Hybrid Dual MSW / MEd, Human Sexuality Studies Curriculum
Focus on Human Sexuality Within Your Social Work Practice
Our Center for Social Work Education and the Center for Human Sexuality Studies offers a dual degree program that prepares professional social workers to teach, consult, conduct research, and give counsel and therapy in a variety of settings on complex issues of human sexuality.
Students earn two graduate degrees (MSW and MEd) in as little as 3-years by attending classes full-time. Courses are taken each semester in both the social work and human sexuality departments and students are encouraged to incorporate their learning both in the field and classroom.
Our program prepares social workers who are comfortable discussing sexuality in their social work practice, to also be qualified to work in areas that focus explicitly on sexuality, such as human trafficking, individuals with a history of sexual abuse, and gender or sexual identity issues.
The dual degree program in social work and human sexuality consists of 47 credit hours for the MEd Human Sexuality degree, 51 credit hours for the Master of Social Work degree and is offered once a year in the fall.
The MSW/MEd Human Sexuality Dual Degree Curriculum At-A-Glance
Core Curriculum
This course promotes intergroup cooperation and understanding through dialogue. The course uses Transformational Intergroup Dialogue, a social justice education model that fosters intergroup engagement and learning across social differences based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, and ability. The main goal of the course to improve students’ capacity to facilitate, teach, lead and manage diverse groups through dialogue. The course provides an opportunity for students to identify the individual, emotional and socio-cultural factors affecting their ability to form productive relationships across social differences. As students participate in various intergroup dialogue exercises, they explore strategies for gaining the trust and respect of individuals who are culturally different from themselves and develop an awareness of their own obstacles to intergroup interaction, engagement and leadership. |
Proseminar 1A will be completed during the first semester of coursework and is designed to develop skills in academic writing and develop expectations for and skills to be a successful graduate student. The course includes two half-day in-person meetings led by several core faculty members, as well as supplemental online materials. The course includes assignments related to writing, engaging with sexuality literature, and time management. |
An overview of the concepts from current research in human sexuality. Students identify their own values, identify those of others, and become at ease discussing the many different topics of sexuality. This course is a prerequisite for all courses taken in the human sexuality program; students must have permission from the instructor to enroll in this course. |
This course emphasizes the essential knowledge and conceptual frameworks used in social work to understand and assess human development and behavior in multiple social contexts. The focus is on a normative-strengths and resilience perspective. Students are expected to become critical consumers of this knowledge, using it to inform assessment, intervention, and evaluation in their social work practice. Basic concepts of human development and behavior in context are introduced using multidimensional, multi- theoretical, and multisystemic frameworks. Elements of diversity and difference such as ethnicity, age, culture, race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, spirituality, genetics, and the social environment are examined to promote the appreciation, understanding, and respect for human difference. This course also looks at how social and economic justice issues impact the development and interaction of the person-in-context. Core competencies and related practice behaviors associated with this course are developed through didactic presentations, experiential activities, class discussions, films, speakers, and online activities. Course outcomes:
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This course builds on conceptual frameworks of human development, with emphasis on the biological, psychological, and environmental influences on social and emotional disturbances. The course will consider diagnosis and assessment within the framework of culture and life cycle changes. The student will acquire a working knowledge of the DSM-5 and its uses in identifying and classifying mental disorders. Students will also be encouraged to view these disorders within the context of the individual's culture and environment. This course provides students with the Core Competencies and Related Behaviors for conducting assessment of human psychosocial functioning to inform culturally and socially sensitive social work interventions. Course outcomes:
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An examination of human sexual behavior, including identity, roles, orientation, lifestyles, love, and relationships. Included are problems that can affect sexual behavior. Pre- or corequisite: HSED 592. |
This survey course traces sexual mores and concepts as expressed in the writings and art of various cultures and religions over time. Particular focus will be on the sexuality of the early civilizations of the Middle East, the beginnings of monotheism in Judaism, and the spread of Christianity across Europe and North America. These themes will be traced in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries here in the United States. Emphasis will be on identifying conflicting and changing sexual values concerning marriage, premarital and extra-marital sexuality, masturbation, fertility, contraception, gender roles, and homo-bi-heterosexuality over time. The birthing and history of the field of sexology and sexuality education will be placed in the broader historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries. Ethical codes of conduct for professionals in sexology will be compared to other codes of conduct. |
This course welcomes the new MSW student to the profession of social work. It addresses both the educational needs of the students while providing a vehicle for community building to support the Center's learning environment. Students will develop the interpersonal and communication skills necessary to communicate comfortably with clients, in classrooms, on teams, with work groups, and in client groups. The course will focus on the skills for building collegial relationships, increasing comfort with diversity, handling challenging conversations, and managing conflicts. This course will provide the Core Competencies and Related Behaviors to support field internships, beginning work with individuals and small groups, and navigating agency cultures. This course will have a rich experiential component and will utilize individual interactions between dyads, small group work, and large group work as a class, as well as provide opportunities for self-reflection. It is within the context of these dyads and small groups that students will be able to learn and practice effective communication skills, including empathic listening. In addition, students will be supported and guided in their experience and observation of group dynamics as they pass through the stages in their own small groups. Students will have the opportunity to develop insight into their own style of interaction and the roles they play within groups. Course outcomes:
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This course is the first of four in the practice sequence. It provides the student with an overview of generalist social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. The course focuses on the values, concepts, and skills necessary to conduct social work practice from a generalist perspective in the context of a social service agency or program. SW 505 – Foundation Generalist Practice is followed by SW 506 – Foundation Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families, and Small Groups. These foundation practice courses, along with the two foundation field practica (SW 552 & SW 553), provide a solid grounding in generalist social work practice and prepare the student for the advanced concentration in clinical social work practice with individuals, families, and groups. This course will provide the student with the conceptual framework and techniques of the strengths-based approach to assessing client systems and developing appropriate social work interventions. Critical thinking and experiential learning are emphasized throughout the course. Class discussions, readings, exercises, and assignments will be directed at developing a range of social work skills including: a) analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas; b) developing and sustaining helping relationships with clients systems; c) conducting assessments of various-sized client systems; d) selecting and implementing appropriate intervention strategies with individual, family, small group, organizational, and community client systems; e) working with diverse populations; and f) monitoring and evaluating social work practice interventions. The course is a prerequisite of SW 506 and SW 552. Course outcomes:
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In this course, students develop an introductory understanding of psychosocial and sexual development, including methods of study, findings, and interpretations. This understanding includes knowledge of key figures and discoveries. Students learn to challenge their own values and attitudes in the exploration of the historical backgrounds, multicultural perspectives, and gender perspectives of developmental theories. Students gain an understanding of the different aspects of a diversity of developmental pathways (i.e., physical, cognitive, and emotional). The course assists students in the development of skills to critique, present, research, and understand the process of environmental factors within the social and sexual contexts that influence development. |
This is the introductory course on systems work in the context of sex therapy provision. Case presentations and role-playing are used to illustrate couples’ treatment dynamics and intervention strategies from initial contacts through the treatment process. Special issues in couple therapy are addressed. Prerequisite: HSED 593. |
Building on the foundational work completed in earlier courses, this course examines clinical responses to sensitive issues in sexological practice. Professional insight, experience, and research highlight that the psychotherapeutic relationship is the most significant factor of change. In addition, clients’ value systems adjust to that of their therapists during treatment and remain so after termination. As a result, this course emphasizes counter-transferential dynamics and their effects on the psychotherapeutic relationship. Content areas may include abortion, bisexuality, HIV infection, homophobia, pedophilia, pornography, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual pleasure, and power. This course includes at least 10 hours of Sexuality Attitudes Reassessment (SAR). Prerequisite(s): HSED 762. |
Proseminar 1B is completed in the second semester of the student’s first year taking classes in CHSS and is designed to help students develop skills related to being a professional in the field of sexuality, including résumé/CV and cover letter development, planning for career goals and aspirations, writing for an academic audience, and interpersonal and professional skill-building for collaborating with other professionals. |
SW 506 Foundation Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families, and Small Groups (3 credit hours) This course is the second of four in the practice sequence. It builds upon the generalist social work practice perspective provided in SW 505 – Foundation Generalist Social Work Practice. The course prepares the student for the advanced social work practice with individuals (SW 630) and families (SW 633) and groups (SW 635) courses. This course focuses on the theoretical basis of direct social work practice with individuals, families, and small groups and on developing the student's repertoire of direct practice skills. Students explore and develop strategies for engaging in, assessing, intervening with, and evaluating social work interventions with individual, family, and group client systems and with ethnically and culturally diverse populations. Solution-focused, cognitive-behavioral, and psychodynamic interventions are highlighted. Various service systems are also explored to give students exposure to a wide variety of practice areas. Critical thinking and experiential learning are emphasized throughout the course. This course is a prerequisite of SW 552. Prerequisite: SW 505. Course outcomes:
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This course reviews theories and philosophies of education, such that students are prepared to develop interventions for use in psycho-education and professional training. Core content of the course includes community engagement, needs assessment, lesson planning, delivery, and evaluation/assessment techniques, and the development of rationale for educational decisions. Co- /prerequisite: HSED 662. |
This course uses an integrative model of sexual health across the life cycle as the central reference when evaluating or treating special populations, such as persons with chronic illness or disabilities. Physiological factors, disease factors, and treatment factors are examined regarding their roles with sexual dysfunctions. The combination of sexual counseling with medical treatment is examined. Specific illnesses and injuries, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic pain, infertility, spinal cord injuries, and their impact on sexuality are reviewed. Special focus is placed on persons with mental illnesses or significant cognitive limitations. The roles of sexuality policies with vulnerable populations are reviewed, with special attention on consenting issues. The ethical implications of practice are central. Prerequisite(s): HSED 593 and HSED 644. |
This course focuses on general research methods and their application to social work. The course introduces students to the scientific method; culturally competent research; protection of human subjects; survey, experimental, quasi-experimental, and qualitative research designs; evidence-based research; measurement; sampling; questionnaire construction; and qualitative data collection methods. Specifically, the course prepares students to 1) design social work research related to needs assessments, program evaluations, and practice evaluations; 2) appreciate and understand the benefits of evidence-based practice; and 3) develop the ability to critically evaluate and consume social work research. These areas of social work research are fundamental components of social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Course outcomes:
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This course is an examination of the human reproductive system, including fertility control, pregnancy, prenatal development, and birth. Included will be adult sexual functioning, the response cycle, and problems that can affect the system. Prerequisite: HSED 593. |
This is the first of two core courses addressing the competencies and associated practice behaviors related to social and economic justice. This course provides students with the opportunity to examine and analyze the historical, philosophical, and value base of social welfare and social welfare policy. It helps students to understand and define the concepts of social and economic justice, examine the application/manifestation of these concepts (as well as related concepts such as power, class, oppression, and poverty) in American and world history, and to develop generalist skills and core competencies necessary to analyze, influence, and change policy. Course outcomes:
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This is a course on sexological approaches to understanding sexual dysfunctions/disorders that are related to special populations. It will include assessment and treatment considerations in providing sex therapy to special populations. This course is a blend of didactic, informational, and clinical sexology application. Prerequisite(s): HSED 662. |
Social and Economic Justice II, the second of two courses in the SEJ sequence, builds on the conceptual areas of SEJ I, but now moves the student into the domain of advocacy, policy change, and community practice. The course provides the student with the opportunity to understand community and communities, analyze community problems, formulate community-level interventions, and develop advocacy skills appropriate to such tasks. Prerequisite: SW 540. Course outcomes:
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This course builds on the introductory courses HSED 592 and 593 and offers advanced understanding of assessment, diagnosis and treatment models for addressing various sexual dysfunctions. Students develop a solid understanding of the use of the systemic sex therapy in assessing and treating sexual dysfunctions. Assessment, diagnosis and treatment interventions will be explored using class lecture, discussions, guest speakers, videotape presentations, and role plays. Prerequisite: HSED 562. |
This practicum is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop the skills and resources necessary to provide ageappropriate, psychoeducational, individual or group intervention strategies, treatment goals, practice and evaluation for a variety of clinical cases in a variety of settings, and with diverse populations. Course requirements include supervised hours in the field, regular class meetings with faculty, and case presentations of work representing the practicum. This is the first of two required practica for the clinical track. Prerequisite: HSED 562. |
This is the foundation year, two-semester field instruction placement. The field placement provides students with the opportunity to apply the basic knowledge and skills of agency-based social work practice from a generalist perspective. The field placement also provides students with the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the foundation core curricula to social work practice with individuals, families, small groups, organizations, and communities within an agency setting. Students will work in the field 16 hours per week while enrolled in SW 552. The field seminar is completed concurrently with the field placement. The field seminar is designed to support students in the process of integrating knowledge attained in foundational coursework and applying skills to practice in the field. Much of the focus of the seminar will be on reflection of students' learning and development as professional social workers. Perquisites: SW 505 and SW 506. For more detailed information about the MSW Field Experience, click here. Course outcomes:
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This practicum is a continuation of HSED 695. Course requirements include supervised hours in the field, regular class meetings with faculty and case presentations of work representing the practicum. This is the second of two required practica for the clinical track. Prerequisite: HSED 695. |
This concentration level course is designed to build on the practice of generalist social work by refining and deepening the conceptual and technical knowledge of clinical social work practice with individuals. Students will continue to consider principles and assumptions learned in the foundation year with the goal of achieving synthesis on a more advanced level of knowledge, attitude, skill and method. The clinical processes of engagement, biopsychosocial assessment, worker-client relationship, intervention, evaluating practice effectiveness, and termination are considered with an aim toward greater precision of application. More complex theoretical material and intervention methods as well as case situations are utilized and you are encouraged to reflect on past field experience for integration of material. Throughout the semester, attention is given to issues of gender; sexual orientation; and ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity. This course is a prerequisite of SW 639 and SW 637. Course outcomes:
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Focusing on social work practice with families, this course expands systemic thinking by introducing multiple models for family work, including Psychodynamic, Bowen, Narrative, Communication, Contextual, Structural, and Solution-Focused, as well as newer models of family work such as Multidimensional Family Therapy. Using these models and their related theories, students will gain a solid foundation for assessment and intervention with families, knowledge of the family life cycle, and the impact of wider systems on a family’s structure and functioning. The definition of family will be inclusive of many different family forms. Students will examine how cultural issues such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation must be considered while assessing a family’s presenting issues, unique strengths, and vulnerabilities. Students will learn to think critically about the relevance of particular concepts and interventions for each family system, including whether certain “Western” concepts apply to all families. |
These courses comprise the two-semester concentration-level field placement. Students work in a supervised social work setting for three days (24 hours) per week for a total of 680 hours for the year. Field Instruction III and Seminar and Field Instruction IV and Seminar provide students with the opportunity to further examine and integrate the theories and skills of agency-based clinical social work practice with individuals, families, and small groups; to develop and refine clinical assessment, intervention, and evaluation skills; and to consolidate their own identity as a professionally disciplined and self-aware professional social worker. Field Instruction III and Seminar and Field Instruction IV and Seminar build upon the generalist social work practice perspective introduced in the prerequisite courses. Prerequisites: SW 630 and SW 639. For more detailed information about the MSW Field Experience, click here. Course outcomes:
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This advanced-level course builds upon the core competencies and associated practice behaviors addressed in the foundational social and economic justice courses. The course presents theoretical and practical materials necessary for all aspects of practice affecting the social service agency. Conceptualizing agencies as the foundation from which most services emanate, this course prepares students both to effectively work within the organizational context, including developing new programs, and to enhance organizational capacity and treat the agency as a "client" when necessary. Course topics include organizational theory and assessment, management, the budgetary process, fundraising, program development, proposal writing, technology, and program evaluation. Course outcomes:
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This seminar is designed to build upon the clinical competencies and associated practice behaviors of SW 630 Clinical Social Work Practice with Individuals by helping refine and deepen conceptual and technical knowledge of the clinical process in the context of agency-based social work practice. The seminar focuses on issues related to the agency-based social work practice context, considering the dimension of time in terms of how it can be exploited to promote change (short-term treatment) and examining how principles of change are operationalized by social work practitioners applying psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, narrative, emotionally focused, and family systems theoretical orientations to various client populations within different settings. Whenever relevant, students are invited to examine how policy issues, particularly those related to managed care, affect clinical practice. As students become more familiar with alternative applications of the clinical process, they are expected to develop greater clarity about their own clinical skills, strengths, limitations, and interests. This increased professional self-awareness is intended to facilitate students' autonomy and creative use of the self with diverse clinical populations. Throughout the semester, attention is given to issues of gender; sexual orientation; ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity; and the effects of oppression and discrimination upon clients. Through reading and written assignments, students use research knowledge to understand issues confronting them in their clinical work with clients and to examine and evaluate various intervention strategies with clients. SW 630 and SW 639 are cohort courses. Students remain together as a group for both courses. This course is a corequisite of SW 638. Prerequisite: SW 630. Course outcomes:
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This course concentrates on the etiology and treatment of traumatic symptomatology. Students explore conditions that contribute to the development of acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorders, and other disorders of extreme stress. Comorbid conditions, including substance abuse and self-harming behaviors, are considered. The intergenerational, socio-cultural, and societal impact of trauma is explored. A strengths-based approach is emphasized. Readings orient students to the assessment of trauma symptoms, as well as to some generally applicable treatment approaches, and to research on the psychobiology of trauma. Course outcomes:
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