BRYN MAWR

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research

Message from the Co-Deans

Prospective students frequently ask us why they should choose to pursue their social work degree at Bryn Mawr. There is no simple answer to that question but in attempting to respond, we say come because of our students, our faculty, our curriculum, our size, our alumnae/i, and the Bryn Mawr College community as a whole.

We have a wonderfully diverse student body that includes recent undergraduates who bring a freshness and enthusiasm along with rich volunteer and internship experiences; seasoned social workers who bring wisdom from their years of work in human services fields such as child welfare, mental health, and domestic violence and now feel it is time to pursue a graduate degree; and career changers who have worked in professions as diverse as law, business, engineering, teaching, and art history but find that their passion is working with people and intervening in the social forces that affect their lives. This mix of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences make the classrooms at Bryn Mawr very special, challenging both students and faculty to think creatively, share a mutual respect and acceptance, and act inclusively.

We have a multidisciplinary faculty that along with social work includes disciplines such as economics, law, political science, sociology, psychology, and public health. This multidisciplinary orientation encourages students to examine social problems in different contexts and to seek solutions that recognize the impact of sociopolitical forces along with interpersonal and intrapsychic dynamics. Our faculty epitomizes the scholar-teacher model. Each member of our faculty is pursuing an individual research agenda and each is respected in their specific field of study, yet all faculty identify teaching as a core mission and take it as seriously and devote as much time to it as to their own scholarship.

Our curriculum is an integrated one that gets beyond the traditional dichotomy between micro and macro practice. We are committed to the notion that it is only through recognizing the confluence of practice, policy, and research that change can be effected. Our clinical students understand social welfare policy and our policy students understand human behavior. There is breath and depth in all course work. Students learn to interrogate theory, to write well, to think abstractly and critically, and to take intellectual risks. They develop confidence in themselves, competence as practitioners, and a valuing of learning as an ongoing endeavor.

We are the perfect size! With a student body of just under 300 men and women in three degree programs, we are large enough to offer a rich curriculum and a cross fertilization of ideas yet small enough to allow for a strong sense of community. Students and faculty come to know each other as colleagues, grappling with ideas in the classroom, collaborating on projects and research, and working together on committees. Although most of our students are employed in addition to going to school and many have family care responsibilities, they find time to engage each other academically and socially.

In the world beyond the campus, our alumnae/i have a meaningful impact as leaders in diverse substantive areas. They have a strong sense of professionalism, they are intellectually secure yet flexible enough to be open to the voices of others, and they are knowers and doers who can translate vision into action. Our alums quickly build bridges between the intellectual exploration and understanding of a subject and the opportunities for activism and change. They think independently and interdisciplinarily and they act collaboratively.

Finally, the Bryn Mawr College community provides an academic environment that is simultaneously intellectually intense and personally supportive. For over 90 years, our co-educational graduate school of social work has been a vital part of Bryn Mawr College, a small, premier liberal arts college for women, and while it may seem like an unlikely home for a graduate school of social work, the missions of the College and the School complement each other. Both place enormous value on critical, creative, and independent habits of thought, and both are historically committed to the pursuit of individual freedom, social and economic justice, and societal and global well-being.

We applaud your decision to consider graduate education in social work and we are delighted that you are exploring Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Education. We have been providing leadership in social work education for over ninety years. We are proud of our rich tradition and we look forward to continuing to meet the challenges ahead as we prepare social workers to provide services and shape policy.

Raymond Albert and Marcia Martin
Co-Deans

Last modified March 2008 — Bryn Mawr College GSSWSR