Social work programs

This course presents a history of the social work profession and social work practice. It incorporates the major fields of social work and the concepts and theories needed to understand the social, cultural, political, ethical and religious context that provides the ecological framework of social work practice, and it enables a thorough understanding of at-risk populations and of the problems which social work must address. Included are visits to agencies and guest lectures by social workers from the field. A central concern is the Christian's individual and collective responsibility for the health and welfare of fellow human beings.(4 credits)

This course is designed to help students develop basic interviewing skills and techniques in the area of social work. This course will provide foundational skills in interviewing so that students can work effectively with individuals, families and groups from all diverse populations. Different techniques of interviewing and theoretical principles of interviewing will be investigated. Students will increase their practical skills through the use of an interactive learning environment and through intensive use of video feedback and role playing. Prerequisites: PSY111 or SWK140 or SOC101. (2 credits)

The course prepares students to engage in qualitative inquiry and research designs, including narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, participatory action research, focus groups, and ethnography. Comparative analysis of approaches, paradigmatic controversies, and mixed model designs are discussed. The course reviews strategies of inquiry, sampling methods, data collection, and analysis. Prerequisites: SWK210 and PSY215. (3 credits)

HBSE focuses on interaction between an individual's development and the functioning of groups, organizations and communities. This course is the foundation course in the human behavior and the social environment sequence to prepare baccalaureate students for general practice. It utilizes the person-in-the-environment perspective to integrate theoretical knowledge and research from the human, biological, psychological and social sciences in understanding human behavior. Human development across the life span within the context of the influence of ethnicity, race, culture, gender, social class, age, sexual orientation and disability is specifically addressed in an attempt to understand human behavior. Prerequisites: PSY111, SWK140, SOC101, or permission of instructor. (4 credits)

Examines theoretical foundations for understanding dynamics of social inequity, privilege, and oppression; focus on diversity and on populations at risk due to racism, sexism and classism; self-assessment of students' racial and cultural heritage as it shapes their attitudes and biases toward different cultural and racial groups; emphasis on helping students become culturally competent social workers who are grounded in their faith and who identify with the profession's respect for diversity and commitment to social and economic justice. Open to non-majors. Prerequisites: PSY111, SWK231, SOC101, or permission of instructor. (4 credits)

Examines social policy development and the political process, with special attention to the poor and disadvantaged. This course will assist students in acquiring skills to see the inadequacies, gaps and inequities in social policies in the past and present and help them develop critical thinking and advocacy skills, plus a commitment to change. (3 credits)

This course examines therapeutic theories and models of directed practice with individuals and family systems. Emphasis is on etiology, diagnosis, and assessment with the application of psychosocial history, treatment plans, crisis intervention plans, and use of diagnostic tools, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (current edition). The course reviews evidence-based research for generalist practice with diverse population groups. Prerequisites: PSY215, SWK140 and 231. (4 credits)

Develops a framework for how people groups form, group development formation, group leadership skills, theoretical approaches to group work, and ethical considerations in group work, including diversity issues. Students will be involved in an interactive group lab and service-learning group project. Prerequisite: SWK370. Open only to Social Work majors. (3 credits)

Examines generalist Social Work practice theories and skills with organizations and communities. Students will develop competencies related to larger system practice, such as networking, community needs assessment, organizational theory and dynamics, larger system planned change processes, program evaluation, social action, community planning, grant writing, and supervision. Prerequisite: SWK370. Open only to Social work majors. (4 credits)

The intent of this course is to introduce students to the philosophical issues related to social work practice. Areas of study include a critical analysis of the profession's role in society, and the relationships between social work values, its ethical guidelines, its knowledge base and research, and its practice skills. The course concludes with an analysis of the ethical and non-ethical issues facing practitioners and the various approaches to resolving ethical dilemmas.Prerequisites: SWK140, 231, and 370, or permission of instructor.(3 credits)

This course is designed to complement the student's field placement and provide a forum in which to discuss field experiences-work assignments, problems, and ethical and non-ethical issues. The goal for this course is to help students make systematic associations between theory and practice in working with different population groups in various work settings.Prerequisites: SWK370, 376, and 386.(2 credits)

This is a field course which gives students the opportunity to practice generalist social work skills in a professional setting. The field sites are diverse, ranging from child and family services to mental health, community development and school social work. Emphasis is placed on introducing students to diverse ethnic, racial, sex and age-related group lifestyles and orientations.Prerequisites: SWK370, 376 and 386.(10 credits)

An introduction to the structure and function of the human body.(4 credits)

This is an introductory course in economics which will cover both microeconomics and macroeconomics topics. The course will explore economic institutions, how they came to be, how they have changed over time, and how the government modifies them.(4 credits)

This course examines the political relationships between the federal, state and local levels of U.S. government. Though we focus primarily on state and local governments and policy making, we also seek to determine which level of government is best suited to address the different social and economic problems. The role of the Christian in politics is also explored. (2 credits) (American politics)

This course is an overview of the field of psychology and includes topics such as biological bases of behavior, learning and memory, motivation and emotion, human development, personality, intelligence, abnormal behavior and therapy. The course emphasizes methodologies including observation, correlational and experimental as they are used in the study of psychology. A major purpose is to have the student struggle with the question, "What is psychology?" Finally, this course provides students with the necessary background in psychology to move on to other more advanced topics in the field.(4 credits)

This course acquaints the student with basic empirical research techniques in the behavioral sciences including political science, psychology, social work and sociology. The course aims to enable the student to function as a conductor and a consumer of behavioral science research. Techniques include: observation, questionnaire and survey, interview, single-subject designs, qualitative research, and experimental and quasi-experimental methodologies. Topics include: descriptive and basic inferential statistics, sampling methods and research ethics. Prerequisites: PSY111, SOC101, PSC101, or PSC105, and fulfillment of the general education math requirement. (4 credits)

An introduction to sociology, its major concepts, tools and perspectives. This course provides an understanding of societies, of culture, of major social institutions such as the family, religion, and education, of social inequality, and of social change.(4 credits)

This course emphasizes the improvement of public speech habits and the development of proficiency in the organization and presentation of ideas.(2 credits)