Puerto Rican Social Work Students Visit BUSSW for Week-Long Program

The Boston University School of Social Work will host a one-week cultural immersion and study program for MSW students from October 18 to 25, in collaboration with the Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

This program will provide an overview of the School’s urban mission and curriculum with emphasis on social work practice with diverse groups, especially Latinos in the United States. The focus of study will be on best social work micro and macro practices and social justice issues. Participants will have opportunity to attend classes, lectures, and field site visits to social work service agencies in the areas of substance abuse, HIV/AIDS prevention, homelessness, mental health, community outreach and revitalization programs. Participants also will visit important historical sites in Boston, with a focus on the Latino Puerto Rican and Dominican communities. They will contrast social work clinical practice, macro, and community organizing approaches in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico.

Upon arrival to Boston, the group will be introduced to students and faculty and will be given tours of Boston University and Boston historical sites. Throughout the next few days, they will hear an overview of the many academic program at BUSSW from professors and deans. There will be multiple agency visits, among them Casa Esperanza, Children’s Hospital, and The Chelsea Collaborative. At the end of the week, the students from Puerto Rico will have the opportunity to present their area of studies and practice and what they learned during the week at BUSSW.

For more information on this program, please contact Professor Luz Lopez at lopezluz@bu.edu.