We also want to help our students become conversant with some of the excitement and turmoil in the epistemology of the profession - how professionals come to know what they know and how they put it into practice, with what effects on consumers. The school has a strong committment to the pursuit of social justice and to the development and use of knowledge to combat social, political, and economic oppression. The Curriculum Courses prepare students to function with conceptual and methodological sophistication. Proseminars focus on the intellectual history and current status of social work ideas and ideologies and on developing a critique and revision of that knowledge. In the research sequence, students learn both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, designs and advanced modes of analysis, and to apply them in actual situations.
Students critically consider human problems and strategies for change and transformation.
Under the direction of a faculty member, some Ph.D. students help with research projects and at the same time may serve as field instructors for M.S.W. students who are providing service in the community or agency where the research is being conducted. The program requires a minimum of 54 credit hours. In fulfilling the elective hours, students may take graduate-level courses in any substantive area or research technique necessary for successful completion of the doctoral program. Students can fulfill this requirement by taking electives in other social science disciplines in the Graduate School. Before students are certified as eligible to proceed to candidate status, they must complete course requirements and comprehensives.