I have been with the Indiana University School of Social Work for over eleven years as a full-time lecturer and prior to that had worked as an adjunct for 12 years. My professional experiences include working with child welfare, juvenile justice pol...More
I have been with the Indiana University School of Social Work for over eleven years as a full-time lecturer and prior to that had worked as an adjunct for 12 years. My professional experiences include working with child welfare, juvenile justice policy and programming, mental health research, school social work, and both clinical and community practice. Because of the lecturer role, I originally taught courses across the spectrum in the undergraduate and graduate programs. That opportunity was a gift as I identified early on the value of consistently relating content areas like practice, theory, research and policy as a way of preparing students thoroughly for the professional arena. In recent years, I have concentrated on graduate courses that address policy, community and global practice, issues of oppression, and human rights. Additionally, I have been fortunate to work with outstanding colleagues and have benefitted greatly from research and experiences that highlight international efforts. Indiana University has a robust study abroad program and the School of Social Work has capitalized on the resources available and fostered others so that numerous students each year are completing international short-term study courses or one-to-two semester practicums. Over the last several years, in conjunction with accreditation, we have also developed new courses that students take in their first two semesters. One course offers a foundation in diversity, human rights and social justice, while the other emphasizes social work practice in a global context. Initial assessments of these courses have shown the effectiveness of this content area in advancing a more comprehensive knowledge base and an expanded worldview. For this particular conference, Dr. Jessica Lee and I hope to share some of these results through an interactive workshop in an endeavor to communicate relevant information, engage with other professionals who work in a large-scale milieu, and augment collaborative learning partnerships. Our primary goal is to create a study abroad program that explores refugee migration in relation to human rights and policy, comparing and contrasting the refugee experiences in the United States with other countries.
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