Applied Assessment Skills in Integrated Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
This course focuses on a holistic approach in promoting the development and deepening of assessment and screening skills and competencies. Conducting brief, evidence-based and evidence-informed assessments and screenings for common health, mental health, substance use and other behavioral health concerns which impact and/or compromise health and well-being will be the focus of this course. Holistic approaches which are developmentally appropriate across the life span and relevant in a variety of settings will be applied. Grounding of the assessment process in person-in-environment perspective
An Afrocentric Approach to Practice w/ African Amer/Black Indiv., Families & Communities
This course will apply African-centered values and principles in historical and contemporary context to the implementation of traditional methods in practice with African American individuals, families and communities. The course is bounded by a strengths and resilience framework in which students will 1) obtain an overview of the African worldview and the history, culture, and contributions to world civilization of African-descended people; 2) become familiar with literature that exemplifies the integration of the Afrocentric perspective in practice with African American families; and 3)
Methods for Socially Just Policy Analysis
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
Frameworks for Understanding Social Impact Organizations
This course will provide an overview of traditional and contemporary organizational theories and strategic frameworks relevant to understanding social impact organizations. A wide range of topics will be covered including but not limited to: organizational survival and adaptation to environmental changes, power asymmetry/dynamics between service providers and clients, staff and client diversity and inclusion, and informal strategies that providers develop to legitimize their practices while satisfying multiple stakeholders’ expectations. Using multiple theories and perspectives, students will
Quantitative Methodologies for Socially Just Inquiry
This course is designed to advance the foundational ideas of quantitative research in social work and the social sciences, with a particular focus on applied quantitative research dedicated to the study of social problems and the development of social interventions at the macro, meso and micro levels. The course will deepen students’ understanding of such issues as sample selection, measurement, and questionnaire design, research design, and basic analytic approaches.
Critical Reflexive Global Practices
This course is designed to prepare social work students for effective and ethical professional practice in global social work contexts.
This course works from a framework that acknowledges that global issues and practice are not bound by physical borders. Global contexts within the USA and abroad will be explored. These contexts will be within and across different cultural, geopolitical, socio-economic, organizational, and interpersonal settings.
Ongoing development of critical consciousness is the core of this course. Throughout the course, students will critically and reflexively
Global Art-Centered Social Justice Practice and Self-Healing
This course is founded on the idea that all human beings can engage in art practices – music, theater, sculptures, painting, photography, etc. Art practices, which are expressed differently across the globe, can be inspiration, methods, and practices to advance self-healing and social justice. This course will be useful to all students, even those who do not consider themselves to be “artists.” The course will help students to incorporate self-healing and social justice into social work practice. For example, students will authentically connect to global efforts, such as the Campaign Against
Interpersonal Practice Methods in Aging
This course focuses on intervention with older people at the micro level. This content will be integrated with intervention strategies directed toward aging adults, including evidence-based interventions and practices. Major areas to be discussed are: coping with age related changes, caregiving demands, legal and financial planning, elder abuse, sexuality and intimacy, and loss and grief. This course will also address the diverse dimensions including: ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, and
Working with Latinx Families
Latinx constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. The United States Latinx population is immensely diverse, with members originating from over twenty countries. Latinx sub-populations tend to reside in different areas of the United States, have different cultural practices/norms, immigration experiences, and varying levels of economic attainment. These sources of internal variation are important, as they have implications for many social outcomes and social work practice with Latinx families. This course focuses on the theoretical, empirical and practice literature on
Prevention of Child Maltreatment
This course will examine the correlates and consequences of child maltreatment, as well as the social, environmental, and cultural buffers and mitigating factors that lessen risk and promote protection/ resilience in maltreated children and adolescents. Students will learn about the public health model of child abuse prevention and examine a range of strategies that extend from this model. Throughout the course, students will critically review programs and practices in primary and secondary prevention and consider how they align with core values of the social work profession. Students will