Social Work

About this opportunity

Social work is a career that is a commitment to support and enhance the experiences of others, with particular focus on individuals, families, and groups who experience discrimination and oppression. The ASU School of Social Work emphasizes the preparation of competent and effective practitioners who 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 social work bring experience, innovation, and practice wisdom into their classrooms and they are excited and open to engaging Barrett students in honors projects and thesis. 
Any Barrett student who is considering majoring or minoring in social work should contact the lead FHA.

Thesis

An honors thesis/creative project in social work 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 populations. All honors thesis/creative projects will require a final paper or report for submission and a defense (presentation) to the committee. All thesis/creative projects in social work require two members of the committee being 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). A third member can be from any field and degree level but needs to have an expertise in the focus are of the honors thesis/creative project.

Academic Preparation

The different types of academic preparation to successfully complete a honors thesis/creative project in social work includes working with faculty on research, engage with their internship and critically analyze the needs of the population being served, or participate 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 to identify a honors thesis chair during their junior year. This will require searching for a faculty member working in an area that interests you, interviewing faculty about their projects and if they have space for you to join their work, and consider your professors and instructors for committee members.

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors enrichment activities are created on a case-by-case basis. 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.

Contact faculty directly to determine opportunities to work with them-funding provided by the Watts College.