Teaching Social Action
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Social Medical and Social Psychiatric Foundations of Social Work
Social Medical and Social Psychiatric Foundations of Social Work

Social Medical and Social Psychiatric Foundations of Social Work

Email
Breakout Group
Social Work
When Taught

October 26-March27

Status
Approved
Semester Teaching
Spring '27
Phone
Call notes

Book Sent
07/22/2026
Doing it!
School
No access
Course Plan
Existing Course
Interest

I would love to participate in this program because it seems like a great opportunity to strengthen the connection between critical social work education and collective social action, which is something I wanted to bring together for a long time. In my teaching, I focus on social medicine, social psychiatry, and the social determinants of health. I want students to move beyond understanding health inequities as individual problems and instead develop the skills to analyze and address structural causes of inequality. In my (just started) doctoral research I want to examine how clinical social workers navigate social determinants of health through an intersectional lens. I want to highlight the importance of addressing structural discrimination and unequal access to resources rather than focusing solely on individual interventions. The institute strongly resonates with my own understanding of social work as a profession that is inherently political and committed to social justice. I see participating as an opportunity to further develop my teaching and my doctoral research, while exploring how students can be supported in transforming critical reflection into collective action for social change. It is something my students and I have always talked about and I would love to finally get into it. So I hope to develop a course component that enables students to identify health-related social injustices, build community partnerships, and design campaigns that promote social change.

Staff & Faculty
No access
Experience

I haven't teached social action as a course, but social action principles are embedded throughout my teaching, research and my professional understanding of social work. I teach the module “Social Medical and Social Psychiatric Foundations of Social Work” in the Bachelor of Social Work program at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin. In this module, students critically examine the social determinants of health. We discuss how social policies, institutional structures, and intersecting forms of inequality shape health outcomes and access to care. We also cover antipsychiatric movements, which always lead to discussions about what we could do today. As said, my doctoral research focuses on intersectional opportunities for action in clinical social work and explores how practitioners address social determinants of health in their daily work. So hopefully someday I can also "teach" about the results of my thesis, as my final paper is to outline concrete courses of action within the field (group discussion). Furthermore I did teach some climate change actions with children and teenagers as a volunteer, so this could also help.

Engagement Description

e.g. - Mental health stigma and discrimination - Barriers to mental health care access - Housing insecurity and homelessness as health issues - Health inequities affecting migrants, refugees, and racialized communities - Poverty and its impact on physical and mental health - Accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities - Discrimination within health and social service systems - Youth mental health and well-being - Social isolation and loneliness - Gender-based health inequalities The specific topics would be selected by students based on community needs, stakeholder engagement, and their own interests.

Community Engagement
Social Action
Profile URL
Syllabus?
Fiscal Year
How did you hear about opportunity

I read the e-mail at Junge Wissenschaft Soziale Arbeit

Grant Category
Social Action
Publish?
Highlight
Title

M.A. Clinical Social Work

Call date
Mtg Category
SA Institute
Mtg Location
Rochester
Mtg Semester
Fall
Mtg Year
2026
SA Day 1
SA Day 2
SA Day 3
Submitted By

MichelleMayer

Submitted By Email
Mailing Address
Minutes per Session
150 min
Sessions per Week
1x/week
Type of Community Engagement
Social Action
Weeks in Semester
13
Mode
In Person
Questions

- How can social action be adapted for social work courses that focus on health and mental health? - What are effective ways to support students in moving from critical analysis to collective action? - How can community partners be meaningfully involved in social action projects? - How can social action projects be designed to avoid tokenism and ensure reciprocal community benefit? - What assessment methods best capture learning outcomes in social action courses? - How can social action assignments be integrated into existing courses with limited instructional time? - How can intersectionality be incorporated throughout the social action process, from issue selection to campaign design and evaluation?

Discipline
Social Work
MailingAddress

Send book
eBook
State Name