Welcome to the Faculty of Social Work
The Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University offers professional social work programs at the Master and Doctoral levels. Since 1966, the Faculty has developed a national and international reputation for teaching excellence and research, as well as a commitment to advanced scholarship, community development and practice competence.
The Master of Social Work Program aims to educate students in advanced social work scholarship and practice in three fields of study: Individuals, Families and Groups; Community, Policy, Planning and Organizations; and Aboriginal Studies. The PhD program in Social Work prepares students for leadership roles in education, research and specialized areas of practice.
We are located in downtown Kitchener amongst neighbouring community agencies, and enjoy strong partnerships in the social services sector both in research and in practice opportunities for students.
FSW is committed to providing a respectful, inclusive learning environment made up of social work clinicians, researchers and community collaborators. We are governed through a committee structure which includes representation from students, alumni and practicum instructors.
Whether you are a prospective student, current student, field placement agency, continuing ed. participant, Alumni, friend or community partner, we hope that you find this website useful.
Sincerely,
Lesley Cooper, Dean
Click here to request an Admissions Guide 2010 which includes MSW and PhD admissions and program information.
|
Deena was a veteran social work practitioner prior to completing a PhD and joining the faculty at Laurier. Her earlier research and publications explore the experiences of families interacting with systems: child welfare, family law, and health care. She was involved in a research project on the experiences of child welfare workers and has co-authored a number of publications on that study. More recently her focus has turned to an evolving conceptualization of “use of self” that links theoretically and methodologically to critical reflection/reflexivity in social work practice, supervision and education. She has published a book and done international teaching on this subject. Deena is an enthusiastic teacher whose latest courses include Use of Self, Practice with Individuals, Practice with Families (both levels) and a doctoral course on Writing for Publication. Together with the head of the Writing Centre, Deena developed a series of Writing Workshops for MSW students that are presented annually at the faculty.