SCWK772101: Human Behavior and the Social Environment
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
A foundation course emphasizing a systemic perspective in human development and social functioning. Concepts from biology and the behavioral sciences provide the basis for understanding the developmental tasks of individuals, their families, and groups in the context of complex, environmental forces which support or inhibit growth and effective functioning. Attention is given to the variations that occur relative to ethnicity, race, social class, gender, and other differences which mediate the interface of these human systems with their environment. |
SCWK770101: The Social Welfare System
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Prerequisite for all other Policy courses. Required of all M.S.W. students. The course explores current social welfare issues in the context of history and underlying political rationale and societal values. The course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the relationship between contemporary social welfare policy and social work practice. The course focuses on the historical, political, economic and other social conditions that influence policy development in the United States. Models of social welfare are presented and critiqued. Policy issues and programs that impact specific populations are explored with an emphasis on social and economic justice. The course content will be framed through the lens of distributive equity and social justice. Understanding how policy influences practice and how social workers can influence social welfare policy are examined. |
SCWK774701: Research Methods in Social Work Practice
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Prerequisite for all advanced research courses. Required of all M.S.W. students. An introduction to research methods and statistical analysis of social work data. The course covers basic methods of social research including principles of research investigation, research design and problem formulation, survey methods, sampling, measurements, and the use of a statistical software package for descriptive and basic inferential statistics for data analysis and hypothesis testing. |
SCWK661001: Global Humanitarian Practice
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
This asynchronous course provides foundational knowledge for those working in humanitarian crisis contexts both within and outside of the U.S. This course will enhance student awareness of protection issues, how to engage with diverse communities in crisis, and the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration. Students will complete a series of four online modules: Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Introduction to International Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence, and Public Health in Emergencies. Students will analyze these modules through weekly discussion boards and oral and written assignments. This course is intended for global social workers but also for any student who wants to understand and engage in global humanitarian contexts. |
SCWK880003: Basic Skills in Macro Practice
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Required of all M.S.W. students.. A course designed to introduce students to specific knowledge and skills useful to achieve change in organizational and community settings. These include basic administrative skills, community needs assessment, strategic planning, community development, and advocacy for policy change. |
SCWK883302: Leadership and Social Transformation
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Required of Macro Social Work students An overview of general principles of management, this course provide students with a broad understanding of theories of organizational functioning combined with a focus on leadership for change in organizations. The role of leader-manager is explored in three theoretical perspectives of organizations: the structure of human service organizations and requisite management skills; the human resource perspective and promoting the recruitment and development of people as a vital component of organizational functioning; and organizational change with emphasis on advocating for and sustaining change within human service organizations. |
SCWK881901: Social Welfare Policy Sequence Independent Study
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Elective. An opportunity to pursue in more depth either of the two Social Welfare Policy Sequence goals: (1) examination of the social, political, ideological, and economic context within which social welfare policies and programs are conceived and administered to meet social objectives and need; or (2) examination of alternatives in evaluating, formulating, and implementing social welfare policies and programs through an in-depth analysis of specific social welfare issues and their consequences upon human and social behavior and national priorities. |
SCWK772301: Re-thinking Diversity: Systems of Oppression and Privilege
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
The course provides a critical perspective on current issues and problems in American racism, sexism, heterosexism, ablism, and ageism. These issues and problems are studied in the context of the dynamics of social process, historical and anthropological perspectives, and theories of prejudice and social change. Social work's responsibility to contribute to solutions is emphasized. Different models for examining the issues of race, sex, sexual orientation, age, and ability are presented. |
SCWK883701: Social Services with Latinx Populations in the United States
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Required for Latinx Field-of-Practice; elective for others. In this advanced seminar students will learn how different groups of Latinos in the United States understand what social benefits they are entitled to, how they experience the process of working with services providers, and how this process contributes to their empowerment and their incorporation in society (or lack thereof). Students will learn about best interventions and will acquire practical skills to provide services to different groups of Latinos and their families in the United States. |
SCWK884701: Creating the Inclusive Workplace: Concepts in Organizational Justice
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Organizational justice is the philosophy that a fair workplace produces better employees and better moral and business outcomes for organizations. Some important overall topics in organizational justice include employee fair pay, benefits, labor rights, trauma, marginalized identities in the workplace, and aging. This course will review these concepts and highlight ethical business practices that are innovative, cost-effective, and just. Students will be asked to engage in regular online dialogue, engage with case studies, and creative problem solving around difficult issues of justice and workplace fairness. Special emphasis will be placed on leadership, creativity, and sustaining lasting change. Both clinical and macro students are highly encouraged to consider this course. Top leaders from diverse industries will be featured as guest speakers. |
SCWK888101: School Social Work: Program Development and Educational Policies
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Elective An advanced course that provides a comprehensive overview of the history, theory, practice and policy of social work in an educational setting. Beginning with a historical perspective, this course is rooted in school social work principles that emphasize collaborative work with families, and school and community personnel, professional standards, and diverse practice roles. This course provides a comprehensive overview of education policy and the legal rights of students and their families. Special issues in school social work practice related to health, child abuse, school safety and violence, trauma, substance abuse, and high risk behavior are addressed. |
SCWK888501: Management of Organizations Serving Children, Youth, and Families
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Required for Macro Social Work students in the Children, Youth and Families Field-of-Practice; elective for others. An advanced practice course for macro students that emphasizes personnel management skills that promote employee well-being and organizational effectiveness, financial management skills including budgeting and cost analysis, and strategic fund-raising with a focus on revenue sources that support child and family services. Multiple theoretical approaches to leadership are examined, as well as organizational change, the supervisory process and the use of power and authority, and effective application of the diversity model for the inclusive workplace. |
SCWK889701: Planning for Health and Mental Health Services
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Required of Macro students in Health and Mental Health Field-of-Practice; elective for others. A course designed to introduce program planning, strategic planning, proposal writing, and state-of-the-art service delivery models. Significant emphasis will be placed on developing practical skills in the area of proposal development and program design through applying class material to practice through a major planning assignment. Skills to analyze critical issues in mental health and health care delivery, including system design and financing, are emphasized. Critical issues of access to health care, the crisis in health care, and managed care will be discussed and analyzed. Models of service delivery will be critically reviewed. |
SCWK660901: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Borderlands and Human Mobility
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
This course will analyze borderlands dynamics, their impact on international human mobility, and different disciplinary approaches to create effective interventions and/or regional analysis. Recently, global border regions have taken front and center in discussions of migration and forced migration. Emerging nationalistic sentiments have fostered policies and dynamics to increase surveillance, control, and conflict along border regions. The "Remain in Mexico'' and Title 42 policies are some examples of how the United States government externalizes its borders and enforces policies that impact peoples' lives at different levels. Furthermore, border regions remain lively, as local and foreign populations interact and try to navigate the unfolding dynamics of human mobility. This course offers the opportunity to understand and analyze different contexts in border regions, as well as the opportunity to interact with students from different disciplinary backgrounds. It also allows students to identify vulnerable populations in these settings, and to reflect on the impact their particular discipline has in understanding and participating in borderland dynamics.This course is a travel course that requires the completion of two on-line modules, participation in two on-line sessions before departure, 8 days of immersion during the Spring Break in the San Diego, U.S.-Tijuana, Mexico region, and one additional session upon return.Participants will need to cover their transportation costs and the course fee.NOTE: The days for the immersion will comprise different sessions and encounters with organizations on the ground. Due to the current pandemic, some sessions may have to be online while either in San Diego or Tijuana. Participants need to have a current passport and required visas to travel. |
SCWK773201: Authority and Leadership in Professional Life
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
This course focuses on the conscious and unconscious group and systemic dynamics that arise from the exercise of authority, leadership and power. Students learn by studying their own experience and linking this to theory and class reading. Classes are intensely psychodynamic in nature, and promote powerful and often emotional interchange as students explore the dynamics of social identity and processes such as splitting, projection, and projective identification. Students experiencing a difficult period in life should speak to the professor before enrolling. Class attendance is required. Attendance at a group relations conference is strongly encouraged; there is usually one scheduled at Boston College in March/April (there is a registration fee). Variable credit offered for attendance at, and reflection paper on conference experience. Contact Professor Sarda for information (sarda@bc.edu). Limited enrollment. |
SCWK777701: Services to Migrants: A Border Perspective
Graduate
Credit-Bearing |
Elective The right to migrate and protective stance of sovereign nations creates an inevitable conflict. Along the US border with Mexico there has arisen a variety of responses by government, religious and community organizations that seek to address various aspects of migration. This field based study of policy and services will seek understanding of the conflicts, explore the wants and needs of migrants, pursue the social policies that impact migration north from Central America and assess the range of human services and their outcomes in the Nogales AS corridor. |
