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Highlights for the Department of Social Work in the School of Education and Social Work
Cross-Cultural Experience in South Korea – Fourteen students (BSW, MSW, and one student from Psychology) and four social work faculty members will visit South Korea for 10 days in May 2017. They are planning to visit five or six social service organizations, as well as Soongsil University, an institution where Roberts has established a Memorandum of Understanding. There will also be an opportunity to meet with North Korean refugee students who study social work at Soongsil University. In addition, they will visit the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area), located between North and South Korea. Lastly, students will visit the city of Gyeoungjoo, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Silla (57 BC-935 AD) and designated World Heritage Site, as well as the city of Andong. One exciting aspect of this trip is that all 14 Roberts students will have personal tour guides with 14 Korean volunteers for 2 full days. The guides are high school and college students who are proficient in English and would like to give the Roberts students insight into the South Korean culture.
Roberts Offering BSW Degree in New York City – The BSW program has collaborated with Testing and Training International, located in Brooklyn New York, to bring an exciting and innovative 18-month, lockstep degree-completion program to the Orthodox Jewish Community. This new program has both New York State Education and Middle States approvals. Cohort number one was successfully launched in February 2017. We are planning on launching cohorts two and three in August 2017 contingent upon meeting cohort enrollment expectations.
The Department of Social Work Supports Willow Walk and Hillsides Camp Possibilities – The Willow Walk supports survivors of domestic violence. Thirty-six people from Roberts walked in the most recent Willow Walk, and that number is expected to grow at future events. The Roberts social work community will also participate in a Saturday Service Project benefiting Camp Possibilities on April 22nd. Thirty-five individuals will help in a variety of activities to help prepare the camp for use this summer.
On Thursday, March 23rd The Department of Social Work Sponsored a lecture and conversation on race relations. The lecture was entitled “Redefining Race Relations: Meaning Well is Not Enough” and was led by MacClurg Vivian. Vivian is a Rochester-area advocate in race relations with a myriad of experience. Leading conversations on anti-racism, she developed and facilitated a workshop series titled “Unconscious Biases” in collaboration with the YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County. Vivian founded and directed “Designs for Anti-Racism Education” (DARE), a 30-hour race relations program, presented by the Downtown Presbyterian Churches and the YWCA. MacClurg believes there is a great need for re-conditioning in order to dismantle the many facets of racism. Her messages often include the notion that people must allow themselves to heal from the effects of racism in their lives in order to effectively counter the attitudes that stem from such. The College looks forward to future events discussing this important topic.
Social Work students are offered a unique opportunity to learn about values, beliefs, and social policy in Israel. Through a generous partnership with the Passages program, students now have the chance to study in Israel on a 12-day trip for only $1,000. To learn more about this cross-cultural experience, watch Professor Lori Sousa’s video where she explores issues related to values, beliefs, and social policy and talks in detail about the Israel experience.