Social Work & Community Advocacy
Tahnee Baker
About this opportunity
When you pursue a Bachelor of Social Work or a Bachelor in Community Advocacy and Social Policy, you prepare for a career in public service dedicated to promoting social justice, strengthening communities, and improving quality of life at the local, national, and global levels. The ASU School of Social Work emphasizes the preparation of competent and effective practitioners who demonstrate understanding and respect for the unique social, political, and cultural diversity of the Southwest. Opportunities for Barrett students include working with world-class scholars, creating innovative knowledge about the problems facing our world. Faculty and instructors in the department bring experience, innovation, and practice wisdom into their classrooms and they are excited and open to engaging Barrett students in honors projects and thesis work.
Thesis
An honors thesis project in social work or community advocacy has tremendous flexibility and opportunities for creativity. It can include a traditional research-based thesis where data is collected (qualitative or quantitative or both) and a report is written, it can be a literature review of an emerging topic, it can be planning and implementing a community forum or activity for a social work-related issue, or it can be building resources for a particular population. All honors thesis projects will require a final paper or report for submission and a defense (presentation) to the committee. All thesis projects require two members of the committee. The thesis director must be on the faculty of the school of social work (including tenure-track faculty, faculty of research, faculty of practice, lecturers, and instructors, but not adjuncts) for credit in the department. An optional third member can be from any field and at any degree level, with expertise in the project's focus area.
Academic Preparation
The different types of academic preparation for successfully completing an honors thesis project in social work and community advocacy include working with faculty on research, completing an internship, critically analyzing the needs of the population being served, or participating in social justice community activities. The Watts College has an undergraduate research support grant, which funds undergraduate students to work with research faculty each semester, with a research poster required after the second semester.
Recommended Timeline
We recommend that a Barrett honors student begin identifying an honors thesis director at the start of the junior year. This will require searching for a faculty member working in an area that interests you, interviewing faculty about their projects and whether they have space for you to join their work, and considering your professors and instructors for committee members.
Other Honors Opportunities
Honors enrichment contracts are created on a case-by-case basis in classes. These can include reading an additional book for a class, attending a number of community engagement activities (related to the topic of the course), and working directly with faculty on their research and service activities to build experience and skills.
College
Watts College of Public Service and Community SolutionsCampus
Downtown, West Valley, Online