Foundation and Advanced Year Curriculum and Course Descriptions
The framework and sequencing of the MSW curriculum is guided by the Council on Social Work Education. The required courses are catagorized as either foundation or advanced. Matriculated students must successfully complete all required foundation level courses prior to enrollment in an advanced course including advanced interventions. Students may enroll in electives including those taken online at anytime.
Foundation Curriculum
The foundation curriculum at the school is categorized into five sequences: Policy and Diversity (SW500, SW503); Human Behavior in the Social Environment (SW505, SW506); Research (SW510, SW514), Interventions (SW520, SW521) and Field Education (SW 550, SW551), which includes a First Year Field Practicum Seminar.
Foundation Course Descriptions
Advanced Year Curriculum
The Advanced Year content builds upon and incorporates content from the foundation year. The advanced year curriculum provides students with the opportunity to individualize their advanced knowledge and skills in policy and practice. A unique aspect of the University at Buffalo's advanced year curriculum is that students select from a menu of advanced interventions courses, advanced topics courses, and electives. This allows students to "customize" their education to reflect their practice area interests.
The advanced year begins with a required course:
Perspectives on Trauma and Human Rights: Contemporary Theory, Research, Policy, & Practice
Through this course, students deepen their understanding of perspectives and approaches that can be taken to understand trauma and uphold human rights. Emphasis is placed on facilitating integrative and complex analyses of concepts and skills introduced in the foundation year. The course content offers students a survey of diverse ways of conceptualizing, researching, preventing, and redressing trauma and human rights violations.
Advanced Interventions Courses
The Advanced Interventions courses are aimed at cultivating advanced social work skills and practice modalities in diverse settings and with diverse systems. Students are required to take one advanced interventions course.
Advanced Interventions Course Descriptions
Advanced Topic Analysis Courses
The Advanced Topic Analysis courses reflect the School's commitment (1) to community-based practice in agency settings with diverse populations, (2) to strengthening the social functioning of people, and (3) to creating just and effective policies and programs. Students are required to take two advanced topic analysis courses.
Advanced Topic Analysis Course Descriptions
Elective Courses
Students are required to take 9 credits of electives to further enhance their knowledge and skills.
