Social Action, Advocacy and Agents of Change: Howard University School of Social Work in the 1970s - Author Talk
There are moments in time when the forces of society, government, and the individual converge to provide a window of opportunity to create something special. For Howard University School of Social Work (HUSSW), the 1970s was such a time. Moving from the era of its esteemed founding dean - Dr. Inabel Burns Lindsay - the School transitioned to a new era with new leadership, new vision, and new energy to secure the future of the School. Using a case study approach, this book examines the people, the institution and the processes which sought to use the curriculum of the school to respond to the demands for changes in social work education at HUSSW. The backdrop of the civil rights movement provided the sense of urgency and commitment to the challenges and promises of change. This book provides a rare inside look at how student protest and upheaval led to the transformation and renewal of one of the nation's preeminent School's of Social Work. The authors show how the unique historic role Howard University played as a incubator of social change in race relations infused the social work faculty and students with a mission unlike that of any of its peer institutions. Coming on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, this School of Social Work re-invented itself by building on the powerful legacy of excellence of its founding dean, Inabel Lindsay, and the students' demands for a more relevant course of study.