Program Overview

MSW Certificate in Global Social Work

The Global Social Work Certificate is designed to help students understand global connections and perspectives. Through a series of courses, specialized monthly in-service experiences, and internship projects, students will gain the skills and knowledge needed to work cross-culturally, either at home or abroad.

Program Overview

The certificate is open to Denver Campus MSW students and can be completed concurrently with their MSW program. The program features a series of courses, including:

• Global Cultural Perspectives: Ethical Considerations
• Global Social Change
• Global Trauma

Learning Outcomes

Through the Global Social Work Certificate, students will:

• Further their understanding of relationship-based work done in conjunction with local communities
• Explore appropriate roles for working internationally
• Weigh ethical considerations when working in a community other than one's own
• Examine injustices and inequalities in the context of domestic and international policies and agreements
• Reflect on the need to avoid the "white savior complex"
• Learn to approach international social work from a place of humility and decenter their own lens

Career Options

By completing the Global Social Work Certificate, students will graduate with an additional professional credential and a competitive advantage in their job search. Career options may include:

• Working on issues connected to refugees both domestically and internationally
• Human rights advocacy at the international, national, and local level
• Working with nongovernmental organizations and local, regional, and national governments on sustainable development projects
• Working on projects connected to economic development locally, nationally, and internationally
• Working on universal issues such as HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and lasting COVID-19 impact

Featured Courses

Global Cultural Perspectives: Ethical Considerations

This course examines the values and ethics of social work practice in a global context of power, privilege, and oppression. Students will develop practice skills to enhance the health, well-being, and sustainability of communities.

Global Social Change

This course provides an introduction to the history of international social development and current needs for a shift in human priorities toward regenerative development. Students will grow their knowledge of policymaking for global human security and the practice skills required for local social development.

Global Trauma

This course examines the ways in which people collectively experience traumatic events and the role of social work in prevention, advocacy, and intervention. Students will explore the role of international and national policies and communities in causing situations that result in collective trauma as well as their response to it.