GSSWSR students

M.S.S. Electives

M.S.S. electives have been designed to build on generalist-year content and enhance our two advanced specializations.

Electives are an important part of the M.S.S. curriculum, as direct service practitioners, policy analysts, advocates, and administrators all need breadth and depth for effective practice and leadership in a rapidly changing world. 

While all electives reflect the nexus among practice, policy, and research, some, such as Child Welfare: Policy, Practice, and Research; Caring for an Aging America; Social Determinants of Health; Perspectives on Inequality in the United States; and Education Law for Social Workers, are most explicit in this integration.

Other electives focus on particular intervention modalities, populations, and skills, and include the following:

  • Organizational Behavior
  • Managing the Work of Others
  • Family Therapy
  • Clinical Social Work with Children and Adolescents
  • Group Treatment
  • Social Work with Substance Abuse Disorders
  • Trauma-Informed Social Work with Children and Adolescents
  • The Queering of Social Work for Practice with LGBTQIA+ People (And Everyone)
  • Public Education Issues in School Social Work

Most elective courses build upon generalist-year knowledge and skills, and therefore, are not typically taken in the first year of study.