There are few fields as important or compelling in the world today as social work. Public calls for more social service, intervention, and equity and equality programs continue to shine a light on how essential meaningful social work is in the United States and across the globe. At the NYU Silver School of Social Work, you can gain the skills to make a positive difference in this vital field—even if it’s not your main area of study. With three cross-school minors, NYU Silver gives students across the University the chance to bolster their social awareness and build a foundation to work toward social justice in any field they choose to pursue. Read on and begin to imagine how a social work–related minor at NYU could help you become an agent of positive change.
Minor in Social Work
The Social Work minor at NYU Silver fosters an in-depth understanding of many of the challenges that society faces today, both domestically and internationally, and teaches students about the myriad actions they can take to help address them.
In addition to providing an overview of social work as a profession through the course Society and Social Welfare, this program exposes students to the goals of social work and examines the different modes social work can inhabit. Elective courses include Social Justice and Peacemaking, Society and Mental Health, and Social Deviance and Taboo.
Minor in Inequality Studies
Learn how the complex problem of inequality and its consequences impact children, families, the homeless, the disabled, and many others. Explore the influence of political and economic forces on inequality and gain firsthand knowledge of the day-to-day realities of those who are most affected by these forces. Lay the groundwork for developing solutions that address challenges of social justice.
For rising senior Lydia Mason, the most impactful experience she’s had in the program was writing her first policy brief in a class called Strategies to Reduce Inequality. “I was able to practice identifying a problem and drafting a well-researched solution from scratch,” says Lydia, a Politics major in the College of Arts and Science. “It was an incredibly rewarding experience that helped me see how simultaneously simple and complex issues of social justice can be.”
In addition to the program’s required courses, inequality studies students have the opportunity to take inequality-focused elective classes at the College of Arts and Science, the Tisch School of the Arts, and the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
Minor in Multifaith and Spiritual Leadership
In collaboration with the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, this program gives students of all faith backgrounds the chance to engage in purposeful academic work, service, and holistic dialogue. It also provides a framework for students to examine and better understand their own spiritual beliefs and faith traditions as they take part in impactful multifaith learning inside and outside the classroom.
“The classes I’ve taken in the Multifaith and Spiritual Leadership minor gave me the chance to interact with people of different faiths and have discussions on topics that can be tough to talk about,” says Shahrin Haque, a rising senior who is majoring in Chemical Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering. “I’ve learned what it means to be an effective leader and will absolutely use the skills I’ve gained in my role as president of the Society of Women Engineers club at Tandon.”
Courses in this program include Whose Social Justice Is It Anyway?, Answering the Call, and Multifaith Leadership in the 21st Century. Additionally, students can enroll in service-learning classes that take them out of the classroom to work in person with communities across New York City.
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