Course Offerings for 2017/18

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., W, Ravi Gokani
• Section 2: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., W, Ian DeGeer 
• Section 3: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., W, Leslie Nichols

Description

This course provides an introduction to concepts, theories and methods associated with social work practice in communities locally, nationally and internationally. The scholarship on feminist community organizing, group processes, health promotion, advocacy, civic-engagement, grassroots organizing, capacity building, community economic development, international development and social movements inform the theoretical foundations for this course. Working with marginalised populations is an essential component of the course which hopes to promote systematic and reflexive thinking about specific determining factors influencing the lives of marginalized individuals globally and our roles as social work practitioners to be aware of factors such as power, privilege and our capacity to transform these factors.

Registration Status: YR1FT 

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., W, Anthony Piscitelli
• Section 2: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., W, Festus Moasun
• Section 3: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., W, Leslie Nichols

Registration Status: AdvFT

• Section 4: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Morgan Braganza

Description

This course will offer a broad sampling of research methods (both qualitative and quantitative) and an introduction to concepts of data analysis. The aim is that students acquire knowledge and skills for conducting social work research and evaluating professional practices as well as in becoming critical consumers of research. The course also explores how decolonizing, anti-oppression and social justice perspectives can operate in current research approaches to strengthen the research enterprise. An important component of this course is the critical examination of the ethical aspects and issues of the research process. An applied research project offers students the opportunity to integrate the course content with their practicum.

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., T, Ann Curry-Stevens
• Section 2: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., T, Gebrehiwot Berihun
• Section 3: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., T, Samantha Clarke

Registration Status: YR3PT 

• Section 4: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., T, Ann Curry-Stevens

Description

Transformative social work practice is understood to encompass critical reflexivity and action that aims to disrupt current social inequalities and manifestations of power inherent in the delivery of social services and community work. The fluid concept of social justice will be deconstructed and explored through a variety of theoretical lenses including, but not limited to Indigenous, anti-racist, feminist, queer, disability and transnational perspectives. Theories of progressive social change practices will be explored in order to lead the student to think about concepts such as colonialism, intersectionality, power and resistance within social work practices. Students will also be encouraged to engage in reflexivity with regards to their own experiences of intersecting identities and how they are situated within relations of power.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT or YR3PT

• Section 1: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Rose Torres
• Section 2: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Angela Murie

Description

This course focusses on five broad areas of learning:

1. Theory of small group development and functioning;
2. Principles and methods of adult empowerment, as well as member/leadership development;
3. The use of self in groups/meetings and various community practice settings;
4. Understanding the implications of the social location of professional helpers and various populations using social services and other relevant groupings; and
5. The appropriate use of discussion, decision-making and problem-solving procedures in groups/meetings.

Particular consideration is given to adapting our ways of working for different types of participants, including various disadvantaged and marginalised populations.

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., T, Marg Notar
• Section 2: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., T, Sue Gallagher
• Section 3: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., T, Julia Read
• Section 4: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., T, Kate Ross-Rudow

Description

In this course students learn the basic tenets and skills of a range of theories applicable to practice with individuals. The course emphasizes an experiential approach to teaching and practicing skills. The main elements of the course are: the processes and stages involved in social work practice with individuals; an introduction to the importance of reflexivity and self-awareness in the co-construction of the social work relationship; ethics; skills of interviewing, holistic assessment, and developing a complex understanding of the service user within an ecological systems context; and issues important in working with diverse and marginalized populations, including a trauma-informed perspective and indigenous worldviews.
                                        

Registration Status: YR1FT (Fall/Winter)  This course is offered over two terms.

• Section @1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Nancy Riedel Bowers
• Section @2: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Kate Ross-Rudow
• Section @3: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Sue Gallagher
• Section @4: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Ian DeGeer

Description

This experientially oriented course aims to support students in connecting and applying foundational social work theory to practice and practicum settings. It is offered over the same time period as the practicum. The course provides an opportunity for students to understand the interconnections between research, theory and practice within the context of their own practice including the role of the mind, body, emotions and spirit. It will provide a space for students to grapple with dilemmas arising in placement through the medium of hands-on exercises and simulations.

Registration Status: YR3PT

• Section 1: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Kathy deJong

Description

This course is designed to expose participants to ethics and reflexivity as they intersect and are performed in social work practice. Professional and relational ethics, ethical decision-making models and the intersections between the law and professional ethics are reviewed and scrutinized from a critical perspective. Self-awareness as an aspect of reflexivity and as it relates to ethics and values in our working relationships, is considered throughout. Contemporary workplace examples are used to ground theory and reflexivity to practice. Such reflexive practices are rooted and framed by our epistemological foundations – or the ways in which we understand the nature of knowledge and its creation. Thus, a consideration of how we know and how such knowing is socially and culturally constructed will support our considerations of ethics and reflexivity.

Registration Status: YR2FT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Melissa Popiel
• Section 2: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Takhmina Shokirova
• Section 3: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Charles Gyan

Description

(Students choose 2 out of 4 modules. Two modules is equivalent to one course credit). Consistent with the social work research goal of contributing to social justice and social change, this course aims to expand students’ knowledge and skills in research methods by offering 4 different modules where students will choose 2 according to their needs and preferences

2.1 Advanced Qualitative Research A

Students will acquire and develop skills in data collection and analyses in qualitative research consistent with student interest and inquiry. This can include grounded theory, case study, narrative, phenomenological and ethnographic research methodologies. Emphasis will be placed on data analysis (including introductory training on N’Vivo and Atlai) and report writing.

2.3 Advanced Qualitative Research B

This course offers students extended practice and knowledge on a sample of qualitative methodologies informed by a critical theory paradigm such as feminist research, participatory action research (PAR) and visual methodologies such as photo voice, body mapping, performance ethnography, etc. The primary aim of these methodologies is to expose and transform social arrangements that perpetuate inequalities and marginalization in close collaboration with populations impacted by those arrangements. Emphasis will be placed on participatory and collaborative data analysis and report writing.

2.2 Advanced Quantitative Research

Students will acquire and develop skills in data collection and analyses consistent with student interests on advanced quantitative methodologies. This can include cross-sectional, complex survey, single subject, quasi experimental, experimental, case control, cohort, and other research designs. The course also offers an introduction to innovative sampling techniques for hard-to-reach populations such as
39 Respondent Driven sampling (RDS). Emphasis will be placed on data analysis (including introductory training on SPSS) and report writing.

2.4 Advanced Mixed Methods Research: Needs Assessments, Community Capacity Building Research and Program Evaluation

Agencies are increasingly undertaking needs assessments, community capacity building research and program evaluations. This course will cover these topics utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This course provides practical skills through research projects in field placements, theses, or other student involvements. One of the main focuses of the course will be on how to analyse the results of research studies, and write the findings up to bring about social change. This course will include research issues related to marginalized populations, participatory action research, writing reports for various audiences, and utilizing research skill in future work. Emphasis will be placed on quantitative and qualitative data analysis (including introductory training on N’Vivo and SPSS) and report writing.

Registration Status: AdvFT 

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Ann Curry-Stevens

Registration Status: AdvPT, YR3PT

• Section 2: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., T, Kate Ross-Rudow

Registration Status: YR2FT

• Section 3: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., F, Ann Curry-Stevens
• Section 4: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., F, Kelly Laurila
• Section 5: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., F, Kate Ross-Rudow

Description

The emphasis of this course is on the use of self as it relates to the direct practice experience of the student. The overall objective is to enhance self-awareness and interpersonal skills that are related to the conscious use of self in social work practice. A focus on self-reflective awareness will include an examination of thoughts, feelings and behaviours that arise in practice interactions, including how these are influenced by personal history, social location and attitudes toward issues of diversity and difference (e.g., race/ethnicity, culture, gender, religion, class, sexual orientation and disability). (Graded as Pass/Fail.)

Registration Status: ISWD

• Section @2: Registration by permission only, Lea Caragata

Description

This course explores how personal and professional identities are shaped and communicated and done so through theoretical and conceptual analysis as well as through reflexive practice. Class race/ethnicity, sexuality and gender and ideology and nationality are all macro level shapers of our identities. At more personal levels, family, birth order, personality type and a range of other factors shape and construct identity ‘stories’. Professional choices are in turn shaped by the foregoing and we construct a professional identity which is then further shaped and re-shaped by our educational and work experiences. As part of our reflections and analyses, we consider how inequality is supported by institutions, cultural practices, and national narratives that vary historically and culturally. This course is targeted to those planning an international practicum and is intended to offer an opportunity for challenging personal and professional reflection.

Registration Status: AdvPT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required) 

• Section @1: Two days/week

Registration Status: YR3PT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @2: Two days/week

Registration Status: AdvFT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @3: Monday – Wednesday, three days/week

Registration Status: YR2FT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @4: Monday – Wednesday, three days/week

Description

A supervised field experience designed to develop competence pertinent to social work practice in the student's chosen area of concentration (29 weeks). Graded on a S/F basis.

Registration Status: ISWD

• Section 1: Registration by permission only

Description

A supervised field experience in an international setting designed to develop competence pertinent to international social work practice. Graded on a S/F basis.

• Prerequisite: SK522

Registration Status: AdvFT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Nancy Riedel Bowers

Registration Status: YR2FT

• Section 2: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Marg Notar
• Section 3: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Bibi Baksh
• Section 4: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Rose Torres

Description

This course builds on SK522 by taking a more in-depth look at the integration of theory and practice in clinical work with a variety of client presenting problems. It includes an overview of major classes of psychiatric diagnoses and a critical look at the value of such diagnostic categories considering race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation and so forth. The strengths and weaknesses of various theoretical approaches to intervening with specific client problems and populations are reviewed.

This course is being offered by Walls to Bridges - for more information on this program please refer to their website.

Registration Status: 

• Section W2B: 6 p.m. to 8:50 p.m., R, Cheryl-Anne Cait

Description

This section of SK 656 will be offered as a Walls to Bridges (W2B) course to be held at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener on Thursday evenings 6:00pm-8:50 p.m.  Half of the students will be from the Faculty of Social Work and the other half will be women incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution.

W2B courses are taught using circle processes, experiential activities and dialogue. Students are asked to be active participants, engage authentically and bring their whole selves to the class. Please note, this is not a class designed to teach you to work with criminalized people. It is an opportunity to study the course content with incarcerated women as peers and as such is based upon collaborative learning and collective analysis.

The Death, Dying and Bereavement course allows students to focus in on questions of Death and Dying and on Life and Living. The semester's work will emphasize the topics of grief, bereavement, illness, aging, and the dying process. We will consider how different topic areas are made more complex by issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, cultural values, history etc. Although the focus on various topics at different points in the semester allows us to consider many areas, there is much interweaving of the materials of this course. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to examine personal attitudes and responses to death, dying and grief.

Application process: If you are interested in this unique opportunity, please send a copy of your CV and a letter of interest to Cheryl-Anne Cait, at ccait@wlu.ca. She will contact you for a brief interview. APPLICATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JUNE 26, 2017. 

Registration Status: AdvFT, YR2FT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Jennifer Vasic

Description

This course focuses on the nature of inequality in the context of Canada and Canadian public policy. Recent theories tie social inequality in its various forms to social exclusion and to citizen disengagement. Social work roles in shaping policy, in social planning and in community development are considered in responding to these divisive social issues. The nature and types of inequality and why it arises are all explored. Poverty is associated with many of the social problems that affect social work clients. This course examines theories about poverty and considers the ways that it might be addressed. Why, in Canada are the poor often racialized, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, and First Nations? We will discuss the current ideas about poverty alleviation including a living wage, welfare and a guaranteed annual income. Comparative policy research, theories and practices will be addressed including how to understand and resolve these issues. Comparative policy analysis will examine different policies within Aboriginal nations, Canada, the United States and other industrial countries including European countries. These approaches will be contrasted to the situation and approaches used in the global south. A major focus of the course will be upon what is working and for whom.

Registration Status: Override Only

A thesis formulated and completed in the student's area of concentration.

Registration Status: YR3PT 

• Section 5: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., T, Marg Notar

Description

In this course students learn the basic tenets and skills of a range of theories applicable to practice with individuals. The course emphasizes an experiential approach to teaching and practicing skills. The main elements of the course are: the processes and stages involved in social work practice with individuals; an introduction to the importance of reflexivity and self-awareness in the co-construction of the social work relationship; ethics; skills of interviewing, holistic assessment, and developing a complex understanding of the service user within an ecological systems context; and issues important in working with diverse and marginalized populations, including a trauma-informed perspective and indigenous worldviews.

Registration Status: YR1FT (Fall/Winter)  This course is offered over two terms.

• Section @1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Nancy Riedel Bowers
• Section @2: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Kate Ross-Rudow
• Section @3: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Sue Gallagher
• Section @4: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Ian DeGeer

Description

This experientially oriented course aims to support students in connecting and applying foundational social work theory to practice and practicum settings. It is offered over the same time period as the practicum. The course provides an opportunity for students to understand the interconnections between research, theory and practice within the context of their own practice including the role of the mind, body, emotions and spirit. It will provide a space for students to grapple with dilemmas arising in placement through the medium of hands-on exercises and simulations.

Registration Status: YR1FT (Winter/Spring)

• Section @1: Monday - Wednesday, three days/week

Description

The work placement is an integral part of the curriculum and is structured to enable students to use their knowledge as professional social workers in practice situations. The student chooses placements based on interest and knowledge base and is placed by practicum coordinator.

Registration Status: YR1FT 

• Section 2: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Kate Ross-Rudow
• Section 3: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Sue Gallagher
• Section 4: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Martha Kumsa

Description

This course is designed to expose participants to ethics and reflexivity as they intersect and are performed in social work practice. Professional and relational ethics, ethical decision-making models and the intersections between the law and professional ethics are reviewed and scrutinized from a critical perspective. Self-awareness as an aspect of reflexivity and as it relates to ethics and values in our working relationships, is considered throughout. Contemporary workplace examples are used to ground theory and reflexivity to practice. Such reflexive practices are rooted and framed by our epistemological foundations – or the ways in which we understand the nature of knowledge and its creation. Thus, a consideration of how we know and how such knowing is socially and culturally constructed will support our considerations of ethics and reflexivity.

Registration Status: ISWD

• Section @2: Registration by permission only, Lea Caragata

Description

This course explores how personal and professional identities are shaped and communicated and done so through theoretical and conceptual analysis as well as through reflexive practice. Class race/ethnicity, sexuality and gender and ideology and nationality are all macro level shapers of our identities. At more personal levels, family, birth order, personality type and a range of other factors shape and construct identity ‘stories’. Professional choices are in turn shaped by the foregoing and we construct a professional identity which is then further shaped and re-shaped by our educational and work experiences. As part of our reflections and analyses, we consider how inequality is supported by institutions, cultural practices, and national narratives that vary historically and culturally. This course is targeted to those planning an international practicum and is intended to offer an opportunity for challenging personal and professional reflection.

Registration Status: AdvPT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @1: Two days/week

Registration Status: YR3PT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @2: Two days/week

Registration Status: AdvFT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @3: Monday – Wednesday, three days/week

Registration Status: YR2FT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section @4: Monday – Wednesday, three days/week

Description

A supervised field experience designed to develop competence pertinent to social work practice in the student's chosen area of concentration (29 weeks). Graded on a S/F basis.

Registration Status: Override Only

A thesis formulated and completed in the student's area of concentration.

Registration Status: YR1FT, YR3PT 

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Ian DeGeer
• Section 2: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Wanda Wagler

Description

This course provides an introduction to clinical group work. The history and evolution of social group work is reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the application of basic knowledge and skills to clinical group work. This includes consideration of stages of group development and other group dynamics, therapeutic factors in groups and generic group work skills. An introduction to the application of various clinical theories to group work is also provided.

Registration Status: YR1FT, YR3PT 

• Section 1:  9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Kate Ross-Rudow
• Section 2:  4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Jennifer Scarborough

Description

This course provides a critical study of widely used approaches to practice with diverse family forms within social work settings. Emphasis will be placed on influential theories that impact and guide the methods used in the practice of family social work.

Registration Status: YR1FT, YR3PT, YR2FT ISWD

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Charles Gyan

Description

This course will create an environment for testing new concepts and ideas for pressing social problems. Design principles will be used to ensure that students understand the different interconnecting phases of creating change through ideation, concept testing, prototyping, iterating and assessing social impact. Students will be introduced to the following new approaches for innovation and social change: networks and collective impact (strategic large scale change and system wide thinking), design thinking (ideation, inspiration and implementation), impact investing (social impact bonds, community investment banking), crowdsourcing (competitions, hackathons), change/design labs (safe and creative spaces), social enterprises (non-profit, for profit, B–corps, shared spaces).

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, D'Arcy Farlow

Description

This course focuses on understanding the nature of healthy communities and their relationships to well-being for people. A primary interest is supporting the capacity of community members to act on their own behalf. Basic purposes include both developing a theoretical understanding of community capacity building, as well as introducing relevant practice principles and methods. Other topics may include working cross-culturally, leadership/membership development, participatory project development, fundraising, fostering partnerships and solving common problems in community organizations. Adaptations for various disadvantaged and minority populations will be considered.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Ann Curry-Stevens

Description

This course examines the theories and methods of planning and developing social service projects and programs. Methods of developing programs will be considered, including doing relevant participatory research, strategic planning, generating political support, fundraising and writing proposals, recruiting and maintaining staff, and ensuring that programs are responsive to marginalised populations. This course will also discuss co-ordinating and planning services, including neighbourhood, regional and sectoral planning. Different models of social planning will be considered in terms of responding to the changing needs of marginalised populations.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., F, Patrina Duhaney-Morris

Description

Students will be provided with a background in theories and intervention strategies that deal with crisis situations. A number of important themes will be addressed, including: the crisis interventionist/person(s) in crisis relationship, suicide intervention, violence against women, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, recovery and aftermath of trauma, crisis related to substance use, illness, death and loss, poverty and homelessness, and community programs for crisis intervention. Strategies of crisis intervention such as specific crisis intervention models, feminist, brief solution focused therapy and narrative therapy will be discussed. Would be also examined issues of historical and structural disadvantage as well as marginalization based on factors such as race, class, gender, culture, sexual orientation, etc. and other circumstantial and situational factors involved in ‘crises’. Students are expected to identify and be aware of personal values and belief systems that inform their social work practice and its implications in crisis intervention. Students will have an opportunity to share their knowledge and practice crisis intervention skills through group exercises and class discussions.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., R, Marg Notar
• Section 2: 9:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Marg Notar

Description

Mindfulness-Based Therapies will explore the “third wave” of cognitive-behavioural therapies (i.e. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy), all which apply mindfulness practice as a common intervention. Using an experiential and interactive approach, this course will look at increasing understanding and theoretical application of these models as applied to clinical practice with individuals, families and groups. The strengths and shortcomings of the models will be examined as will caveats for new practitioners.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., T, Nancy Riedel Bowers

Description

This course will review the evolution of the expressive arts field, narrowing in on music therapy, dramatic arts, dance and art therapy and self-selected artistic tools for groupwork with children. The therapeutic factors of I. Yalom and C. Schaefer will be applied to the research and theoretical discussions as well as the clinical application of groupwork for young people.

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., F, Lin Haag

Description

The course is designed to facilitate critical thinking through understanding the impact of different paradigms and the analysis of specific issues, and prepare students for practice through developing knowledge and competencies within the health and disability context.

• Prerequisite: SK552

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., R, Marinela Braunstein

Description

This course builds on SK552 by taking a more in-depth look at the integration of theory with family practice. Emphasis is placed on the inclusion of substantive issues in family work (e.g., drug misuse, eating disorders, gerontological issues, divorce, developmental issues, sexual orientation, poverty, and work with families from diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds).

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT, YR3PT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., R, Monica Chi

Description

This course focuses on time-limited counselling approaches for individuals, couples and families. It is designed for students interested in developing time-sensitive, client-responsive counseling skills. The assumptions and practice skills from various brief therapeutic approaches are critically examined, as is empirical evidence for the effectiveness of such approaches. The usefulness of brief therapies in various social work settings and with diverse populations is explored.

This course is being offered by Walls to Bridges - for more information on this program please refer to their website.

Registration Status: 

• Section W2B: 6 p.m. to 8:50 p.m., R, Stephanie Baker

Description

This section of SK 659 will be offered as a Walls to Bridges (W2B) course to be held at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener on Thursday evenings 6:00pm-8:50 p.m.  Half of the students will be from the Faculty of Social Work and the other half will be women incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution.

W2B courses are taught using circle processes, experiential activities and dialogue. Students are asked to be active participants, engage authentically and bring their whole selves to the class. Please note, this is not a class designed to teach you to work with criminalized people. It is an opportunity to study the course content with incarcerated women as peers and as such is based upon collaborative learning and collective analysis.

The Addictions: Assessment & Treatment course helps students develop a critical understanding of social work theory and practice related to a variety of addiction issues including substance-related concerns, process addictions, and concurrent disorders. Students are introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives, and learn to view addiction as an outcome of various factors including individual, familial, social, cultural, and historical environments. This course reviews the development of diverse assessment and treatment approaches along the continuum of support, and assists students in learning how various perspectives influence the implementation of interventions in an assortment of service delivery contexts and across a number of vulnerable populations.

Application process: If you are interested in this unique opportunity, please send a copy of your CV and a letter of interest to Stephanie Baker, at sbaker@wlu.ca. She will contact you for a brief interview. Application deadline is June 16, 2017.  

Registration Status: AdvFT, AdvPT, YR2FT or YR3PT

• Section 1: 4:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m., W, Sue Gallagher

Description

This course increases knowledge of the range of potentially traumatic experiences to which human beings are exposed and the spectrum of human responses to traumatic events. Themes examined include: the meaning of trauma and traumatic events; assessment and intervention; violence in the home; insidious cultural and historical trauma; torture, war and organized crime; trauma and memory; witnessing and testimony; retraumatization and the healing process; vicarious trauma; and self-care. While the course examines theoretical approaches, it places particular emphasis on issues of assessment and intervention.

Registration Status: YR3PT 

• Section 4: 4 p.m. to 7:50 p.m., T, Gebrehiwot Berihun

Description

This course provides an introduction to concepts, theories and methods associated with social work practice in communities locally, nationally and internationally. The scholarship on feminist community organizing, group processes, health promotion, advocacy, civic-engagement, grassroots organizing, capacity building, community economic development, international development and social movements inform the theoretical foundations for this course. Working with marginalised populations is an essential component of the course which hopes to promote systematic and reflexive thinking about specific determining factors influencing the lives of marginalized individuals globally and our roles as social work practitioners to be aware of factors such as power, privilege and our capacity to transform these factors.

Registration Status: YR3PT 

• Section 5: 4 p.m. to 7:50 p.m., R, Nancy Freymond

Description

This course will offer a broad sampling of research methods (both qualitative and quantitative) and an introduction to concepts of data analysis. The aim is that students acquire knowledge and skills for conducting social work research and evaluating professional practices as well as in becoming critical consumers of research. The course also explores how decolonizing, anti-oppression and social justice perspectives can operate in current research approaches to strengthen the research enterprise. An important component of this course is the critical examination of the ethical aspects and issues of the research process. An applied research project offers students the opportunity to integrate the course content with their practicum.

Registration Status: YR1FT (Winter/Spring)

• Section @1: Monday - Thursday, Four days/week

Description

The work placement is an integral part of the curriculum and is structured to enable students to use their knowledge as professional social workers in practice situations. The student chooses placements based on interest and knowledge base and is placed by practicum coordinator.

Registration Status: YR1FT, AdvFT, YR3PT, ISWD and Thesis Students

• Section 1: Intensive, June 2018, Takhmina Shokirova

Description

The course aims to support students’ knowledge production at the global level. With globalization at the core of the discourse, students will be encouraged to integrate their academic work with their practice experiences and to think about social work research and interventions in the field of globalization at the local, national and international levels.

Registration Status: AdvFT

• Section 4: 4 p.m. to 7:50 p.m., W, Beth Watters

Registration Status: YR3PT 

• Section 5: 4 p.m. to 7:50 p.m., W, Karun Karki

Description

Note: Students choose two out of four modules. Two modules is equivalent to one course credit.

Consistent with the social work research goal of contributing to social justice and social change, this course aims to expand students’ knowledge and skills in research methods by offering four different modules where students will choose two according to their needs and preferences.

2.1 Advanced Qualitative Research A

Students will acquire and develop skills in data collection and analyses in qualitative research consistent with student interest and inquiry. This can include grounded theory, case study, narrative, phenomenological and ethnographic research methodologies. Emphasis will be placed on data analysis (including introductory training on N’Vivo and Atlai) and report writing.

2.3 Advanced Qualitative Research B

This course offers students extended practice and knowledge on a sample of qualitative methodologies informed by a critical theory paradigm such as feminist research, participatory action research (PAR) and visual methodologies such as photo voice, body mapping, performance ethnography, etc. The primary aim of these methodologies is to expose and transform social arrangements that perpetuate inequalities and marginalization in close collaboration with populations impacted by those arrangements. Emphasis will be placed on participatory and collaborative data analysis and report writing.

2.2 Advanced Quantitative Research

Students will acquire and develop skills in data collection and analyses consistent with student interests on advanced quantitative methodologies. This can include cross-sectional, complex survey, single subject, quasi experimental, experimental, case control, cohort, and other research designs. The course also offers an introduction to innovative sampling techniques for hard-to-reach populations such as 39 Respondent Driven sampling (RDS). Emphasis will be placed on data analysis (including introductory training on SPSS) and report writing.

2.4 Advanced Mixed Methods Research: Needs Assessments, Community Capacity Building Research and Program Evaluation

Agencies are increasingly undertaking needs assessments, community capacity building research and program evaluations. This course will cover these topics utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This course provides practical skills through research projects in field placements, theses, or other student involvements. One of the main focuses of the course will be on how to analyse the results of research studies, and write the findings up to bring about social change. This course will include research issues related to marginalized populations, participatory action research, writing reports for various audiences, and utilizing research skill in future work. Emphasis will be placed on quantitative and qualitative data analysis (including introductory training on N’Vivo and SPSS) and report writing.

Registration Status: ISWD

• Section 1: Registration by permission only, Lea Caragata

Description

This course explores how personal and professional identities are shaped and communicated and done so through theoretical and conceptual analysis as well as through reflexive practice. Class race/ethnicity, sexuality and gender and ideology and nationality are all macro level shapers of our identities. At more personal levels, family, birth order, personality type and a range of other factors shape and construct identity "stories." Professional choices are in turn shaped by the foregoing and we construct a professional identity which is then further shaped and re-shaped by our educational and work experiences. As part of our reflections and analyses, we consider how inequality is supported by institutions, cultural practices, and national narratives that vary historically and culturally. This course is targeted to those planning an international practicum and is intended to offer an opportunity for challenging personal and professional reflection.

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., F, Stewart Smith
• Section 2: 1:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., F, Samantha Clarke

 Description

This course provides a critical overview of the historic processes of marginalization and resistance in social policy development in Canada, starting with First Nations since colonization up until the present. It outlines the roots of social welfare and the role of neoliberalism, globalization, state restructuring, social inclusion/exclusion, citizenship and the impact of policy on social identity. Policy development will be examined in relation to colonization, capitalism, racism, sexism, ableism, ageism and homophobia. Practical skills will be taught in relation to activism, advocacy and collaboration in order to critique social policies and bring about social policy change.

Registration Status: AdvPT or YR3PT (Fall/Winter, Spring if required)

• Section 1: Two days/week

Description

A supervised field experience designed to develop competence pertinent to social work practice in the student's chosen area of concentration (29 weeks). Graded on a S/F basis.

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., F, Gus Hill
• Section 2: 9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., F, Laura Mastronardi
• Section 3: 9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., F, Tim Leduc

Description

This course provides students with the conceptual tools and knowledge for understanding the nature of First Nations historical/structural problems; the role and operation of social services in Aboriginal contexts; alternative (culture based and healing focused) methods of intervention; and present day Aboriginal concerns and issues including concepts of Aboriginal title.

PLEASE NOTE:  There will be smudging during this class.  If you require accommodations due to documented health concerns, please consult with Accessible Learning.

Registration Status: YR1FT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., F, Leslie Nichols

Description

Social work practice is embedded in policies and organizations that represent conflicting views about the source of social problems and their solutions. The purpose of this course is to facilitate a basic understanding of the development and implementation of social policies, with emphasis on the role social workers can play in formal policy making processes, and in the shaping of policies as they are being implemented. The course will provide students with strategies for maintaining, changing and disrupting particular policies and organizational practices.

Registration Status: Override Only 

A thesis formulated and completed in the student's area of concentration.

Registration Status: AdvFT

• Section 1: 1:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., T, Angela Murie

Description

Cultural, anthropological, sociological and psychological understandings: this course would be a critical exploration of human attachment. The course would go beyond the traditional psychological focus of Attachment Theory through including socio-political and cultural perspectives on attachment across the life course, and implications for social work practice and policy.

Registration Status: AdvFT

• Section 2: 9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., T, Abdelfettah Elkchirid

Description

This course increases knowledge of the range of potentially traumatic experiences to which human beings are exposed and the spectrum of human responses to traumatic events. Themes examined include: the meaning of trauma and traumatic events; assessment and intervention; violence in the home; insidious cultural and historical trauma; torture, war and organized crime; trauma and memory; witnessing and testimony; retraumatization and the healing process; vicarious trauma; and self-care. While the course examines theoretical approaches, it places particular emphasis on issues of assessment and intervention.