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. Hannah-Jones discussed the project’s origins, aspirations and evolution in a conversation moderated by Professor Terri Friedline and Trina Shanks, the Harold R. Johnson Collegiate Professor of Social Work.
The introduction to the event was given by U-M Vice Provost for Equity Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Tabbye Chavous, who challenged the audience to draw inspiration from Hannah-Jones. She encouraged attendees to take every opportunity to tell their own story and not let it be defined by others.
“Most Americans had no idea of how foundational slavery was to the society that was built,” said Hannah-Jones, “so I really wanted a project that would force us to acknowledge that date — that if you know the date 1776 as a foundational date, you have to know 1619.” Each of the project’s essays focused on an aspect of American culture and showed the connection to slavery. As a whole, the project asks readers to consider how American history has been taught and how it changes through the inclusion of other perspectives and voices — in this case, through the lens of slavery.
“I became a journalist because I understood fundamentally that narrative — more than anything else — is what drives policy in this country,” she said. We can use narrative to create a better society, she said, but first, we need to use narrative to explain how our society was created.
“We have to be able to view a country with nuance and to say that we can't just own the good parts. If the Declaration of Independence matters, the fact that the man who wrote it enslaved 220 human beings matters, too,” she said. “And it doesn't say that we have to condemn the declaration because Black folks actually took those words and said, ‘this is a freedom document.’ You may not have intended this as a liberty document, but that is how we read it. And so we have to take all of our history together.”
We have to be honest about who we are, and then we can build a society that we want,” said Hannah-Jones. “America can be a great nation, but we are not a great nation by deluding ourselves and by accepting all of the inequality.”
Hannah-Jones closed with a conversation about hope, which she admits can be difficult to find. “We have to understand that the change doesn’t happen overnight,” she said.
The Social Justice Changemaker Lecture was established by a generous gift from Dr. Neil C. Hawkins and Annmarie F. Hawkins, and the Hawkins Family. This annual lecture focuses on important global social justice issues including race and nationality, immigration and refugees, income inequality, gender identity and sexual orientation, education, health, and mental and physical disabilities.
The Social Justice Changemaker Lecture aims to bring prominent social justice experts and advocates from multiple disciplines including social sciences, science, humanities, the arts and other professions to the University of Michigan campus.
- October 21, 2024