Curriculum

The intensive curriculum of the Crown Family School Doctoral Program prepares students to join the next generation of social work and social welfare scholars. The program is flexibly balanced, allowing students to pursue individual interests while receiving core training in history, theory, and rigorous empirical methods to investigate social problems and interventions. In consultation with a faculty advisor, each student develops a program of study including two years of coursework, mentored research training, a qualifying examination, a pre-dissertation research project, and a dissertation. Students also have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty on research and to serve as teaching assistants or instructors.

The diverse expertise of Crown Family School's interdisciplinary faculty positions the program to support a wide range of student interests. Doctoral students study topics such as child welfare, urban education, health care, structural racism, poverty, gender violence, the carceral state, mental health and substance abuse. They research policies, organizations and programs affecting diverse populations, including immigrants and refugees, racial/ethnic and sexual minorities, low-income workers, and children and families. Working closely with faculty, students study the causes and consequences of social problems, systems and processes of marginalization, and institutional and policy responses to human need, while developing and examining interventions at micro, meso, and macro levels. Faculty ties to local, national, and international community agencies and government bodies give students opportunities for engaged, real-world scholarship.

Students take Crown Family School courses exploring the historical and theoretical foundations of social work and social welfare scholarship, alongside courses across the university in departments like Anthropology, Economics, History, Political Science, and Sociology, and in the professional schools of Business, Law, Medicine, and Public Policy. Many students also work with scholars at research centers such as Chapin Hall, the the Kersten Institute for Urban Education, and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. 

The Doctoral Program at Crown Family School is a PhD program for people who are interested in pursuing a career in research and teaching. We do not offer a DSW or provide specific clinical training for practitioners beyond the master's level.