Active Course List

Social Work practice in public child welfare agencies is multi-faceted and uniquely challenging. Seven 1-credit modules are designed to offer maximum specialization in the study of direct (interventions with children, youth, and families) and indirect (policy and administration) practice in state, county, or tribal child welfare. Issues related to practice, policy, cultural responsiveness, and the application of social work ethics are addressed. This course can meet the elective requirement for MSW students, including Title IV-E child welfare stipend recipients. Previous experience or coursework in public child welfare is recommended. Course is taken, with advisement, for up to 7 credits.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills acquired in the school social work certificate program in a school-environment. In seminar students clarify and integrate theoretical and school-specific curriculum content with experiences.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Topics announced when offered.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This foundational social work course focuses on direct generalist practice with individuals, families, and groups. The historical roots of the social work profession are examined to explicate its abolitionist, racist, classist, and oppressive underpinnings. Emphasis is placed on decolonizing practices whose aim is to dismantle systems of oppression utilizing anti-oppressive and anti-racist lenses. This course explores the knowledge, skills, values, and ethics of the social work profession and the principles that promote social, economic, and environmental justice and planetary well-being.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course focuses on the critical application and critique of theoretical perspectives, models, and concepts in relationship to diverse people and their environments throughout lifespan development. Students will learn and apply theories related to human behavior and the person in the environment that focuses on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Students will explore the impact of social structures such as poverty, oppression, and discrimination of people from diverse populations from micro- to macro-level systems.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

The course provides students with an overview of the historical and contemporary social welfare system, with an emphasis on understanding the impact and legacy of racism and racial regulation and the structural determinants of poverty and economic inequality. Students develop skills in policy and social welfare program research, policy analysis, and developing policy position statements that are culturally informed, anti-racist and anti-oppressive and advance human rights and social, racial, economic and environmental justice.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with generalist social work knowledge, values, and skills for effective interpersonal and interprofessional communication and interviewing, with emphasis on the application of effective oral and written communication with diverse populations. Students will develop greater self-awareness of personal cultural influences and identify their personal and professional values across diverse domains. Further, students will investigate the impact of social constructs, biases, and privilege on communication patterns with client systems at the micro-, mezzo-, and macro-system levels.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with generalist knowledge, values and skills in self-reflective, culturally responsive, evidence-informed, and equity-minded task group practice, interprofessional practice within social services organizations, and community practice. The course prepares students to ground their rights-based, anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice at all system levels in the structural-social determinants of health.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Generalist Practicum and Seminar I provides students with the opportunity to integrate social work knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive/affective processes reflected in generalist behaviors through practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Co-morbid substance abuse and mental health disorders will be encountered by social workers in all areas of practice. Current research on dual diagnosis indicates integrated treatment of substance misuse and mental illness is the most effective approach to treatment. This course will provide an understanding of the intersection of multiple diagnoses and enable social work professionals to effectively treat multiple diagnoses in their area of practice. This course examines the interaction of addictive and other mental health disorders. Particular focus is placed on case-conceptualization, assessment, and intervention with multiple diagnosed clients in specific populations. Graduate students will also explore supervision/management.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Generalist Practicum and Seminar II is a continuation of SOWK 615 Generalist Practicum and Seminar I. Students integrate social work knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive/affective processes reflected in generalist behaviors through practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course enables students to learn the rationale for applying quantitative and qualitative research knowledge and skills used in generalist social work practice. Students critically evaluate how to conduct ethical, culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches in social work research. Students explore and recognize the importance of social and economic justice, diversity, evidence-informed and equity-minded research practices in social work.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

The purpose of this course is to acquire advanced school social work practice skills to bring about systems level change. Students will learn how to utilize clinical skills to mobilize stakeholders to adopt evidence informed practices and implement them with fidelity.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course prepares Advanced Standing students for transitioning from generalist social work to advanced generalist social work content in the specialization year. This course links undergraduate generalist social work to the advanced generalist specialization curriculum content to redefine students¿ professional self-identity, knowledge, skills, and values. In this preparation course, students will explore and analyze culturally responsive, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, ethical social work practice in research, human behavior, cultural humility, structural and social determinates of health, and tasks group.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with advanced generalist knowledge, values, and skills related to direct social work practice focusing on diverse individuals across the lifespan. Through experiential learning and a culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lens, students will investigate the cultural implications of social work assessments, planning, communication, intervention, and evaluation of individuals at various developmental stages of children, adolescents, adults, and older adults.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

The purpose of this course is to prepare students for advanced social work practice in a public, private, and tribal child welfare settings. This course is required for MSW Child Welfare Scholars. The course is designed to provide the student with a focused, practice-oriented learning environment that will build upon previous experiential and academic learning. The emphasis will be upon increasing the student¿s conceptual and practice skill level to become an effective social worker in a child welfare setting while increasing knowledge of historical and current federal and state child welfare policies, programs, and practices.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This task group-based course provides students with the policy advocacy practice skills needed to advance human rights and promote social, racial, economic and environmental justice. Students research and write a policy advocacy brief and develop and implement an advocacy plan on a state-level policy issue, through a human rights, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist lens.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with advanced generalist theories, knowledge, values, and skills related to practice with couples and families. Through experiential learning and through a culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lens, students will analyze, develop, and apply advanced knowledge and skills in the assessment and incorporate culturally responsive methods and interventions with couples and families.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with advanced generalist knowledge, values, and skills in critical areas of administrative social work practice. Students develop competence in needs assessment, organizational change, program planning, grant writing, leadership, social work supervision, and other aspects to effectively managing social service agencies. Students are prepared to provide culturally responsive, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed agency-based leadership to diverse populations in rural and small community settings.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Students are introduced to conceptual underpinnings of group work and its application across diverse population domains. Students learn and apply group conceptualization, theoretical frameworks, and interpersonal skills for effective evidence-informed group facilitation. Students learn methods, theories, and stages of group development. Students explore historical reflections on group work and the impact of racism, poverty, sexism, ableism, in the provision of group work and group dynamics. Engagement with culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive methodologies are integrated. Students explore ethical implications of group work theory and application.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Advanced Practicum and Seminar I provides students with the opportunity to integrate foundation and concentration social work theory and practice knowledge, values, and skills through direct practice with individual clients, families, groups, agencies, and communities.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

The purpose of Clinical Social Work Practice with Infants, Children, and Adolescents is designed for students who plan to work in a clinical setting with infants, children, and/or adolescents. The course prepares students to understand development, attachment, developmental stressors and trauma, developmental resiliency, biopsychosocial factors, and evidence-based social work interventions. Students will consider the intersections of development, attachment, stressors and trauma, and resources from a biopsychosocial framework to increase knowledge on how infants, children, and adolescents become identified at-risk and how these concerns can compromise development and what support and/or interventions contribute to developmental growth and change over time.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

This course provides students with advanced generalist knowledge, values, and skills for evaluation of interventions, programs, and practice with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations. Students develop skills in qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, survey design methodology, and data collection strategies. Students will develop knowledge of how to collaborate with community partners to conduct evaluation through a data justice lens and with a data equity perspective.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration

Specialization Practicum and Seminar II is a continuation of SOWK 665 Specialization Practicum and Seminar I. Students integrate social work knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive/affective processes reflected in advanced generalist behaviors through practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.

Areas of Interest:

Government and Public Administration