Marywood University Professor Co-Authors Article Sunny Sinha, Ph.D., associate professor in Marywood University’s School of Social Work, recently co-authored an article titled, “Community-Based Strategies for Harm Reduction Among Sex Workers in Kolkata, India.” In the article, Dr. Sinha and her co-author explore research that was conducted with diverse groups of sex workers in India as well as around the globe, which has shown that decriminalizing sex work can promote the health, safety, and security of sex workers. Nonetheless, in many countries, including India, legislations criminalizing buying of sex—that is punishing clients of sex workers—have gained momentum with the accompanying rationale of rescuing/saving women trapped in sex work. These legislations ignore the reality that sex work is an economically viable vocation for a majority of women, men, and transgender people in India—especially when compared to low-paying jobs with long, fixed hours of work. Consequently, such legislations have also not deterred people from choosing sex work as a livelihood option. In addition, little information is available about the community-based harm reduction responses. In addition to her role as an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Marywood University, Dr. Sinha is also a Fahs-Beck Scholar, a doctoral dissertation grant program that helps support dissertation expenses of students in the U.S. and Canada. She earned her Ph.D. degree in Social Work form the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Her research and scholarship focus on a wide range of global issues, including HIV prevention, trafficking, and issues related to gender, race, class, and sexuality. She has published mostly on the issues of non-brothel-based female sex workers in Kolkata, India. Dr. Sinha is also the recipient of the Michael H. Agar Lively Science Award for 2018. For additional information about Marywood University’s School of Social Work, please visit marywood.edu/ssw, or call the Office of Admissions at (570) 348-6234. To read the paper, “Community-Based Strategies for Harm Reduction Among Sex Workers in Kolkata, India,” please visit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00588-5#author-information.
Marywood University’s School of Social Work to Hold Spring 2021 Online Information Sessions Marywood University’s School of Social Work will hold several Spring 2021 Online Information Sessions for both its Scranton and Lehigh Valley programs. The online information sessions are free and open to anyone who is interested in pursuing an undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate of social work degree. Marywood University’s Scranton location online information sessions will be offered on: Thursday, March 18, 2021, from 12-1 p.m.Friday, March 19, 2021, from 12-1 p.m.Friday, April 9, 2021, from 10-11 a.m.Tuesday, April 13, 2021, from 12-1 p.m.Saturday, April 17, 2021, from 6-7 p.m.Tuesday, April 27, 2021, from 12-1p.m. To register, please visit docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrAvsa9UBmB4DAh6wuneqiCtvS-2yX9wzbV4j4ZsLHmwrl5g/viewform, or contact Selina Shrestha, at shrestha@marywood.edu, or call (570) 348-6282, ext. 4566 for questions. Marywood University’s online information sessions for its Lehigh Valley Program at DeSales University will be offered on: Thursday, march 18, 2021, from 12-1 p.m.Saturday, March 20, from 9-10 a.m.Monday, April 5, from 5:30–6:30 p.m.Wednesday, April 21, from 5:30–6:30 p.m.Monday, May 20, 2021, from 5:30–6:30 p.m. To register, visit docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgCYBrq4byUeIzjyvO9ZwgHZb-L4oEfPLsap4t_HDaEE9sbA/viewform, or email lkapes@marywood.edu with questions. Participants will learn more about the accredited master’s degree in social work (MSW). An MSW degree from Marywood University includes both full and part-time study options, and advanced standing for bachelor of social work (BSW) graduates. Additionally, attendees will learn about the admission process and Marywood SSW internship program. For additional questions, please call the Office of Admissions, at (570) 348-6234.
Marywood University’s School of Social Work to Hold Its Spring 2021 Colloquium Virtually Marywood University’s School of Social Work will hold its Spring 2021 virtual Colloquium titled, “The Culturally ‘Woke’ Social Worker: Addressing Historical and Contemporary Racial Inequities,” on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, from 8:45 a.m. – Noon. This virtual event is free and open to the public. Because space is limited, participants must register in order to attend, at marywood-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqd-CorzgrEtX0PgW0iXzoAx0XjDKK8B4y. This educational gift to the community will help us stay connected and enable us to work together to make a difference. It is a social worker’s role to address racial justice in proactive practice—to become ‘woke’ to cultural differences and systems of racial oppression. As we all continue to struggle with the uncertainty of a global pandemic, people have taken to the streets and boardrooms to address inequities and their devastating effects. For Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, stories about the impact on health, wealth, and relationships of intergenerational traumatic events in the form of news or social media posts are more than stories—they are examples of experiences enduring trauma, historically and currently, which have led to health and other social disparities. Marywood University’s School of Social Work’s Spring 2021 Colloquium will bravely engage in conversations about work that helps to foster authentic engagement with social work staff, community providers, clients and their families. Participants will learn which facilitation tools to use when faced with a hot button issue, or other challenging situations, and how to bravely lead conversations about race with presence, grace, and intention. By attending this workshop, participants will be able to define intergenerational trauma and complex trauma; explain three trauma-informed, resilience-oriented strategies to address the impact on individuals and communities; explore culture, unconscious bias, micro aggressions, racism, privilege, marginalization, color blindness, and intersectionality; determine ways that cultural differences impact professional relationships; and obtain a culturally relevant skill set with at least two tools to work towards micro and macro level change. Presented by Lia Richards-Palmiter, Ph.D., director of the Office of Diversity Efforts at Marywood University, this session will provide a culturally competent understanding of trauma-informed, resilience-oriented strategies that inequities have had on those we support. This session will also address the impact at the individual and community level to build a future that promotes healing and resilience. This program is approved for three (3) continuing education hours for social workers applicable toward New York and Pennsylvania LSW licensure renewal. To register, please visit marywood-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqd-CorzgrEtX0PgW0iXzoAx0XjDKK8B4y. For additional questions, please contact Jill Schroth, director of Professional Continuing Education at Marywood University, at jschroth@marywood.edu, or call (570) 340-6061.
