School of Social Work News

Last week, we hosted an in-person (and virtually accessible) Centennial Homecoming and Reunion weekend. This was our very first in-person alumni event since the pandemic started over 18 months ago, and it was a lot of fun to see so many wonderful friends! The feedback we received from guests has been uplifting and inspiring. One alum stated that the weekend was like “chicken soup for the soul”. Thanks to everyone who joined us virtually and in person. 

• Homecoming and Reunion Photos
• Homecoming Tailgate Photos

Treating with Equality: Supporting LGBTQIA2S+ Individuals in Health Care Settings

All Class Reunion Lunch

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt was featured in an NPR article that analyzes the decrease of Michigan residents living in poverty as a result of financial aid assistance. Seefeldt discusses how pandemic stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits are helping families.

Professor Robert Joseph Taylor’s study on the inner workings of Black extended family networks is featured in the Brooking Institute’s “Class Notes.” Taylor’s research shows how younger Black women serve as crucial pillars in their families due to their high levels of involvement both within their family networks.

Professor Brad Zebrack has been awarded a 5-year R01 from the National Cancer Institute for the project "Social genomic mechanisms of health disparities among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors." The grant will allow study of molecular pathways that represent potential targets for interventions to protect AYA survivors against the adverse biological effects of social isolation, socioeconomic disadvantage, and other psychological and social determinants of health in the highly stressful context of cancer. The study’s intent is to identify functional genomic pathways through which social and psychological factors influence gene regulation and alter health outcomes in AYAs, and to define the role of such effects in structuring health disparities in post-treatment survivorship.

Professor Trina Shanks is quoted in a Washington Post article about how federal relief programs initiated during the pandemic have been surprisingly effective at lifting people and families out of poverty.  President Biden’s “Build Back Better” proposal would continue some of these  financial supports, which could potentially cut childhood poverty rates in half. “The whole point of the child tax credit is, if a family is working at all, it pushes the family above the poverty line so their children aren’t suffering,” said Shanks.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with the New York Times about how the stimulus checks issued during the pandemic brought an immediate reduction in food insecurity, which, he says, continues to fall. “We could potentially be at the lowest level of food insecurity ever recorded, because of the government transfers,” said Shaefer.

Fatima Salman, SSW Engage Program Manager was recently interviewed on WDET’s All Things Considered program about how for American Muslims, 9/11 changed life in America. Fatima said, “It wasn’t just worrying about our country, or worrying that that happened to our country, but it was also the worry of what’s going to happen to us as a community in America.”

PhD student Charles Williams II is featured in a video from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services addressing vaccine hesitancy and encouraging the COVID-19 vaccination. Williams, who is pastor of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, says “There is no invincibility to COVID-19. If it hits you, and it hits you wrong, you’re gone.”