The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education

Katherine A. Kendall, a world-renowned icon of social work education, was actively involved in the development of social work education in the United States. In 1950 she became executive secretary of the American Association of Schools of Social Work (AASSW). She was involved in the complex negotiations that merged AASSW and other social work governing bodies into the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), which is recognized as the sole accrediting body for social work education in the United States. Throughout her career Kendall was able to merge her global outlook with her passion for social work education. In 2004, she founded and endowed the Kendall Institute to promote and enhance the social work profession's international perspective.

CSWE established the Kendall Institute in 2004 with an endowment from the Katherine A. Kendall Fund. Its overall mission, shaped by the vision of international social work icon Katherine A. Kendall, is to foster the mainstream development of international content in social work education and to increase the cross-organizational collaboration in project development as well as research and data collection and dissemination. Specifically, it promotes the implementation of programs and initiatives within the global social work education community. These programs and initiatives will prepare practitioners and researchers with the appropriate knowledge and requisite skills for practice in an increasingly interdependent global community.

The programmatic policy-making body for the Kendall Institute is the Advisory Board. Board members are experts from the international social work community and represent the International Association of Schools of Social Work, the Canadian Association for Social Work Education, and other partnerships for international education.

CSWE's staff liaisons for the Advisory Board are Maisaloon Dias and Janie Jackson. 

Chair
Golam Mathbor, MSW, Ph.D.
Monmouth University
Appointment: July 2025 - June 2028

Vice Chair
Itunu Ilesanmi, Ph.D., MSW, MPA 
University of Northern Iowa 
Appointment: July 2024 - June 2027

CSWE
Halaevalu F. Ofahengaue Vakalahi, PhD, MSW, MEd
President and CEO, CSWE

Organizational Represenatives 
Leticia Villarreal Sosa, PhD, LCSW, PEL SSW
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 
Chair, Commission on Global Social Work Education

Antoinette Lombard
Professor in Social Work
University of Pretoria, South Africa
International Association of Schools of Social Work
President

Carole Carpot, Maîtrise, DEA, MSW, RSW
Canadian Association for Social Work Education
Executive Director

CSWE Staff Liaisons
Maisaloon Dias, LSW, MSW, Director of Centers & Initiatives, CSWE

Janie Jackson, Centers & Volunteer Specialist

Elaine Congress, MSSW, MA, DSW, LCSW            
Fordham University
Appointment: July 2020 - June 2026

Lynne Healy, Ph.D., Legacy Member
University of Connecticut
Appointment: July 2011 - Present

Catherine LaBrenz, LMSW, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Arlington
Appointment: July 2024 - June 2027

Chathapuram Ramanathan, Ph.D., ACSW, LMFT,CSW
Illinois State University
Appointment: July 2020 - June 2026

Cudore Snell, DSW, LICSW     
Howard University                    
Appointment: July 2020 - June 2026

Andre Stevenson, MSW, MPH, Ph.D.,
TESOL Graduate Certificate
Elizabeth City State University
Appointment: July 2025 - June 2028

Rebecca Thomas, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut
Appointment: July 2022 - June 2028

Kendall Grant Program Since 2015 the Kendall Institute has awarded grants that support international social work education projects that help prepare United States students for global citizenship and encourage opportunities for international social work. Learn more about the Kendall Grant Program here.

International Social Work Leader Review CSWE's Commission on Global Social Work Education and the Kendall Institute collaborate to offer the International Social Work Leader Review, which highlights an individual in the global social work community. Click here for more information.

The Fulbright Initiative is a collaboration between the Kendall Institute and the Commission on Global Social Work Education. This Initiative seeks to encourage social work educators, students, leaders and scholars to become “Fulbrighters”; promote and support increased Fulbright opportunities for the social work profession; and provide mentorship for future social work applicants by Fulbright Alumni.

For more information please view our informational webinar here. The webinar focuses on global teaching and research opportunities in social work, with primary emphasis on the application process for US-based scholars. 

Global and Intercultural Competence is curricular resource to prepare students to practice in an interconnected world developed by the Center for Diversity and Social & Economic Justice. Teaching content that can be brought into existing courses is provided. The resource was developed as part of a collaboration between the Kendall Institute, the Diversity Center and Words Without Borders. View the resource here.

Since 2015, the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education (Kendall Institute) has awarded grants to support international social work education projects that prepare U.S. students for global citizenship and encourage opportunities for international social work.

The Kendall Institute Grant Program facilitates the development of international social work education materials and curricula by helping educators create tools that bring the global context into U.S. social work classrooms. These projects leverage creativity and innovation with existing knowledge and practice to influence the future of international social work education nationwide.

The Kendall Institute will award up to five $10,000 grants in this cycle. The 2026 grant cycle spans three years, July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2029. The 2026 Grant Cycle will launch on Monday January 12, 2026, and close on Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 11:59 pm.

The 2026 grant cycle application closed on Sunday, March 2026. Stay tuned for the 2027 grant cycle application.

Each year the Kendall Grant is open to all CSWE members, including program members in candidacy. One member of the project team must be a CSWE member throughout the duration of the grant. Projects may include collaboration with community partners or organizations; however, the project lead must be a member of a CSWE member school.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the Submittable online form, adhering to specifications outlined below. Applicants must complete all sections of the application. Project budget must be included in an Excel document. Submissions received after the deadline or not in compliance with the standards outlined above will not be reviewed for submission. The next cycle will open in January 2027.

If you have questions or concerns regarding the application process, please email kendallinstitute@cswe.org. 

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is pleased to announce the grantees for the ninth cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grant program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education.

This year's grantees and projects are as follows:

INSPIRARE Global: The International Network of Social Work Praxis & Innovation for Research, Advancing Scholarship, Rights, and Education

Project Lead: Laura Krishnan-Mackie, MSW, LICSW
Institution: Colby-Saywer College
Project Co-Leads: Dr. Effrosyni Kokaliari, Springfield College
Dr. Christine Tronnier, Springfield College
Dr. Kleio Koutra, Hellenic Mediterranean University 
Jennifer Crosett, BA, MSW Student, Colby-Sawyer College, INSPIRARE Global Fellow
Emryn Lessie, BA, MSW Student, Colby-Sawyer College, INSPIRARE Global Intern    
 

INSPIRARE Global: The International Network of Social Work Praxis & Innovation for Research, Advancing Scholarship, Rights, and Education will transcend borders and cultures, fostering innovation in social work education at a time when social justice and human rights are increasingly under threat. Recognizing the historical impact of imperialism, colonization, and the predominant focus on domestic issues within U.S. social work education and practice, this initiative seeks to address contemporary global challenges in social work education. These include anti-DEI ideologies, refugee crises, forced migration, climate change, war, freedom of speech, trauma, and social work practice and research. The project’s overarching goal is to create platforms that serve as a global hub for social work educators, students, and professionals—a space to exchange knowledge, challenge dominant narratives, and develop decolonized, cross-cultural approaches to social work.

Storytelling for Global Justice: An Interactive Digital Archive on Anti-Racism in International Social Work

Project Lead: Brittany Lynch, DSW, LCSW, RYT
Institution: Iona University
Project Co-Lead: Dr. Prospera Tedam, University College Dublin

The Storytelling for Global Justice project seeks to address a critical gap in social work education by integrating global perspectives on anti-racist practice into U.S. curricula. Despite social work’s commitment to social justice, many undergraduate and graduate programs primarily focus on national policies and Western frameworks, leaving students without a comprehensive understanding of how racism and colonial legacies shape social policies, resource distribution, and client outcomes on a global scale. This lack of international perspective limits students' competencies in engaging with immigrant, refugee, and racially diverse populations whose experiences are shaped by systemic inequities beyond national borders.

Advancing Transformative Equality: Co-creating International Human Rights-Based Social Work Education Supporting Persons with Disabilities

Project Lead: Katherine Tyson McCrea, PhD
Institution: Loyola University Chicago
Project Co-Lead: Professor Jonas Ruskus, Vytautas Magnus University School of Social Work

This project aims to import into social work curriculum modules the wisdom of 1) two international communities of persons with disabilities, their families and staff caregivers, and 2) international experts on advancing the human rights of persons with disabilities. The curriculum will enable social work faculty and organizational staff educators to advance transformative equality based on an international human rights perspective.

Integrating Global Indigenous Voices into Social Work Classrooms

Project Lead: Phyllis Ngai, Ed.D.
Institution: University of Montana
Project Co-Leads: Dr. Colleen Carew, University of Montana
Dr. Jessica Liddell, University of Montana

Social-work students seldom hear Indigenous voices in the social work classroom. In particular, there is a lack of teaching/learning materials that capture Indigenous perspectives developed specifically for international social work education. To contribute to advancing international social work education, this project plans to create an online resource hub that will house and disseminate teaching/learning materials that elevate the voices of Indigenous peoples living in different contexts around the world. The resource hub will be a product of collaboration among a virtual network of social-work educators and community partners recruited nationally and internationally. Participating educators will contribute teaching/learning materials in the form of video or audio recordings or visuals of artistic expressions that they curate, create, and/or co-create with Indigenous collaborators and allies in their local contexts. The online hub will also serve as a transnational virtual space that generates solidarity among Indigenous participants and allies in support of demarginalizing Indigenous voices of strength, resilience, and well-being. 

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is pleased to announce the grantees for the eighth cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grant program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education.

This year's grantees and projects are as follows:

Survivor Voice: Enhancing Global Social Work Education through Survivor-Led Initiatives

Project Lead: Jerri Middleton, PhD
Institution: California Baptist University
Project Co-Lead: Dr. Emilio Bermejo, California Baptist Univeristy

Survivor Voice is an innovative project initiated by California Baptist University's Division of Social Work in partnership with the Eleison Foundation, a non-government organization serving survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence in Cebu, Philippines. This initiative seeks to address a critical gap in social work education by introducing U.S. students to global issues of human trafficking and gender-based violence (GBV) through participatory research methods that emphasize survivor voices and empowerment.

International Conversation Series

Project Lead: Sarah Collins, PhD
Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin
Project Co-Leads: Johannes Kloha, Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm
Cosimo Mangione, Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm
Susan Rose, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

This project intends to bridge the gap that exists among curriculum expectations, instructor experience, and individual student resources available to engage in international study. It expands on the International Conversation Series (ICS) which has built an international learning community of faculty, staff and practitioners; facilitates a global discussion about justice issues and the field of social work; fosters international and interprofessional collaborations between faculty, students and practitioners; and challenges participants to critically reflect on issues of cultural humility and responsiveness through global engagement.

Fostering Global Innovators in Social Work: A COIL Approach to Social Entrepreneurship

Project Lead: Limei Chen, PhD
Institution: George Mason University
Project Co-Lead: Dr. Azaha Abu Hassan Shaari, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

In a world where social and economic disparities are increasingly entrenched, the field of social work is called upon to embrace innovation and resilience to effect meaningful change. Recognizing the urgency of these challenges, this project proposes a pioneering initiative to integrate Social Entrepreneurship (SE) into social work education through a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program.

Global Perspectives on Equitable Aging and Social Justice

Project Lead: Angela Perone, PhD
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Project Co-Leads: Leyi Zhou, University of California, Berkeley
Mo'e Yaisikana, University of California, Berkeley

This project seeks to introduce social work students to global perspectives on equitable aging in foundational social work classes by creating a publicly accessible educational toolkit, database, and website with resources and international examples of equitable aging.

Dialogic Engagement in Global Social Work: A Resource Guide

Project Lead: Kelly Melekis, PhD
Institution: University of Vermont
Project Co-Lead: Danielle Jatlow, University of Vermont

The proposed project seeks to advance international social work education for US students by bringing global social work scholars, practitioners, and students together through hybrid (online and in classroom) panels for authentic dialogic engagement based on the strengths, interests, and social work content foci of participants. We plan to develop and disseminate Dialogic Engagement in Global Social Work: A Resource Guide consisting of a series of videos of the initial dialogic interactions, corresponding guides for developing dialogic lessons and plans based on social work core curricula, and educational resources dedicated to enhancing student, faculty, and practitioner knowledge about local, national, and international issues. While social work issues shift and change, all materials will underscore process and methods to ensure sustainability and replicability.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is pleased to announce the grantees for the eighth cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grant program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education.

This year's grantees and projects are as follows:

Culturally Responsive, Queer Affirmative Practice in a Global Context

Project Lead: Trevor Gates-Crandall, PhD
Colorado State University Pueblo

"Culturally Responsive, Queer Affirmative Practice in a Global Context" aims to develop nine reusable case studies for culturally responsive queer affirmative practice in social work education. The cases will be created with a focus on the US and Asia and Pacific contexts. The project recognizes the importance of understanding the cultural context of individuals and equips social work educators to provide inclusive and empowering support to queer people in a global, cross-cultural context.

Using Community Assessments to Assess Food Insecurity in Global Settings Through Simulation Education

Project Lead: Erica Campbell, PhD
Fayetteville State University

“Using Community Assessments to Assess Food Insecurity in Global Settings Through Simulation Education” will use an integrative mixed-method, simulation-based education to design to prepare social work students to assess food insecurity using community assessment models. The project aims to use virtual simulation-based learning to better prepare social work students with the skills and knowledge to assess global communities experiencing food insecurity.

International Perspectives on Social Work Practice in Disaster Risk and Recovery

Project Lead: Lauri Goldkind, PhD
Institution: Fordham University
Project Co-Leads: Dr. Caroline Schmitt, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Melanie Gall, Arizona State University

“International Perspectives on Disaster Social Work” brings together investigators from around the globe to develop Social Work practice in Disaster Reduction and Recovery (DRR) curricular materials. The project’s aim is helping students to understand how culturally relevant, anti-oppressive and indigenous social work practices are critical to DRR work and to train them to support communities and to cultivate, retain and regain stability through the DRR cycle.

Development of a Service User Curriculum Guide

Project Lead: Katherine Dill, PhD
Institution: Marist College
Project Co-Lead: Dr. Joe Duffy, Queen's University Belfast

The project proposes the development of a specialized curricular Guide for Service User Involvement in Social Work Education. The objective of the project is to create a comprehensive and practical guide to enable social work educators to involve service users meaningfully in the teaching and learning process. The project aims to advance international social work education for U.S. students by bringing a global context into the U.S. classroom.

Internationalizing the Classroom: Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a Framework for Addressing Global Issues

Project Lead: Asli Yalim, PhD
Institution: University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
Project Co-Leads: Dr. Julia O'Connor, University of Utah

“Internationalizing the Classroom: Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a Framework for Addressing Global Issues” is a project that seeks to bring awareness to students regarding the needs of people on pressing social justice and health issues and interventions to address those needs, all from a global context. Specifically, this project addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN Goals) of eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality and wellbeing, and enhancing world peace.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is pleased to announce the grantees for the seventh cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grant program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education. 

This year's grantees and projects are as follows:

Stories of Climate Justice and Global Environmental Change 

Project Lead: Rachel Forbes, MSW 
University of Denver

"Stories of Climate Justice and Global Environmental Change" seeks to address the specific need for social workers to be global agents of change in the face of climate injustice by creating a transferable volume of curricular resources on climate justice and global environmental change. The overarching goal is to connect social workers, grassroots leaders, and social change organizations from around the world who will be able to share their stories on how climate change has impacted them and/or their communities, and what their strategies for resistance, resilience and advocacy are—highlighting the transformative power of multicultural educational approaches to integrating climate justice issues into the social work classroom. 

Making Immersive International Education Accessible to All 

Project Lead: Melissa Grady, PhD  
The Catholic University of America

This project addresses two critical needs within social work by first, creating a model for how to develop online social work education courses for international immersive experiences, and second, by increasing U.S. social workers’ capacity to enhance mental well-being by transferring the knowledge from another country to U.S. students. This project seeks to also develop an innovative and immersive online course experience focused on mental well-being from a global context; a topic that has garnered significant attention due to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

Dilemmas in Social Work Practice With Refugees: Decision Cases 

Project Lead: Terry Wolfer, PhD 
University of South Carolina

This project will create and disseminate innovative teaching resources and related teaching materials for social work education on international social work with refugees by using a case study approach to help students develop an understanding and skills in grappling with the complexities of ethical practice in a culturally diverse world. These cases will portray the actual experiences of social workers in a wide range of practice settings as they encounter refugees or asylees, migrants, or displaced people. 

Developing an ICF Curriculum to Educate Social Workers on Addressing Social Determinants of Health 

Project Lead: Patricia Saleeby, PhD
Bradley University

This project will develop, assess, and implement a web-based curriculum to train U.S. students and social workers on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule for social work education. The overall goal is to improve clinical preparation and competency of social work students for local and global practice.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is pleased to announce the grantees for the sixth cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grant program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education. 

This year's grantees and projects are as follows:

Interdisciplinary Certificate in Humanitarian Assistance: Gender-Based Violence  

Project Lead: Thomas Crea
Boston College

This project seeks to develop an innovative online interdisciplinary certificate in humanitarian assistance and create a module on gender-based violence with the hopes of preparing students for effective global work in the humanitarian aid and development sectors.  

Cultivating Cultural Awareness and Global Consciousness Through Internationalization and Decolonization of Social Work Curriculum  

Project Lead: Sevaughn Banks
California State University, Stanislaus

This project aims to bring global context into U.S. social work classrooms through the development of international social work education materials and curricula–case studies, virtual tours, and virtual learning communities.  

Virtual Reality Training and Education for Global Social Work Practice 

Project Lead: Elaine T. Jurkowski
Southern Illinois University

The project seeks to expose social work and other students to cultural global social work practice and enhance cultural relevance of social work education using virtual reality technology.  

Global Social Action Consortium 

Project Lead: Julie Richards
State University of New York at Plattsburgh

This project employs a three-tiered approach to strengthen and relocate international social work education and practice that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and empowerment in the social work curriculum. 

Dialogues Between Global North and Global South 

Project Lead: Cristina B. Bares
University of Michigan

This project seeks to increase cultural competence and intergroup dialogue among graduate students in two institutions—one from the United States, the other from India— through cross exposure to instructors, fellow graduate students, and locally relevant knowledge. 

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education is pleased to announce the recipients of its fifth cycle of Katherine A. Kendall grants. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education. 
 

A Curriculum and Internship Model for Socioemotional Care and Mental Health Services in Migration Crisis Situations 

Project Lead: Maria Vidal de Haymes  
Loyola University Chicago

This project will develop, pilot, evaluate, and disseminate a professional internship model and curriculum designed to prepare social work students for interprofessional practice in migration crisis situations. The project will serve asylum seekers confined to the U.S. Mexican border due to the recent implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocol policy of the U.S. government.  

Development of an Open Access Platform of Case Studies for Global Social Work Educators  

Project Lead: Hye-Kyung Kang
Seattle University

This project builds on CSWE’s Teaching International Social Work: Online Modules by developing a case study structure for teaching international social work with an online case study platform where educators can access materials and add their own content to be shared.  

Infectious Diseases and the Social Determinants of Health: A Web-based Course for Social Work Students

Project Lead: Jennifer Zelnick
Touro College

This project will develop an international public health curriculum centered on three infectious disease case studies that compare experiences and interventions in the United States and South Africa in the HIV epidemic, drug-resistant tuberculosis/HIV syndemic, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Focus on Haiti: Turning the Lens on Media Advocacy and Global Human Rights Perspectives  

Project Lead: Laura Lewis
University at Buffalo

This project employs an interdisciplinary pedagogical model that brings together social work and journalism students in three universities in the United States and Haiti to work collaboratively using digital media to educate and advocate for global human rights in ways that are multidimensional and grounded in local perspectives. 

Brazil Theater Exchange: Innovation for Social Work Education  

Project Lead: Rogério Meireles Pinto
University of Michigan

This project uses self-referential drama techniques to prepare social workers to overcome service barriers and enhance advocacy by developing and evaluating theater methods for social work education.

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education is pleased to announce the recipients of its fourth cycle of Katherine A. Kendall grants. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education.

Promoting International Social Work Through the Conference for Mercy Higher Education (CMHE) Collaboration  

Project Lead: Janice Nuss 
Gwynedd Mercy University

This project will support the design of a replicable model for small private colleges and universities to engage BSW students in international social work through collaboration between three universities and several international partners in Gros Morne, Haiti.  

International Service Learning HBCU Toolkit 

Project Lead: Cudore Snell 
Howard University

The International Service Learning HBCU Toolkit will increase the capacity of historically Black colleges and universities to bring international content into their classrooms and expand international service learning opportunities to more students.  

Nuestro Mundo: Social Work Learning Communities 

Project Lead: Irma Sandoval Arocho 
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico

The "Nuestro Mundo: Connected Social Work Learning Communities" project will create interactive social work learning communities where generalist social work students and their BSW faculty members will participate in virtual interuniversity exchanges to enhance social work inquiry, practice, and education through action.  

Global Citizenship Through Web-Based Social Work Education 

Project Lead: Debra Nelson Gardell
University of Alabama

This project will use relationship-based learning opportunities via online communication platforms (WhatsApp, FlipGrid) to help bachelor’s and master’s social work students gain international cross-cultural awareness in association with content taught as part of their education for professional social work practice.

Get to Know My World: Jamaican and U.S. Experiences Through PhotoVoice​​

Project Lead: Cassandra Barragan
Eastern Michigan University

Using the theme “Get to know my world,” people in the United States and Jamaica will have a chance for a meaningful exchange regarding mental health issues, substance abuse, and human trafficking. Students and faculty members will complete a PhotoVoice project to facilitate the sharing of stories between the United States and Jamaica in local and national settings. 

Academic Service Learning and Global Justice Agenda: Advancing Reproductive Health Education for Ghana’s Youths (Ghana Youth Aware)

Project Lead: Dorie J. Gilbert
Norfolk State University

Ghana Youth Aware! encompasses an international exchange between The Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work at Norfolk State University (NSU) and the University of Ghana, Department of Social Work, to address menstrual hygiene management and reproductive health education for Ghana’s youths. As a signature project to launch an international academic service-learning curriculum at NSU, social work students from both universities will help establish sanitary pad sewing centers in Ghana’s home economics classes and develop reproductive health educational dramas performed by and for Ghanaian youths.

​Social Work Virtual Pal

Project Lead: Laurel Hitchcock
University of Alabama at Birmingham

#SWVirtualPal, an innovation that builds on the original penpal idea,  is an online community for social workers from around the globe with the goal of helping them engage, learn from each other, and hopefully collaborate. The project will help expand the reach of Social Work Virtual Pal, which currently exists as a X/Twitter account @SWVirtualPal with an accompanying hashtag #SWVirtualPal, by developing a website and mobile app along with a social work educator’s guide.

The World Speaks and We Listen: Educating Global Citizens

Project Lead: Ann Petrila
University of Denver

This project will produce an educational video featuring the faces and voices of the grantee's global partners, primarily those who have survived human rights violations, including war, gender violence, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Through the stories of survivors, students will learn about the impact of issues that are currently present internationally as well as in the United States, including the rise of nationalism, the danger of propaganda, forced deportation, and the role of the media in human rights violations. Follow-up educational modules will give students the opportunity to hone the skills needed to work on the international stage.

Global Social Work Learning Communities

Project Lead: Aster Tecle
University of Utah

Global Social Work Learning Communities (GLC) is a curriculum project and an innovative teaching method that includes student cohorts from communities living at the margins in Asia and Africa, individuals of immigrant and refugee backgrounds living in Salt Lake City, and North American students at the University of Utah, College of Social Work. Through online and face-to-face teaching platforms, students from these diverse backgrounds and locations will come together in an innovative space of teaching and learning to become global social change agents who think critically about our relationships and decisions and their impact on the local–global spectrum. Additionally, social work students can move from the often-unattainable goal of cultural competency to cultural humility that values multiple forms of knowledge and seeks to practice from a framework of peace-building and justice.

Each program will receive a grant of up to $10,000 to complete its project. Resources developed from these projects will be available on the Kendall Institute website after the projects are completed. Please contact kendallinstitute@cswe.org for more information on the Kendall Institute grants.

Enhancing Minority Student Development Participation Through Collaboration With the United Nations

Alabama A&M University

International social work has increasingly become evident in social work curricula. It is one way by which students get exposed to global development and cross culture learning.This project aims to introduce minority students at a selected HBCU social work program to an initial understanding of international education through collaboration with the United Nations. The project will accept 15 undergraduate and graduate social work students who have expressed interest in international education including cross-culture learning.

Transcending Boundaries: Connecting University of Georgia Social Work Students and Their Grenadian Peers in Virtual and Actual Space

University of Georgia

"Transcending Boundaries: Connecting University of Georgia (UGA) Social Work Students to Their Grenadian Peers in Virtual and Actual Space" is an innovative program that uses technology to bring geographically distant and culturally different students together in virtual spaces in order to expand their personal commitment to—and knowledge of—global social work challenges and interventions. Beyond the specific students who participate, this project will advance international education for U.S.-based students by providing a free, downloadable toolkit educators who wish to replicate or adapt this educational intervention at their own institutions.

Global Justice: Social Workers, Breathing Life Into New Possibilities, Integrating Global–Local Thinking About Social Problems to Rebuild Healthy and Vibrant Communities

University of Michigan–Flint

Driven by our continued commitment to encourage global justice the proposed project is multi-layered, with a broad intention to integrate local–global dialogue in the social work curriculum as a way to breathe life into new possibilities, rebuilding of healthy and vibrant communities. This project intends to offer a virtual gathering space for critical dialogues connecting and understanding that social problems having a local-global context, with students, faculty/staff and community members in these different locales. The goal is to facilitate a space to support dialogue about what our communities are experiencing, preparing a space for paradigm shift in social work by offering a rethink, reorienting our practice with attendance to global justice.

Each program will received a $10,000 grant to complete its project. Resources developed from these projects will be available on the  Kendall Institute website after the projects are completed. Please contact kendallinstitute@cswe.org for more information on the Kendall Institute grants. 

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education's first cohort of grantees completed their final projects in spring 2018. The three grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that addressed a variety of important issues in international social work education. Their final reports and accompanying materials are available below. 

Expanding Global Learning Opportunities for Diverse and Underserved Students

Project Lead: Ellen Livingston, MSW
Bowie State University

"Expanding Global Learning for Diverse and Underserved Undergraduate Students" seeks to implement global service learning modules for diverse and underserved students enrolled in Bowie State University’s (BSU) Department of Social Work, a Historical Black College/University (HBCU). This project will educate students by inviting them to attend a three-day seminar series, which will be conducted in each semester over the next two academic years. As a result of attending this seminar series, students will be able to understand global social issues and human conditions in Germany, Cuba, and South Africa, and explore various cross sections of international social work in other countries.

Environmental Social Work Practice: A Global Perspective

University of Maryland

This project includes the development and piloting of an innovative joint BSW/MSW course that will not only provide important content on environmentalism for social work students interested in international social work but also test synchronous teaching of the course in India and the United States. The course, "Environmental Social Work Practice: A Global Perspective," will be offered as an independent study for BSW students and as an MSW elective course in both countries. It will be piloted and taught by social work faculty from both countries.

Preparing Social Workers for Globally Informed Practice: International Curriculum Enhancement and Community Outreach at the University of Portland

University of Portland

This project addresses a need in the Dorothy Day Social Work Program at the University of Portland to expand and enhance its curricular approach to multicultural competence. Specifically, it will assist the program to increase students’ knowledge of international issues and develop their skills at navigating religiously, ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse environments in a global context. The populations served by the proposed project include both students and local and international communities with whom students will engage.