At the front line of community conflict is the social worker. Trained to address social injustices such as poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and lack of housing the social work profession is fine-tuned to address the needs of the communities they serve. But the world is changing and sometimes local issues don’t always require a local solution; the social work field is increasingly looking abroad to form new collaborations to solve persistent disputes, and the National Catholic School of Social work is no exception.
To highlight the international work the department is engaged in we conducted interviews with professors Grady, Koh, and Farber whose research and teaching take on an international element.
“The international course this summer will serve as a pilot, from which we can learn, build, and further develop the course for future years. We are hoping that we can expand the program to more students and maybe even possibly to other universities and countries to expand the scope of international perspectives that are included in the course.”
— Dr. Melissa Grady
What is the NCSSS program in Rome?
We are incredibly excited to launch a new initiative in Rome, Italy at the University's Rome Center stemming from a collaboration between Roma Tre (Roma 3) University and the Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic. The new course will take place in the spring/summer of 2023 and is focused on "International Social Work Responses to Social Issues." It is an opportunity for students (BSW, MSW, and PhD) to learn about different social issues, including trauma, immigration, and the criminal justice system, as well as develop a project focused on their interests. The course will be a hybrid course that will have an asynchronous component to it starting in the spring semester, and then the students will come to Rome where they learn about how social workers from different countries address various social issues. In addition, they will be paired with faculty from one of the three universities and create a project that addresses a social issue in their own country that they can take back and hopefully implement. We are incredibly excited to offer such a unique international experience where the students get to interact with social work students and faculty from other countries to learn about different ways social workers can be involved in addressing social issues.
What will you be teaching/researching?
Prior to the course in June, I will be teaching two different undergraduate courses in the spring semester of 2023. One of the courses is cross-listed with the Department of Sociology and will be focused on criminology and exploring the differences between the American and Italian criminal justice systems. The second course is cross-listed with the Department of Anthropology is an ethnography course that will provide students with the skills to explore and understand different cultures through ethnographic research methods. Both of these courses are designed to encourage students to immerse themselves in the Roman culture and take full advantage of the experience of being in Rome. We will be having guest speakers, field trips, and projects that expose and immerse students in the Roman/Italian culture.
In addition to these two courses, in May, I will also be teaching a three-week intensive course that is cross-listed with the Department of Psychology focused on Mental Wellness. This course will explore how different cultures promote and nurture wellness within society. As part of this process, the course will also explore the cultural construction of "mental illness" and the impact that mental health challenges have on individuals, families, communities, and societies as a whole. Like the other courses, we will have field trips, guest speakers, and projects that create a unique lived experience. For this course, I also obtained a grant from the Council of Social Work Education's Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education. This grant will focus on how to translate or transfer an international educational experience to those who cannot participate in an international course. I am already working with educational consultants as part of the grant to identify resources and strategies that I can use to create an online course that brings this international experience back to the US. In addition, we will be creating a resource guide and guidelines or roadmap for other instructors who would like to do the same for other international courses.
In addition to my teaching, I am really looking forward to learning more about and connecting with others who work in my research area of sexual violence prevention. I have already made some preliminary connections and will be spending my time in Rome to better understand how the country prevents and intervenes with regards to sexual violence and how I can develop research collaborations. In some of my initial conversations with others, there are some exciting opportunities for collaborations and so far, those with whom I have spoken are eager to build some partnerships. So, between these four courses, the grant, and building a research agenda, it will be a busy semester!How can NCSSS students participate?
Any undergraduate from CUA can participate in the three courses I mentioned that are focused on the undergraduates (the criminology, ethnography, and mental wellness courses). The international social work one is open to any NCSSS student and they should feel free to contact me if they want to learn more. My email is grady@cua.edu.
What does the future of the program look like?
The international course this summer will serve as a pilot, from which we can learn, build, and further develop the course for future years. We are hoping that we can expand the program to more students and maybe even possibly to other universities and countries to expand the scope of international perspectives that are included in the course. We will definitely be using student feedback to further develop the course in future years and we are really excited about this opportunity to work with the faculty from the other universities on this collaboration.
“Our school is establishing a partnership with The Catholic University of Korea. MOU has been recently signed by both universities, and different collaboration opportunities will be explored in the areas of teaching and research.”
—Dr. Eun Koh
What is your program in Korea?
Our school is establishing a partnership with The Catholic University of Korea. MOU has been recently signed by both universities, and different collaboration opportunities will be explored in the areas of teaching and research. Through this partnership, students at both universities will learn about diverse cultures and their effect on social issues and social work practices/policies.
What will you be teaching/researching?
I am involved with the project, Exploring the Self-Care Practices of Social Workers: An International Examination, in collaboration with the University of Kentucky College of Social Work and Korean Association of Social Workers. The project is part of the University of Kentucky College of Social Work's Global Self-Care initiative. The data will be collected in Korea early this year. This can open up further collaborations with organizations in other countries. Students can engage in data analysis/manuscript writing/conference presentation once data are collected.
How can NCSSS students participate and what does the future of the program look like?
I will serve as a member of International Exchange Committee at Korea Academy of Mental Health Social Work this year. This will facilitate the knowledge/information sharing and collaboration between organizations/institutions in the two countries. The specifics of this collaboration are still evolving, but I am sure that there will be opportunities for students to be engaged.
"Our discussion led to my development of a presentation in both Czech and English, which became virtually presented in December of 2022 at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. My presentation focused on "Why family-centered care in social work is important for children whose parents are behind bars,"
— Dr. Michaela L. Zajicek-Farber
What is your relationship with the NCSSS program in the Czech Republic?
I was invited to collaborate with Dr. Jitka Navratilova, Assistant Professor in Social Work at Masaryk University. This collaboration was promoted and enabled by Dean Regan when Dr. Navratilova presented her research project on "Parenting Behind Bars" at NCSSS during the Fall 2022.
Following that presentation, Dr. Navratilova and I further collaborated, and our discussion led to my development of a presentation in both Czech and English, which became virtually presented in December of 2022 at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.
My presentation focused on "Why family-centered care in social work is important for children whose parents are behind bars," while Dr. Navratilova's presentation focused on the "Experiences of children and adolescents whose parents are behind bars."
What will you be teaching/researching?
At this time, we are planning to collaborate on developing a research manuscript that focuses on children's and parents' needs in families with parents behind bars, or with parents who become incarcerated.
How can NCSSS students participate?
This project is, at this point at a faculty level, but we are hoping to bring future research findings to students' attention in the collaboration between NCSSS and Masaryk University through the CUA-Rome Center, in Rome, Italy, as this center is a seat of summer enrichment programs for students at CUA.
What does the future of your program look like?
We are going to see how many students from CUA, NCSSS, and from the Czech Republic will be participating in the summer Rome-Center experience this summer 2023, gain their feedback on their experiences, and then, we can make better-informed decisions about creating further student opportunities.