Undergraduate Courses
| Undergraduate Courses | Course Description |
|---|---|
| SOWK 200: Introduction to Social Welfare | SOWK 200 provides an introduction to the perspectives, concepts, and theoretical foundations of social welfare in Canada, including an analysis of the institutional structures of social welfare in the modern state. |
| SOWK 201: Introduction to Social Work Practice | This course introduces the field of social work. The knowledge, skills, values and ethics of social work practice are reviewed. Diverse forms of social work practice are introduced, and various perspectives for understanding the context of individual and social problems are presented. As an important aspect of developing a professional identity is an understanding of the social and environmental factors that contribute to personal development, a key component of the course will be on developing greater self-awareness. Students will be required through reflective questions to examine what they bring to these relationships in terms of values. |
| SOWK 305C: Topics in Social Work Practice (Community) | SOWK 305C (Community) is a required course and is open only to students accepted to the School of Social Work. The course is an exploration of a core elements of social work practice methods and the corresponding development of fundamental competencies necessary to prepare the student for entry-level generalist practice in a variety of settings. Students will develop introductory knowledge, skills and awareness of values necessary for the provision of professional services to communities within the framework of generalist practice; the change process; and the impact of diversity and oppression (issues related to culture, race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability). Generic principles and generalist practice will serve as an organizing function for the course. Generalist practice methods are developed through understanding and developing innovative problem-solving skills: discovering, utilizing and making connections to arrive at unique, responsive solutions. The key components of the change process in generalist practice will be addressed. The course will reinforce the development of basic competencies in practice theory underpinning the skills necessary to the generalist helping role. Specific theories of community development will form the foundational theory development in this course. |
| SOWK 305G: Topics in Social Work Practice (Groups) | Social workers interact with individuals, families, groups, and communities, adjusting their methods to meet diverse needs and improve the functioning of social contexts. Group work is essential in this effort, addressing both individual and collective aspects. In this course, you will acquire fundamental knowledge, practical experience, and essential skills, as well as an understanding of the values and theories required for effective group work practice. You will learn innovative group work skills guided by the principles of generalist practice. You will reinforce your competencies in practice theory through experiential learning and assignments. Key topics covered include understanding group development stages and dynamics, exploring mutual-aid, relational-cultural, and empowerment models, and developing effective facilitation strategies and leadership skills. Additionally, you will address the impact of diversity and oppression on group work, differentiate between task-oriented and treatment-oriented groups, and navigate ethical dilemmas and professional responsibilities in group work practice. In SOWK 305G, you will learn about the theories, concepts, and experiences essential for understanding group dynamics and developing effective group skills. This course emphasizes the range of group work, from individual to social change goals, and will provide you with the specific skills and strategies required for successful group facilitation. |
| SOWK 305I: Topics in Social Work Practice (Working with Individuals and Families) | Examinations of the foundation, knowledge, and competencies underlying various topics in generalist social work practice. Enrolment is limited to students in the B.S.W. program. |
| SOWK 310A: Interviewing Skills | This course provides students with a foundation of the values, knowledge and skills used to communicate in a professional social work context. The course will focus on a counselling session as a means to understand and apply the skills of ethical and effective interpersonal communication within a helping relationship. The skills of attending and focusing will be given primary emphasis, and skills of intervention, secondary emphasis. Through assigned readings, lecture and class discussion, role-play, video recording and other exercises, students will be introduced to the core values, principles and skills of interpersonal communication. Emphasizing experiential learning and reflective practice, the course is designed to assist students to make conscious use of a range of communication skills. The salience of race, culture, gender and class, as well as tailoring conversations to the specific needs of the individuals and systems within which we work, will constitute a primary emphasis of the course. Various feedback opportunities will be utilized to enable students to explore and critically evaluate their developing skills in a variety of contexts. This course serves as a preparation for all field education courses. This course is closely related to the SOWK 305I Topics in Social Work Practice course. The knowledge, values and skills in interpersonal communication will be integrated with the generalist approach to social work practice. |
| SOWK 315: Practicum I | The purpose of SOWK 315 is to learn the core elements of social work, with a focus on macro social work practice and social justice. All students will be placed in a community agency and will contribute to community priorities and the amelioration of complex community-based challenges. The practicum experience will also support the development of competencies necessary for generalist social work practice. |
| SOWK 316: Integrative Seminar in Social Work Theory, Policy & Practice | This course is designed to facilitate the integration of students’ learning from field, practice, and theory courses for the purposes of their professional development. It provides students the opportunity to critically reflect upon their practicum experience, monitor their practice development and make connections among the ethical, theoretical and skill elements of social work practice. This course complements and builds on the Interviewing Skills course (SOWK 310) and Field Education component (SOWK 315), providing the student the opportunity to integrate social work theory along with their practice skill development. Students who withdraw from SOWK 315 are also required to do so from SOWK 316. |
| SOWK 325: Indigenous Peoples and Critical Social Work Analysis | The purpose of this course is to provide students with knowledge and skills which will enhance their capacity to work with First Nations, Métis and Inuit by engaging in critical analysis of the social, political and economic context of European/Canadians and First Nations, Inuit and Métis relations. The historical and contemporary relationship between European/Canadians and First Nations, Métis and Inuit over the past five hundred years will be analyzed in terms of the social/psychological impact upon First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, families and their communities. As well, the trajectory of Canadian policies/legislation aimed at Indigenous peoples and factors contributing to child abuse, family breakdown, violence against women and children, and drug and alcohol use are all considered with attention to implications for social work practice. Past and current influences of social work practice in justice/corrections, health, education, employment, economic development, self-government and Indigenous peoples’ rights are also considered within a holistic framework which can inform effective practice with First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, families and communities. |
| SOWK 335: Social Analysis for Social Work Practice | This course will explore theories, key concepts and methods to support our ability to analyze and understand privilege, discrimination and oppression in the context of Social Work practice. We will examine how ableism, ageism, capitalism, cisnormativity, classism, colonialism, heterosexism, patriarchy, racism and other systems of oppression intersect to create social locations, violence, oppression, and political resistance. Our approach will be guided by critical theories, structural theory, anti-oppressive practices, and the empowerment perspective. Throughout the course, you will gain the skills to conduct a comprehensive and insightful social analysis. You will improve your ability to understand complex situations by participating in personal, cultural, and structural (PCS) analysis. This analysis will explore the relationships between individual and societal factors within different structural contexts. By the end of the course, you will have developed a forward-thinking theoretical and practical framework that can assist you in understanding and working with individuals, families, and groups. |
| SOWK 337: Culture and Race in Social Work | Informed by critical cross-cultural and antiracist approaches, this course will provide an overview of issues and approaches inherent in social work scholarship and practice with diverse ethnocultural groups/racialized newcomers within the context of settler Canadian multiculturalism and immigration. More specifically, the course will: |
| SOWK 400: Canadian Social Policy | This course provides students with an understanding of the concepts and techniques of policy analysis, ideological and economics factors influencing policy and key structures, policies and issues in Canadian social policy and, how social workers can affect policy change. |
| SOWK 405: Social Work Practice II | This course builds on the practice foundations for generalist practice established in SOWK 305. Students will continue their learning by examining more advanced social work skills by using research and collaborative processes, critical thinking and structural analysis based on theories and interventions from a wide range of perspectives that can be applied to different practice settings with individuals, families, groups, and communities. The course uses a collaborative learning community model focusing on relational-collaborative-dialogical perspectives, inviting students to co-create the course, to share responsibility, and to engage in learning with each other and the instructor. |
| SOWK 415: Practicum II | The purpose of SOWK 415 is to build on the learning in SOWK 315 and to enhance the development of theoretical knowledge and applied skills, values, and ethics at the macro, mezzo and micro levels, which are expected of a beginning social work practitioner. Students will be placed in a wide range of organizations delivering such services as health care, family and child welfare, addiction, and others. Students will conclude the practicum with the demonstration of competencies necessary for generalist social work practice. |
| SOWK 416: Advanced Integrative Seminar in Social Work Theory, Policy and Practice | Building on third-year practice courses, particularly SOWK 316, this course is designed to continue to facilitate the integration of students' learning from field, practice, and theory courses for the purposes of their professional development. It will provide students with the opportunity to critically reflect on their practicum experience, monitor their practice development and develop practice skills within the context of social work values and ethics. Students will start to make connections between thinking, feeling, and doing in relation to being a social worker. |
| SOWK 420: Introduction to Social Work Research | Theory and conduct of social research as applied to social welfare and social work practice. Development of social work research questions and design of studies. |
| SOWK 440B: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Social Work Theory and Practice in Addictions) | This course will provide learners with a theoretical, ethical and skills foundation for social work practice in the field of addiction. The essentials of direct practice in the context of the structural, political and policy dimensions of addiction will be emphasized. A social justice, strengths-based, harm reduction orientation to substance use and addiction will be applied. The course is divided into a number of different themes, specifically: (1) A harm reduction-based approach to practice in the field of addiction will be examined and emphasized. (2) Social Justice will be explored throughout this course. Our society’s primary response to illegal drug use and addiction is through the criminal justice system. The evidence shows that this approach has failed. A new model based on social work, human rights and public health principles will be examined. (3) Mainstream and emergent models of practice at the individual, family, group, community and policy levels will be examined. (4) A number of practice models to addiction treatment will be explored. Selected emergent models of practice will also be discussed. Learners in this course will allow students to familiarize themselves with the concept of addiction from a range of theoretical perspectives, with an emphasis on a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-environmental understanding of addiction. |
| SOWK 440C: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Communities, Social Development and Community Organizing: Debates, Approaches and Fields of Practice) | Together in this course, we will find and create the knowledge and skills necessary for Community Organizers to play critical roles in addressing oppression and building healthy communities through activism, social development and social change. By engaging in Project-Based Learning, you will develop projects with a Community Organizing perspective to tackle social and environmental issues. This approach will allow you to apply theory directly, gain knowledge from experience, and gain project experience. We will examine different frameworks, methods, and tools and discuss their applicability in different contexts. This course will critically examine community organizing and social development as components of a broader set of critical social praxis and processes. |
| SOWK 440H: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Social Work and the Law) | This course provides an introduction to Canadian and British Columbia Law as it intersects with the practice of Social Work. We will exam some of the many critical perspectives on law, the legal system and the legal processes that interact with our professional practice. Students will critically examine the interaction of ethics, laws, the culture of law, and the culture of social work. Since this course is an introduction to these concepts, only a few areas of law will be examined. These will include freedom of information; human rights; criminal and youth justice; mental health; disability; health care consent, and adult guardianship. |
| SOWK 440J: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Global Mental Health: Praxis in a Global Setting) | Global mental health: praxis course introduces to students an emerging and important global mental health field. Global mental health is an area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide (Patel, 2012). This elective will introduce students to advanced competencies in global health practice and research, such as the global burden of mental health, social and economic determinants of mental health, the globalization of biomedical psychiatry, global mental health governance, human rights, and equity. Students will discuss practical and ethical challenges in delivering care in low-resource settings, describe tools, and strategies to address the needs of specific vulnerable populations, especially urban refugees in resource limited countries. They will also examine cultural awareness and its importance in caring for a diverse population. According to the Global Burden of Diseases report, mental illness is considered to be among the top 20 diseases causing disability globally. Social workers practicing in international settings can play a role in policy development, health education and promotion, direct provision of psychosocial interventions, assessment, referral/linkage, and mobilization of self-help, mediation, advocacy, community development, public education and research. This premier global mental health course offered by UBC Social Work provides an opportunity for social workers to gain necessary knowledge and skills required to work as mental health practitioner in a global context. |
| SOWK 440K: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice) | This course builds on SOWK 310A, Communication Skills in Social Work Practice, and focuses on advanced communication skills used in social work interviews in the context of trauma informed practice. Current theories and practices regarding the neurobiological, psychophysical and socio-cultural components of trauma will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on concrete skills and strategies that have applicability to a wide variety of contexts. As well, students will learn to reduce the prevalence of secondary traumatization and enhance resiliencies for themselves, colleagues, agencies and communities. Through assigned readings, lecture, class discussion, role-play, demonstration sessions, video and other exercises, students will explore a variety of interventions and practice them. Experiential learning and reflective practice will be used to assist students to make conscious use of a range of trauma-informed advanced interviewing and communication skills. The salience of social location (including factors such as race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and others) and strengths-based social work practice will inform the discussion of interviewing and communication skills within the frameworks of trauma and attachment. |
| SOWK 440Q: Integrative Seminars in Social Work (Social Work in Health Care) | A series of seminars offered during the final term of studies which address salient issues in social policy and social work practice and draw upon combined knowledge from social work and related disciplines. This course will focus on exploring social work practice in the field of health care. Students will become knowledgeable of the roles and scope of practice of social workers in a health care setting. They will acquire knowledge about the social injustices and the economic inequities that affect the health and well-being of Canadians. Students will learn about the application of a biopsychosocial model to direct social work practice in the health care system and develop skills for engagement, assessment, and intervention for work with diverse populations presenting with a range of health and medical issues. |
| SOWK 441: Social Context of Child Development | This course will assist students in preparing to understand the ways in which the familial, physical, and social environment effects the life structures, opportunities and outcomes of epigenetic developmental processes. |
| SOWK 442: Policy and Practice in Child Welfare | SOWK 442 covers the statutory bases and practices associated with the continuum of child welfare services from prevention through permanency planning. |
| SOWK 450: Social Work Practice in Community Mental Health | This course offers a critical overview and analysis of the provision of services to mentally ill persons, with a focus on North American settings and British Columbia in particular. The content includes psychiatric concepts and terminology; explanatory models in psychiatry; diagnostic classification systems, especially the DSM; stakeholder perspectives; major policy changes past and present; medical management and psychotropic medication; an introduction to cognitive-behavioral treatments; cultural competence; and, legal and ethical issues in mental health practice. This course reviews the best practices and core competencies currently emphasized in community mental health settings in Canada. |
| SOWK 453: Disability and Justice | The intertwining themes of disability and justice present a challenge to the health and human service professional, both on an intellectual and practical level. Just how are justice issues framed in the disability context? Is the law an effective vehicle to address injustices in the lives of persons with disabilities? What are the obligations of the health professional to push the justice agenda? If so, does this conflict with other responsibilities in the role of the professional? The course will take a cross disability approach, focusing on shared socio-economic issues. We take a narrative/life course/systems approach, introducing students to the key challenges and issues faced by individuals with disabilities and their families as they progress through the life course. As far as possible, the course will be grounded in the lived experience of people with disabilities and their families as they engage with professionals, the service system and society. |
Graduate Courses
| MSW Courses | Course Description |
|---|---|
| SOWK 521: Social Work Practice in Addictions | This course will provide learners with a theoretical, ethical and skills foundation for social work practice in the field of addiction. The essentials of direct practice in the context of the structural, political and policy dimensions of addiction will be emphasized. A social justice, strengths-based, harm reduction orientation to substance use and addiction will be applied. The course is divided into a number of different themes, specifically: (1) A harm reduction-based approach to practice in the field of addiction will be examined and emphasized. (2) Social Justice will be explored throughout this course. Our society’s primary response to illegal drug use and addiction is through the criminal justice system. The evidence shows that this approach has failed. A new model based on social work, human rights and public health principles will be examined. (3) Mainstream and emergent models of practice at the individual, family, group, community and policy levels will be examined. (4) A number of practice models to addiction treatment will be explored. Selected emergent models of practice will also be discussed. Learners in this course will allow students to familiarize themselves with the concept of addiction from a range of theoretical perspectives, with an emphasis on a bio-psycho-social-spiritual-environmental understanding of addiction. This course is cross listed with SOWK 440B. |
| SOWK 524A: Social Services Management | Management and leadership in social service organizations profoundly shapes both worker wellbeing and direct social work practice. In this course, students will deepen their understanding of organizations, organizational change processes, and contemporary issues in public and non-profit organizations. Students will also engage theories and discourses of management (for this course, defined as a job role) and leadership (for this course, defined as a sensibility or approach) towards developing personal leadership narratives grounded in social work values including social justice, decolonization, and an ethic of care. The course will provide students with knowledge and skills for leadership and management positions in public and non-profit organization. |
| SOWK 525: Advanced Social Work Practice: Mental Health | This course builds on students’ foundational social work knowledge and skills and seeks to develop advanced competencies in the provision of mental health services. Course content includes discussions on biomedical and recovery models; engagement and relationship-building; assessment and diagnosis; and treatment-related strategies. The emphasis of this course is the enhancement of students’ perceptions, experiences, attitudes, knowledge and skills in clinical social work through extensive case discussions, exploration of some current best practices, and critical analysis of actual issues and concerns that the students face. As such, this course uses participatory, dialogic, and transformative processes to ensure the relevance of content and process to students’ realities and replicates the philosophy and approaches to the provision of mental health services advanced by this course. |
| SOWK 526A: Social Work Practice with Individuals and Couples | This course provides advanced training in direct practice with individuals. Grounded in social work perspectives, values and ethics, the course focuses on how to enter practice with individuals in ways that are respectful and honour the strengths, vulnerabilities, goals and needs of the client system while being responsive to the many contexts of clients’ lives. Special attention is given to positive engagement, creation of a therapeutic alliance and case conceptualization. Students are prepared for work in various settings addressing a range of emotional, behavioural and mental health concerns through the applied exploration of evidence-based theoretical/practice models. Students are supported to connect with their own competence, compassion and hope and to develop self-awareness and intentionality. |
| SOWK 528A: Social Work Practice with Groups | This course provides knowledge of and experience in working with groups as systems. It includes assessment of dynamics as well as developing skills in intervention modalities appropriate for working with various types of groups. This course aims to prepare advanced graduate students to provide psychotherapeutic and psycho-educational group interventions. The focus of the course will relate primarily to services for those who are dealing with mental health disorders and/or psychosocial stressors. |
| SOWK 529A: Communities and Social Development: Debates, Approaches and Fields of Practice | Together in this course, we will find and create the knowledge and skills necessary for Community Organizers to play critical roles in addressing oppression and building healthy communities through activism, social development and social change. By engaging in Project-Based Learning, you will develop projects with a Community Organizing perspective to tackle social and environmental issues. This approach will allow you to apply theory directly, gain knowledge from experience, and gain project experience. We will examine different frameworks, methods, and tools and discuss their applicability in different contexts. This course will critically examine community organizing and social development as components of a broader set of critical social praxis and processes. This course is cross listed with SOWK 440C. |
| SOWK 531: Social Work Practice in the Field of Aging | The purpose of this course is to develop a critical model for Social Work Practice in the field of aging, which incorporates attention to intra-personal, interpersonal and structural issues associated with aging. The focus will be on discussing and critically analyzing issues related to practice with older adults, their families and those who work with them. Students will be exposed to a range of topics intended to stimulate conversation, promote an unsettling of assumptions of what it means to age and ‘be old’, and tease out how theory is used to inform Social Work practice. The goal is for students to begin to explicate an advanced-level practice model for working in the field of aging that is grounded in ideas of social justice and human rights. |
| SOWK 532A: Social Work Practice with Families | This course considers the family context as a system for therapeutic intervention. The family unit and its diverse forms are defined; theories for assessment and understanding family's interactions across the lifespan are considered, and the alternative modalities useful for treating families are presented. As a practice-oriented course, it emphasizes the development of professional skills in working with the family across the lifespan. |
| SOWK 550: Social Work and Social Justice | Social justice is a major organizing concept for professional social workers in wealthy state contexts, but what counts as justice and how we might achieve it are highly debated. This course takes up social justice as an intergenerational inheritance and unfinished project that will continue to change over our lifetimes. Social work in settler Canada primarily developed in relation to the state- and human-focused imaginary of the 20th century. 21st century social work is increasingly challenged by geopolitical and environmental concerns that extend beyond these traditional foci. At the same time, late liberalism – liberalism responsive to evolving challenges from anti-colonial and social movements – rolls out successive waves of fragmented and contradictory equity initiatives with mixed effects. It is an intense cultural moment to try to comprehend, let alone intervene in. This course will help scaffold these major shifts and debates. The weekly topic and lesson structure will introduce historical and philosophical foundations, along with major concepts and debates. Assigned reading will focus on specific nodes of justice work, and course assignments allow students to explore their specific areas of interest in more depth. |
| SOWK 551: Health and Social Care Praxis | The course uses a case-based learning approach and aims to develop skills needed for effective social work in health care settings. The course examines multi-level methods of intervention, including health promotion, disease prevention, assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, continuing care, and discharge planning. The course emphasizes the importance of the social determinants of health and incorporates readings and activities aimed at promoting competence, empowerment, and social justice among patient populations. The course will consider the impact of socio-cultural factors on health and well-being, the significance of family relationships and resources in the management of chronic and complex health conditions, and interventions that support individual and family capacity to adapt to acute health crises or chronic health conditions. |
| SOWK 553C: Quantitative Methods in Social Work Research | This course provides an overview of methodologies that can be used in social work inquiry with a focus on quantitative methods. Students will learn how to design a study, conduct analyses of data, and interpret appropriately research findings. |
| SOWK 554C: Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research | This course provides an overview of research questions, designs and methods relevant to social work inquiry using qualitative methods. This subject will: • introduce students to the practice and theory of designing a research project; • engage with a range of qualitative research strategies, methods and forms of analysis; • enable a broad-based discussion of qualitative research issues, including the purposes and audiences of research, and the ethical conduct of research. As a result of successfully completing this course students should be able to: 1. identify and critically review relevant literature, assessing both findings and methods; 2. understand elements of qualitative research design, including justification of the choice of research topic; articulation of a theoretical perspective; understanding of the relationship between different kinds of research questions and approaches to answering them; capacity to identify the key characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of a range of research methods; and identification of potential ethical issues in research; 3. understand a range of data collection methods; 4. develop critical skills as a research consumer; 5.undertake the dissemination of research findings to contribute to knowledge and inform practice and policy. Consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (2018), it is expected that in developing their research questions and study designs, students take into account diversity in relation to Aboriginal ancestry, immigrant status, race, national or ethnic origin, social class, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age and disability. |
| SOWK 559: Advanced Integrative Seminar | This course is designed to facilitate the integration of students’ learning in their field practicum with their learning in practice, research, policy and theory courses. The purpose of the course is to promote advanced professional development. The course will provide students the opportunity to critically reflect upon their academic learning experiences, to analyze their development in their graduate studies, and to incorporate theories, policies, and practices into their work. This is a required course and is open only to graduate students in the School of Social Work. |
| SOWK 560C: Directed Field Studies in Social Work II | The purpose of SOWK 560 is to develop the competencies necessary for generalist social work practice, including the theoretical knowledge, applied skills, values and ethics expected at a foundation level of professional training. |
| SOWK 570B: Directed Studies in Social Work (Advanced Indigenous Peoples and Critical Social Work) | The purpose of this course is to provide students with knowledge and skills to enhance their capacity to work with First Nations, Inuit and Métis by engaging in critical analysis of the social, political and economic context of European/Canadians and First Nations, Inuit and Métis relations. The historical and contemporary relationship between European/Canadians and First Nations, Métis and Inuit over the past five hundred years will be analyzed in terms of the social/psychological historical and current impact upon First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, families and communities. As well, the trajectory of Canadian policies/legislation aimed at Indigenous peoples and factors contributing to child abuse, family breakdown, violence against women and children, and drug and alcohol use are all considered with attention to implications for social work practice. Past and current influences of social work practice in justice/corrections, health, education, employment, economic development, self-government and Indigenous peoples’ rights are analyzed within a wholistic framework which can inform effective practice with First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, families and communities. |
| SOWK 571A: International Social Development | Global mental health: praxis course introduces to students an emerging and important global mental health field. Global mental health is an area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide (Patel, 2012). This elective will introduce students to advanced competencies in global health practice and research, such as the global burden of mental health, social and economic determinants of mental health, the globalization of biomedical psychiatry, global mental health governance, human rights, and equity. Students will discuss practical and ethical challenges in delivering care in low-resource settings, describe tools, and strategies to address the needs of specific vulnerable populations, especially urban refugees in resource limited countries. They will also examine cultural awareness and its importance in caring for a diverse population. According to the Global Burden of Diseases report, mental illness is considered to be among the top 20 diseases causing disability globally. Social workers practicing in international settings can play a role in policy development, health education and promotion, direct provision of psychosocial interventions, assessment, referral/linkage, and mobilization of self-help, mediation, advocacy, community development, public education and research. This premier global mental health course offered by UBC Social Work provides an opportunity for social workers to gain necessary knowledge and skills required to work as mental health practitioner in a global context. This course is cross listed with SOWK 440J. |
| SOWK 572A: Child and Family: Policy and Practice | This is a graduate course focused on child and family policy and practice, with the aim of helping students to develop a social justice framework consistent with the theory, values and skills of child and family social work. The course will critically examine a range of contemporary social policy and practice issues that affect the lives of children and young people, their caregivers, and their communities. The course emphasizes evidence-based social work and critical thinking to determine what policies and practices are best suited to address the needs of children and families in communities. Thus, the main goal of the course is to provide a foundation for child and family policy and practice within a social justice framework, by examining a range of issues pertinent to social work with children and families. Because the course is at the graduate level, and students are likely to be employed in situations where their ability to think critically and communicate clearly about the issues is crucial, there will be an emphasis on the strengthening of students’ presentation skills (written and oral) throughout the course. Thus, the course format will be interactive and success for all (including the instructor) will depend on the full participation of each person in critically examining all issues and in presenting their research and views in an effective manner. |
| PhD Courses | Course Description |
|---|---|
| SOWK 570D: Directed Studies in Social Work | This course is a general introduction to central issues in contemporary epistemology or the nature of knowledge. The course focuses on some of the central questions of philosophy pertaining to the nature and sources of knowledge, the limits of knowing, the legitimization of knowledge and knowers, embodied knowledge, knowledge as tangled web of power relations, situated knowledge, and epistemic violence. These questions and the ensuing conversations will be explored from interdisciplinary perspectives. Their relevance in a social work doctoral program relates to the importance of understanding the power of knowledge and our responsibilities as knowledge creators and consumers. Directly related to issues of knowledge creation are the more pragmatic questions of how epistemological perspectives and choices affect how you will carry out your own dissertation research. Thus, the course will include modules on research design which will punctuate our more philosophical discussions. Epistemological content is organized into three major themes: Critical engagement with Eurocentric epistemologies; anticolonial, postcolonial and Indigenous epistemologies; and postmodern and post-structural approaches to knowing. Basic elements of research design are introduced at the course commencement and then the research design implications of each of the above major themes will conclude each course section. As this is a doctoral course, our learning plan is open and can be modified according to your needs and interests. We will engage in periodic check-ins to determine whether this course plan is meeting your learning needs. |
| SOWK 601: Social Work Doctoral Seminar | This seminar is intended to assist students in developing academic and professional skills and to provide a forum to develop, discuss and critically examine aspects of their own and their colleagues’ research. The seminar is concerned with providing students with an environment to explore ways to develop original scholarship and disseminate their work. Students will have an opportunity to present and get feedback on ideas of their thesis as well as substantive papers on topics drawn from their theoretical framework, methodology or comprehensive papers. They will also have the opportunity to develop skills in key academic transferable skills in research, teaching, grant applications, conference presentations and publication. |
| SOWK 621: Theory, Ideology and Ethics | This course is designed to help incoming social work PhD students better understand the university, the organization of social science and humanities disciplines, generational shifts in which theories and ideas capture popular attention, and some of the major contemporary challenges to the elite knowledge work of the state-sponsored university. The first part of the course looks at the historical and geopolitical nature of the university as an institution and how university branches and disciplines are structured and focused. This initial foundation will help us engage with interdisciplinary academic social work as a historical and cultural phenomenon. The second part of the course looks at the generational structure of academic knowledge and explores major interdisciplinary and inter-generational shifts in social theory (called “turns”). This second domain of learning will help us locate our investments and research interests within a broader universe of shifting ideas and competing claims about academic knowledge work. The third and final part of the course will introduce some of the major current challenges to the elite knowledge work of the university, including evolving debates about equity, diversity and inclusion, decolonization and monoculturalism, and anthropocentrism. Overall, this first course is intended to invite new scholars into the work of the university and questions of disciplinary reproduction, challenge and change, while also providing an advanced introductory grounding from which to identify relevant elective courses and further develop specific doctoral research interests. |
| SOWK 654: Advanced Qualitative Inquiry | The focus of this course is to develop an in depth and rigorous understanding of a wide range of approaches to qualitative research. It provides a critical reflective approach to research in the social sciences and seeks to support you in defining your epistemological and ontological perspective with a particular focus on positioning qualitative research approaches. Attention will be paid to the interpretive, political and critical nature of knowledge production in qualitative research. |