Social Work Club

The Social Work Club will is hosting a club meeting / ice cream social in the Claremont Building tonight (8/31). The meeting will be held downstairs and starts at 6:00 p.m.

For those students who may not have had reason to visit the Claremont Building and its beautiful brand-new classrooms yet, it's located right between the Burger King and the car wash on Claremont Ave. 

See you this evening!

Faculty Thoughts

From Prof. Vimont:

For many professors, summer time is an opportunity to present papers and research findings at conferences and workshops. I had an opportunity to do just that at the National Institute on Social Work and Human Services in Rural Areas held in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Because my dissertation concerned youths living in rural areas it was a perfect forum to present my research findings related to youth assets and substance use. Unlike many conferences that are held at large hotels and attended my hundreds if not thousands of professionals, this conference was held at the local university, Northwestern State University, and attended by approximately 200 social workers from around the world.

(Check out the slideshow Prof. Vimont used for the conference here!)

The slide show provides an overall summary regarding salient ideas presented during my presentation titled, Exploring the Relationship Between Youth Assets and Substance Use Among Rural Youths: A Cohort Study of Change and Transition. The goal is to transform this presentation into a formal research manuscript to be published on the online publication of The Journal of Contemporary Rural Social Work.

Faculty Thoughts

From Prof. Stratton:

Prof. Stratton in Zermatt, Switzerland

I had the chance to travel in several countries this summer. Being in different cultures, where daily activities and customs are different from what is familiar to me, was a great opportunity for me to think about our own Midwestern American practices. My daughter who is living in Germany now warned me not to make eye contact and say hi strangers on the street because Germans are much more reserved than Americans and are put off by such uninvited familiarity. I learned to pass strangers without giving them any acknowledgement, but I never felt good about it. Now I am happy to be home, where I can smile and say hello to a stranger and maybe even have a bit of conversation. I know we are not going to have a long-term connection, but being friendly just seems to me to be respectful. However, I realize that if I am interacting with someone from another culture, I could seem disrespectful to them by following my own customs without knowing anything about their customs. I guess this is a good lesson in the importance of informing oneself about other cultural practices and not assuming that one’s own way of doing things is the best way or the only acceptable way.

For more on the benefits of travel and AU's study abroad program you can start here!

Article: A Decade of Social Work Today - 10 Trends That Transformed Social Work

The bi-monthly publication Social Work Today celebrates its 10 year anniversary issue with a great article about the top 10 trends that are shaping the field of social work in today's world. Concise and thoughtful, Christina Reardon, MSW, LSW, touches on many of the reasons social work is vital in maintaining the health of individuals and communities, evolving with the challenges of the modern world to provide much needed care.

Check out the full article here!