SOWK 816 PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIALLY JUST RESEARCH SEMINAR

This seminar is a two-semester sequence on the philosophy of science and socially just research, and is intended to promote critical thinking about the foundations of knowledge and their applications to social work research. The course covers epistemology, ethics, and evidence, with attention to how information is shared, valued, and legitimized. The course draws on traditions and applications of social justice in research, emphasizing the value base of social work as a profession and the contributions of multiple disciplines to socially just research. To that end, discussions about difference, disproportionality, and disparity, as well as power dynamics in research endeavors, will be a central focus of the course. The course adopts an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, critical lens.