The SSW Bulletin is a bulletin that includes all relevant notices and deadlines from SSW. The Bulletin is distributed weekly during the summer and monthly during the academic year.
This is the last weekly Bulletin of the summer. Congratulations to the class of 2012 and best wishes for a successful field placement to the classes of 2013 and 2014!
Students are welcome and encouraged to use the SSW Bulletin as a vehicle to post items that are relevant to their class or to the entire student body. See posting rules.
august 13, 2012
Monday - august 13
Summer Lecture Series - The Problem of Thinking in Black and White: Race in the Clinical Dyad
Yvette Esprey, M.A.
This lecture looks at the manifestations of race in psychotherapeutic relationships, highlighting the paucity of 'experience-near' discussion in clinical, supervisory and teaching contexts around issues of race, and exploring possible reasons for this avoidance. Located within a relational psychoanalytic paradigm, the paper focuses specifically on the person of therapist. It looks at how the 'irreducible subjectivity' of the racialised selves as well as the 'pre-transferences' which we bring into the room, impact powerfully on how and whether issues of race are addressed. The paper draws on Bion's conceptualization of 'thinking' and 'K', and refers to current literature and clinical examples. It suggests that race--in the transitional space which it occupies between being a construct and a material reality--has the potential to paralyze or interrupt the capacity to think, mentalize and achieve the 'oscillation between subjectivities' which is core to the establishment of an empathic connection. (read more)
LGBTQQIAF Alliance - Task Force Meeting
Mondays, 12:30-1:25pm, in front of Campus Center (campus side)
This meeting is open to all SSW students who wish to help plan events and meetings for/with the Alliance. Bring your ideas (and your lunch)!
Student Org Executive Meeting
Mondays, 12:30-1:30pm, Scales Study Room
Council for Students of Color EBoard Meeting
Mondays, 5:45-6:45pm, Scales Study Room
Tuesday - august 14
APA 6th Edition Thesis Template Training - 2nd year Students - NEW
Tuesday, August 14 and Wednesday, August 15, 12:45-1:30pm, Stoddard G2 Auditorium
Liane Hartman from the college's Instuctional Technology Services (ITS) will facilitate trainings on how to use the APA 6th Edition Thesis Template. We strongly urge you to attend one of the workshops. Liane's instructions will make using the template and formatting much, much easier as you proceed through the thesis process.
Free Yoga for Students
Tuesdays, 8:00am-9:15am, Ainsworth 151 (gym)
The Tuesday morning yoga class will have a focus on grounding postures and breathing practices, and creating mindfulness of the subtle experience of yoga. All levels welcome. Come connect to the earth and get nourished! Class will be lead by Julia Jakubowski. If you have questions email Julia at jjakubo@smith.edu.
Disability Awareness Group
Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30, Scales Living Room
Please join us in an effort to support each other and talk about issues regarding ALL forms of disability at Smith College SSW.
Anti-racism Task Force Meeting
Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30pm, King Study Room
Come be a part of the ongoing work of the Anti-racism Task Force. The Task Force has been the engine for many of the changes brought about at Smith SSW as we have moved along with our anti-racism commitment. The Task Force has been a very collaborative effort and a place where all constituents of the school have had a chance to work together. It meets on Tuesdays at lunch (12:30-1:30) in the King Study room.
LGBTQQIAF Alliance General Meeting
Tuesdays, 5:45pm, Scales Living Room
The Alliance general meeting is open to all members of the Smith SSW community who want a space to build community under the Queer umbrella. Allies are encouraged to join and are always welcome.
Pedagogy and Diversity Workshops - For Faculty
Tuesdays, 7:00-9pm, Seelye 101
We had very rich and thoughtful meetings during Term 1 and look forward to seeing you for Term 2. Hye-Kyung Kang and Josh Miller will be co-facilitators.
- use of self to further issues of diversity and ways of attending to diversity in all classes;
- how to respond to student-faculty and student-student micro-aggressions around diversity content;
- similarities and differences in racial identity development for minority and majority group participants;
- other selected didactic content
This workshop is open to all summer teaching faculty. The adjunct teaching faculty is particularly encouraged to attend.
Tuesdays, Term 2, 7:00-9:00pm, Seelye 101
Wednesday - August 15
Restoring Justice, Recovering Hope: A Contemplative Service - NEW
Wednesday, August 15, 12:30-1:30pm, King Living Room
Restoring Justice, Recovering Hope: A contemplative service to mark our commitment to religious freedom and anti-racism
The incidents in Aurora, Colorado and the shootings in the Sikh temple in Wisconsin this summer have brought to our immedite consciousness the ways our society struggles with violence, racism, and religious intolerance. As social workers we are uniquely situated to work for restorative justice in a society in which fear so often trumps understanding. As a community we have the opportunity to work together not in spite of our differences but because of them, being a microcosm of hope for a world permeated by denial and dominated by punitive justice. Join us for a non-denominational, participatory service facilitated by Matilda Cantwell, M.Div, MSW '96.
APA 6th Edition Thesis Template Training - 2nd year Students - NEW
Tuesday, August 14 and Wednesday, August 15, 12:45-1:30pm, Stoddard G2 Auditorium
Liane Hartman from the college's Instuctional Technology Services (ITS) will facilitate trainings on how to use the APA 6th Edition Thesis Template. We strongly urge you to attend one of the workshops. Liane's instructions will make using the template and formatting much, much easier as you proceed through the thesis process.
Thursday - august 16
SKITS!!! - NEW
Thursday, August 16, 7:00-9:00pm, John M. Greene Hall
Join A'12 and AS'12 for the annual Skits night. It will be a night of songs, videos, and movement/spoken performance. You will be among the SSW community, and their family and friends. Hope to see you there!
Curriculum Committee Open Meeting
Thursdays, 12:40-1:20pm, King Living Room
Friday - august 17
Commencement Ceremony - NEW
Friday, August 17, 4:00-5:30pm, John M. Greene Hall
Congratulations to the Class of 2012!
Course Evaluations
Student evaluation of courses is a program requirement (see Master's Program Handbook, section 200.7C). Failure to complete a course evaluation by the deadline will result in
- grade/transcript hold
- registration hold
- diploma hold
The deadline for Term 2 course evaluations is Friday, August 17, 2012, at 11:00pm. Instrucitons can be found at http://www.smith.edu/ssw/for_current.php.
Free Yoga for Students
Fridays, 1:00-2:00pm, Bodman Lounge (chapel)
Friday afternoon yoga classes will be an uplifting and energizing hour of linking movement to breath to create opennes and flexibility in the body. All levels and body shapes/sizes welcome. Please feel free to contact Becky at brothbergsmith.edu with any questions.
Saturday - august 18
SUNDAY august 19
After august 12
Administrative Announcements
Returning Library Books at the End of the SSW Term - NEW
GRADUATING STUDENTS - Please remember to return all library books by 4:00pm on Wednesday, August 15. This includes Smith books, Five College books, and books received from other libraries via interlibrary loan. Failure to do so will result in holds on your diploma and official transcript.
ALL OTHER STUDENTS - All Five College library books and interlibrary loan books must be returned to Neilson Library before you leave campus for any placement beyond the local area (i.e. beyond Hampshire, Hamden, Franklin, and Berkshire counties).
You may take Smith College Library books and theses with you -please note:
- For books checked out or renewed on Saturday, 8/11/12 or later, the due date is 6/3/13.
- If you are interested in taking a reserve book with you, you may check it out with a 6/3/13 due date starting Friday morning, 8/17/12.
- Remember that all books are subject to recall at any time if needed by another user.
Field Placement PACs - All Students Going on Field Placement in the Fall - NEW
Attention students going on field placement in the fall - please check your campus mail box for a letter from the SSW Alumni Association telling you the name and contact information for the Placement Area Coordinator (PAC) and Region Representative in your field placement area.
Obtaining Library Materials While You Are Away (For Returning Students) - NEW
The Libraries have created a series of web pages to help you access library materials while on placement or while working on your thesis or dissertation:
Services page for SSW students: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/services/ssw
Tips for getting books, theses, dissertations & articles: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/services/ssw/doingresearch
In short, you can access - or we can supply - almost anything you need. Please let us know if you have questions.
Access to Library Databases for Graduating Students - NEW
After graduation, SSW students lose access to most of Smith's library databases. There are a few notable exceptions:
Discover - You will be able to search across many of our databases, including PsychINFO, PEP Archive, and Social Work Abstracts. You will not have Smith access to full-text for most items, but you can at least run literature searches. (Use our homepage search box for Discover: http://www.smith.edu/libraries)
JSTOR Alumni Access - a large archive of academic titles
Access is available after you graduate.
Go to the Smith Alumnae Association web page: http://alumnae.smith.edu/cms
Sign up for the online alumnae directory
On the next screen, you will see instructions for enabling your JSTOR alumni access.
Accessing your RefWorks account after graduation:
http://www.smith.edu/tara/software/refworks.html#after_smith
Feel free to contact the Neilson reference staff with questions:
413-585-2960 or neilref@smith.edu
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/help
Close of School Notice
By now you should have received via Smith email an important notice listing dates, deadlines and responsibilities for the end of the summer. We urge you to read these materials soon - there are consequences for not meeting the deadlines. Thank you!
A Request from the Writing Center
If you wanted to meet with a writing counselor this summer but were unable to get an appointment, would you send a brief mail to Debra Carney (dcarney@smith.edu) letting her know which term and week you were unable to find a time on our schedules?
This information will help us plan Writing Center services more effectively in the future! Many thanks.
Writing Counseling Appointment Wait List
If you are unable to get an appointment with a writing counselor, please add your name and contact information to our wait list (posted right next to our appointment schedules, outside the door to Seelye 307).
If an appointment becomes available, we will contact you.
--Debra Carney and Peter Sapira
Casebook Shredding
Students in Practice 101/102 and 301/302 and in doctoral courses that use casebooks: please plan to place your casebooks in shredding bins during the last week of the term. Bins will be provided for this purpose on the second floor of Hatfield and on the second and third floors of Seelye. No casebooks will be accepted for shredding in the Office of Academic Support Services. We appreciate your cooperation.
Anti-Racism Consultation Committee
The Anti-Racism Consultation Committee (ARCC) was formed about one year after the Anti-Racism Task Force, in 1995. Its purpose is to be available to any member of the SSW community for consultation about issues of race, ethnicity, culture and social justice. To learn more about this committee and to see a list of committee members, please visit http://www.smith.edu/ssw/about_antiracism_committee.php
Thesis Information
Thesis Prize Announcements for 2012 - NEW
Each year the School for Social Work has the pleasure of administering the Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize and the Amith Ben-David Memorial Thesis Prize. The school acknowledges the significant accomplishment of all students who have completed their theses. These awards have been established in honor of two alumnae and they recognize research in specific areas of interest.
The Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize - NEW
The Eleanor Clark Thesis Prize is awarded annually for a current Master's thesis advancing any of Miss Clark's several interests: a) innovations in service deriving from knowledge about human functioning and the social environment, b) creative attention to social needs, especially in medical or psychiatric settings, adn c) the education of professional social workers.
Eleanor Clark was the Director of Social Work Services at the Massachusetts General Hospital for many years. The prize was established by her partner as a memorial for her service to her community and to the social work profession. Others have also contributed to the prize as a way of honoring Ms. Clark's role in establishing professional social work presence in medical social work. Selection for the award will be made by members of the faculty; the cash prize will be presented at Commencement.
Monica Beron - Opinions of Male Adolescent Sexual Offenders
Theresa Nowack Carter - Resiliency in Survivors of Human Trafficking: An Exploratory Study of Clinicians' Perspectives on Protective Factors
Mira Levi Elwell - Social Work as Healing Vocation: The Exploration of Clinicians' Trauma Histories and Implications of Practice
Carlos Enrique Encalada - "How does homeless outreach work?" The perspective of the homeless outreach worker.
Sarah A. Kupper - The Role of Bloggin Across Stages of Change in Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa
Emily Wolf McMane (Berkeley Independent School, Berkeley, CA) - Growing Empathy: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of School Gardens on Children's Social and Emotional Development
Karen Taylor - "Prevention Starts at Home": Mapping the Discourse Parents who Work in Sexual Assault-Related Fields Create with their Children about Sexual Assault
Elizabeth Welton - Partnering into Parenthood: Exploring the Relationship Between Coparenting and Couple Satisfaction in Triadic Family Systems
Jennifer F. White - Interpreting Trauma: Exploring the Experience of Compassion Fatigue among Professional Medical Interpreters
The Amith Ben-David Memorial Thesis Prize - NEW
The Amith Ben-David Memorial Thesis Prize recognizes excellence in cross-cultural family practice and theory and will be awarded annually to one Master's Thesis that advances Amith Ben-David's interest in family therapy. Preferences will be given to theses that incorporate ideas from a postmodern perspective and/or those that are theoretical in nature.
Amith Ben-David has greatly contributed both to the field of Family Therapy and to the SSW community. The Class of 1998 and the faculty have strongly felt the loss of her presence amongst us. This award is not only a way to remember her but is also a means for continuing the work she felt so strongly about. Selection for the award will be made by a faculty subcommittee appointed by the dean. The cash prize will be presented before Commencement.
Students nominated were:
Tamara Bransburg - Enduring Loss: A Critique of Cultural Competence Literature in Social Work Practice with Latin American Immigrants
Rebecca Gwen Hawes-Sivits - Reclaiming the Borderlands: A Relational and Transnational Feminist Approach to the History and Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder
Amy Kallenberg - Coparenting Among Mexican American and Non-Latino White Couples
The faculty is very pleased to announce that Tamara Bransburg is the Amith Ben-David awardee for this year.
APA 6th Edition Thesis Template Training - 2nd year Students - NEW
Liane Hartman from the college's Instuctional Technology Services (ITS) will facilitate trainings on how to use the APA 6th Edition Thesis Template. We strongly urge you to attend one of the workshops. Liane's instructions will make using the template and formatting much, much easier as you proceed through the thesis process. The workshops will be held in Stoddard G2 auditorium from 12:45 to 1:30pm on August 14 and 15.
General Notices
PsycTests - New Full-Text Database Now Live - NEW
The Libraries have just started to subscribe to a new database, PsycTests. It includes over 4,000 full-text psychological tests or test items, plus profiles of additional tests and measures.
You can connect from the Libraries' social work page, databases by title, page, etc:
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/research/a-z
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/research/subject/socialwork/tests
Feel free to ask for help from the Neilson Library reference staff: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/help
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full-Text at Library on Trial Basis
The libraries have a trial for ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full-Text through August. This database includes 1.2 million full-text dissertations (1197+, plus selected older dissertations), plus 2.7 million citations for 1861+.
Please connect from the Libraries eResource trials page: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/research/subject/trialdatabases
And send any feedback using this form:
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/forms/trialdb
Become a Member of NASW at a Reduced Student Rate
Jeff Schrenzel, Western Massachusetts Coordinator of the National Association of Social Workers, would like to invite you to join the one professional organization that promotes social worker as a profession and advocates for better policies for clients. There is an NASW chapter in each state. The membership fee for students is $48 per year (compare to regular $190 rate). If you join as a student, you will benefit from the student rate for as long as you are a student. After you graduate, for the first two years you will pay a higher, but still reduced, rate. Why not join now now? https://www.socialworkers.org/online-join/join.aspx
If you have any questions, email Jeff at jschrenz@wne.edu.
Group Meditation and Yoga Classes
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Bodman Lounge
We will be offering group meditation in Bodman Lounge in the basement of Helen Hills Hills Chapel at the following times:
| MONDAYS | 1:00-1:30pm |
| WEDNESDAYS | 7:30-8:00am |
| THURSDAYS | 4:00-4:300pm |
Note that this is a new location for these sessions. Beginners as well as experienced meditators are welcome.
Additionally, thanks to two generous fellow Smithies we will be offering twice weekly free yoga classes for the rest of the summer (except during break week).
Tuesdays, 8:15am-9:00am, Ainsworth 151 (in the gym) led by Julia Jakubowski
Fridays, 1:00-2:00pm, Bodman Lounge in the chapel led by Becky Rothberg.
While the classes are free, yoga mats are not provided, so please bring your own. Please come early so that the classes can start on time without disruption.
The Tuesday morning yoga class will have a focus on grounding postures and breathing practices, and creating mindfulness of the subtle experience of yoga. All levels welcome. Come connect to the earth and get nourished! Class will be lead by Julia Jakubowski. If you have questions email Julia at jjakubo@smith.edu.
Friday afternoon yoga classes will be an uplifting and energizing hour of linking movement to breath to create opennes and flexibility in the body. All levels and body shapes/sizes welcome. Please feel free to contact Becky at brothbergsmith.edu with any questions.
2012 Summer Lecture Series
A reminder that Smith College SSW is offering its lively and informative summer lecture series to area professionals, students, and alumni. All lectures take place in Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall. Lectures start at 7:30pm and are free and open to the public.
To learn more and to register, visit http://www.smith.edu/ssw/acad_cont_lectures_summer.php.
Lost and Found
Current lost and found items include:
Blue SSW water bottle
silver thermos mug - NEW
black umbrella
tortoiseshell sunglasses
brown/maroon solar shield glasses
small black women's Northface rain jacket - NEW
If any of these items belong to you, please contact SSW Reception at ext. 7952 or visit us in Lilly Hall 101. Thank you!
Ongoing Events
Also see the SSW events calendar for all regularly schedule weekly events: http://www.smith.edu/ssw/about_news_calendar.php
Anti-racism Task Force Meeting
Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30pm, King Study Room
Council for Students of Color Meeting
Wednesdays, 5:30-7:00pm, Scales Living Room
Council for Students of Color EBoard Meeting
Mondays, 5:45-6:45pm, Scales Study Room
Curriculum Committee Open Meeting
Thursdays, 12:40-1:20pm, King Living Room
Disability Awareness Group
Tuesdays, 12:30-1:30pm, Scales Living Room
DSO Weekly Meetings
Wednesdays, 12:15-1:30pm, Campus Center 003 (CC003)
LGBTQQIAF Alliance General Meeting
Tuesdays, 5:45pm, Scales Living Room
LGBTQQIAF Alliance - Task Force Meeting
Mondays, 12:30-1:25pm, in front of Campus Center (campus side)
Meditation and Holistic Healing Group - Meditation & Yoga
MEDITATION: Mondays, 1:00-1:30pm; Wednesdays, 7:30-8:00am; Thursdays 4:00-4:30, Chapel basement- Bodman Lounge
YOGA: Tuesdays, 8:00-9:15am, Fridays, 1:00-2:00pm, Chapel basement - Bodman Lounge
Social Welfare Welfare Action Alliance (SWAA) Meetings
Wednesdays, 12:40-1:20pm, King Lounge, Lower Level
Student Org Executive Meeting
Mondays, 12:30-1:30pm, Scales Study Room
Student Org General Meeting
Wednesdays, 12:30-1:30pm, Scales Living Room
Unlearning Racism Group
Wednesdays, 5:45-6:45pm, King Study
