Jane Addams College of Social Work

The Jane Addams College of Social Work is a division of the University of Illinois at Chicago and is located at 1040 West Harrison Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7134.

Mission Statement

The Jane Addams College of Social Work carries the mission of Jane Addams and the Hull House movement forward, adapting it to the realitiesof today’s urban settings. The college’s mission is to educateprofessional social workers, develop knowledge, and provide leadershipin the development and implementation of policies and serviceson behalf of the poor, the oppressed, racial and ethnic minorities, andother at-risk urban populations. In doing this, the college values andrespects the full range of human diversity.

History

The School of Social Work was founded in 1946 on the Urbana Campus of the University of Illinois. A branch of the school was located at the UIC Medical Center. In 1961, the name of the school was changed to the Jane Addams Graduate School of Social Work. The school was moved to the Chicago Circle Campus in 1965 and renamed the Jane Addams College of Social Work due to the inclusion of an undergraduate degree program.

Academic Programs

BSW

The Bachelor of Social Work degree program is open to qualified studentswho have a liberal arts background and who are committed todeveloping professional social work knowledge, values, and skills. Theprogram is full-time in the junior and senior years and it prepares studentsfor entry-level, generalist practice with an emphasis on directservices and public sector programs.

The BSW program builds on a broad liberal arts base and includesprofessional social work courses and a supervised field experience.Curriculum areas include: social work practice, human behavior andthe social environment, social work research, social welfare policy andservices, and field instruction.

MSW

The Master of Social Work degree program develops the knowledge,values, and skills necessary for advanced social work practice in anarea of concentration.

The foundation portion of the MSW curriculum provides a generalistperspective on social work practice. Curriculum areas include: socialwork practice, human behavior and the social environment, socialwork research, social welfare policy and services, and field instruction.The concentration portion of the MSW curriculum builds upon thefoundation. Advanced curriculum content, tailored to the concentration,is provided in the areas of social work practice, human behaviorin the social environment, social work research, social welfare policyand services, and field instruction.

Ph.D.

Consistent with the Jane Addams Hull House tradition, the Ph.D. Programin Social Work is designed to support the development of scholarsof social, racial, and economic justice. Students and faculty workcollaboratively to advance knowledge in social work practice, policy,and research—knowledge that responds to critical social needs, challengesoppression, and contributes to the development of a more justsociety. The college has particular strength in the areas of criminaljustice, child welfare, minority health, HIV/AIDS, violence and violenceprevention, school social work, mental health, and substance abuse,among others.

The doctoral program at the Jane Addams College of Social Workis primarily oriented toward scholarship and knowledge building; thecollege does not offer a doctorate in clinical practice. Students take acore set of courses within the college in conjunction with interdisciplinarycourse work that supports their dissertation work. The core socialwork courses in the Ph.D. program focus on policy, planning, practicetheories, social welfare history, and research methods. Students chooseeither social policy or practice theory as an area of specialization. Commonareas of interdisciplinary focus include anthropology, economics,education, sociology, psychology, public health, urban planning, genderand women’s studies, criminal justice, industrial and labor relations,political science, and business. A dissertation is required; thetopic of the dissertation should have significance for social work theory,policy, or practice and should have the potential to contribute to advancingsocial, racial, or economic justice.

References

* University Archives Database, University of Illinois at Chicago (2007).
* http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/college/