Although their research interests are diverse, Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) faculty members, students and research partners share something in common: a focus on advancing social justice. We live this mission every day through research and scholarship that spans social work practice, policy and system reform.
Assistant Professor Tyrone Hamler studies health inequities, chronic illness, aging, and the intersection of mental and physical health, including health equity in kidney disease for older Black Americans.
GSSW’s new Institute for Animal Sentience & Protection will expand the understanding of the cognitive and emotional capabilities of nonhuman animals and advance their protection.
Assistant Prof. Sophia Sarantakos focuses their research, writing and organizing on how professionalized social-change work — including social work — can be shaped to serve an abolitionist horizon.
Faculty Book Spotlight
Ecosocial Work
New book co-edited by Associate Professor of the PracticeRachel Forbes encourages social workers to advocate for environmental justice.
Understanding and Effectively Utilizing Experiential Therapy
New book by Professor Nicole Nicotera and Associate Professor Julie Anne Laser that offers a trauma-sensitive, mindfulness-based approach to Experiential Therapy with 10 practical steps and 32 ready-to-use activities.
New book edited by ProfessorJohnny Kim. This step-by-step training manual guides readers through the clinical practice of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) for use with families.
Community needs and assets shape our research and scholarship agenda. For example, we host 16 intervention research studies and collaborate with 128 research partners. With support from 10 public and private partners statewide. Community partners also invest in our work, as do local, state and national foundations and agencies, funding $8.4 million in research expenditures in 2024-25.
