Ph.D. in Social Work and Anthropology
Ph.D. in Social Work and Anthropology (SWAN) is an innovative trans-disciplinary doctoral degree in social work and anthropology. Informed by its location in Detroit, our program focuses on urban issues, both national and global, providing training in the skills, content and theory of both disciplines. Our SWAN Ph.D. program has a commitment to scholarship that is applied, practice, public or engaged. Students will be trained in the translation of basic scholarship into various strategies and methods for addressing social problems.
About the program
The SWAN is a joint doctoral program integrating a professional degree (M.S.W.), a doctorate in social work and a social science doctorate in anthropology. The SWAN Ph.D. program draws on the strengths of these disciplines to create a single doctorate degree. With a global and urban emphasis, the SWAN Ph.D. is looked to as an educational model integrating doctoral-level social science training with professionally applied skills and concepts.
Our program aims to inspire and develop leaders in research and practice dedicated to improving human life, for all, in local, national and global contexts. Social work and anthropology students will receive outstanding training in knowledge, theories and skills in anthropology and social work needed to become effective scholars, advocates and administrators.
- Background: Interdisciplinary approaches to social problems
Social work and anthropology share many similar competencies and research questions and have complementary strengths for addressing the problems facing urban populations. Anthropologists seeking professional skills and concepts needed to allow them to implement their research findings through policy development and practice will be attracted to the SWAN degree.
Social workers interested in international careers will benefit from the enhanced cross-cultural expertise, qualitative methodology and theory of the SWAN degree. SWAN will provide its graduates with the skill set required to address the significant challenges facing urban populations locally and internationally.
SWAN seeks to achieve the social science equivalent of the National Institutes of Health promoted translational science goals as a model for how to address complex social problems. Similar to how NIH envisioned the leadership role of interdisciplinary sciences for guiding innovative healthcare research and training, SWAN requires students to be cross-trained in the disciplines of anthropology and social work.
- Anthropology in the SWAN degree
Anthropology contributes to building public appreciation of humanity's cultural and behavioral variety. Turning this appreciation of human diversity into practical understanding is key for interacting with our neighbors in a globalized world, especially in urban settings. Anthropology starts with a foundational emphasis on communities, peoples and styles of life in a cultural setting. These understandings are then combined with a broader focus on the global economic and political forces shaping neighborhoods and cities. Anthropologists studying urban issues use a broad set of research tools, including contemporary ethnography, network analysis, the archaeological study of cities and cultural analysis of the built environments around the world.
Anthropology played a significant role in pioneering applied research in response to the needs of the populations studied. The applied approach to urban issues has a deep history and strong ongoing presence in the Department of Anthropology, starting with the landmark research of Emerita Barbara Aswad on immigration and community formation in metropolitan Detroit which led to the creation of ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services) in Dearborn. Applied work in anthropology will be enhanced by training in the skills of direct intervention, policy formation or community organizing associated with social work.
- Social work in the SWAN degree
Schools of social work are facing a somewhat different challenge, as students have long been trained in working in urban settings and cultural competence but are now increasingly requesting the knowledge and skills needed to work in a global context. The highest levels of the profession are now recognizing the need to train students for global work. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest international organization of professional social workers, with 145,000 members, has a commitment to international social work. NASW has a standing International Committee that assists in developing international activities and education and facilitates NASW's participation in international social work organizations.
The skillset required for international social work draws on the basic cross-cultural appreciation and an understanding of the role of culture in service delivery and policy development that defines the discipline of anthropology. Social work students seek skills and knowledge that will prepare them to work for international NGOs, the United Nations, global and local foundations and a wide range of governmental agencies. Our anthropology Ph.D. graduates have successfully found employment in these types of settings. Focused training in anthropology, led by WSU faculty with extensive international experience, will give SWAN students skills in and understanding the role of cultural beliefs, values and practices in urban issues and problems.
- Program faculty
SWAN faculty are drawn from the School of Social Work, Department of Anthropology and the Institute of Gerontology. The program features outstanding scholars with successful programs of funded research, strong publishing records and extensive community ties.
Steering Committee
What you'll learn
- Theories and interventions with an appreciation for multiple aspects of the social-ecological context.
- How diverse social-cultural and political-economic forces both shape the lives of individuals, groups, communities and institutions as well as foster inequalities.
- How values, beliefs and practices affect the development of policies, programs and the utilization and design of service delivery systems.
- Scholarly training with expert-level skills to effectively advance culturally informed and aware practice through teaching, scholarship and the development of social programs and policies.
Why Wayne State's anthropology and social work program?
Urban settings and Detroit in particular, are important centers of innovation and problem-solving. At a global level, international policy and humanitarian organizations, governments and a variety of funding agencies are increasingly focused on issues raised by the rapid urbanization of the world's population. In 1950, 30% of the world's population lived in urban settings, but that number is projected to increase to nearly 70% in 2050 (United Nations, 2009). With the greater part of the world's population, urban settings now have the majority of the world's social problems.
Detroit exemplifies some of the challenges and opportunities of growing urbanism. Detroit is undergoing changes that are garnering national and international visibility. Long known as an iconic city of postindustrial decline, Detroit is increasingly seen as a frontier for experimentation in urban recovery, particularly in areas such as land and water use and food security.
SWAN is ideally situated to engage in a synergistic partnership with the city's burgeoning, energetic and creative "grassroots sector" by training academically strong students to become both globally aware and locally engaged educators and leaders.
Ph.D. in Social Work and Anthropology program requirements and curriculum
The anthropology Ph.D. degree requires students to satisfy the graduate program requirements and overall anthropology program requirements. This degree integrates the strengths of anthropology and social work in the following areas:
- Ethnographic method
- Interdisciplinary theoretical and practical approaches to social problems
- Professional applied skills
The degree requirements draw from coursework in each field. SWAN provides a key integrative seminar in anthropology and social work. Social work and anthropology students will have mentors from each field.
Curricular goals
- Develop a thorough understanding and ability to appropriately utilize contemporary theories of culture and human behavior in their many manifestations, e.g., gender, ethnicity and structural violence.
- Understand the nature of social and political inequities, their sources and effective strategies for intervention.
- Learn the skills needed for qualitative and quantitative research, interpersonal and collaborative work.
- Demonstrate an ability to use theory to guide research development, proposal writing, data analysis, interpretation of findings and publishing of results.
Courses
- Students with a Master of Social Work
Social work: Research/theory
Course Title Credits SW 9100 Social Statistics & Data Analysis 3 SW 9210 Theories for Practice & Research with Individuals 3 SW 9220 Theories for Social Work Research & Practice with Families/Groups 3 SW 9230 Theories for Practice & Research with Communities/Organizations 3 SW 9300 Applied Regression and Linear Models 3 SW 9410 Quantitative Research in Social Work 3 SWAN: Theory
Course Title Credits SW 9697 Integrative Seminar in Social Work and Anthropology 3 ANT 7780 Conceptualizing the Dissertation 3 Anthropology: Research/theory
Course Title Credits ANT 5060 Urban Anthropology 3 ANT 5140 Biology and Culture 3 ANT 5320 Language and Society 3 ANT 5700 Applied Anthropology 3 ANT 7005 Anthropology Proseminar I 3 ANT 7010 Anthropology Proseminar II 3 ANT 7200 Qualitative Research I 3 ANT 7210 Qualitative Research II 3 ANT XXXX Two ANT electives in the student's research area 3-4 SWAN capstone course 3 The capstone course focuses on interdisciplinary theory and research and the attendant challenges in implementing these goals, competing successfully for funding and publishing findings emerging from interdisciplinary research. The course will feature extensive reading in the interdisciplinary theory and epistemology, guest lecturers by faculty currently conducting inter-disciplinary research and attention to the process and substance of individual student interdisciplinary research projects intended for the dissertation.
- Students without a Master of Social Work
Social work: Practice/policy courses (foundation)
Course Title Credits SW 7771 Field Work Seminar I/II 0.5 SW 7040 Methods of SW Practice 3 SW 7998 Concentration Field Work for Social Workers I 4-6 SW 7055 Foundations Group Theory & Practice 3 SW 7065 Foundations Macro Theory & Practice 3 SW 7720 Introduction to Social Welfare Policy in the United States 3 SWAN: Practice courses (community concentration)
Course Title Credits SW 8048 Social Action Research and Evaluation 3 SW 8035 Techniques of Quantitative Data Analysis 1 SW 8045 Techniques of Data interpretation and Presentation 1 SW 8025 Community Assessment 1 SW 8055 Social Action Research and Evaluation 3 SW 8881 Field Work Seminar III/IV 0.5 SW 8075 Community Building/Development 4 Social work: Research/theory
Course Title Credits SW 9100 Social Statistics & Data Analysis 3 SW 9210 Theories for Practice & Research with Individuals 3 SW 9220 Theories for Social Work Research & Practice with Families/Groups 3 SW 9230 Theories for Practice & Research with Communities/Organizations 3 SW 9300 Applied Regression and Linear Models 3 SW 9410 Quantitative Research in Social Work 3 Anthropology: Research/theory
Important: All anthropology requirements listed for students with a Master of Social Work are also required for those students who lack a Master of Social Work.
SWAN: Theory
Course Title Credits SW 9697 Integrative Seminar in Social Work and Anthropology 3 SWAN capstone course 3 The capstone course focuses on interdisciplinary theory and research and the attendant challenges in implementing these goals, competing successfully for funding and publishing findings emerging from interdisciplinary research. The course will feature extensive reading in the interdisciplinary theory and epistemology, guest lecturers by faculty currently conducting inter-disciplinary research and attention to the process and substance of individual student interdisciplinary research projects intended for the dissertation.
Career insights
This tool provides a broad overview of how major selection can lead to careers and is provided without any implied promise of employment. Some careers will require further education, skills, or competencies. Actual salaries may vary significantly between similar employers and could change by graduation, as could employment opportunities and job titles.
Contact 💬
Mark Luborsky, anthropology advisor
mluborsky@wayne.edu