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Fall 2024 On-Campus MSW Application FINAL Deadline: July 16, 2024

USC University of Southern California

News Archive

  • PhD Achievement Award

    Each year, USC recognizes six current PhD students, and their primary advisor, with exceptional academic profiles. Tasha Perdue, graduating PhD student at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, and Alice Cepeda, associate professor, are 2021 recipients of the USC PhD Achievement Award for Perdue’s dissertation work focusing on the illicit drug market in Dayton, Ohio.

  • 2021 Dean's Recognition Awards

    Each year, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work honors students who have made significant achievements in their academic careers and contributions to the community. We are proud to recognize the following students for their outstanding accomplishments.

    Social Work Alumni Association Award

    Recognizes great potential to contribute to the social work profession and the USC alumni community.

  • Brain Development

    Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood is related to children’s brain structure and neurocognitive performance, according to a study published May 3, 2021 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

  • George Floyd

    When I heard the verdict read at the trial of Derek Chauvin, I was relieved that a change had been made in how excessive violence by police officers has been viewed and treated in courts. This gave me some hope that a door had finally been opened to create change. A single verdict does not even begin to erase all the lives lost over decades of police violence based on prejudice and discrimination. It does however signal that change is happening, or is at least possible, if we are vigilant.

  • Latina Immigrant Mothers

    For several years, PhD student Abigail Palmer Molina has focused her dissertation study on the experiences of mothers participating in an intervention for maternal depression, implemented as part of the Head Start program in South Los Angeles. The majority of the mothers were Latina immigrants, and Palmer Molina looked at their experiences to provide a richer picture of the intervention's effectiveness. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, she was compelled to find out how these women, and their communities, were being affected.

  • United States of Al

    On April 1, 2021, CBS premieres United States of Al - a new comedy from producer Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory) about a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life and the interpreter who served with his unit in Afghanistan and has just arrived to start a new life in America. The show explores the relationship between these two men and how they help each other adjust to their new lives.

  • Violence Against Asian Americans

    The tragic events that occurred in Atlanta this week remind us that racism, hate and bias remain a heartbreaking factor in our country and the daily lives of many Americans. We are deeply saddened and indignant that yet another community continues to be a target for discrimination and brutality based on race and gender.

  • Social Work and Government

    Social workers in government, using their skills to influence policy and create change on a macro level, are becoming increasingly important for society. There are currently 42 members of Congress who are social workers. The daughter of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden is a social worker. The value of social work and what it can contribute to local, state and national politics is on the rise.

  • Rev. Bernard Coughlin

    More than half a century has passed since they first met as Master of Social Work (MSW) students at USC in the late 1950s, and Juan Ramos, MSW ’60, remembers the late Reverend Bernard Coughlin, MSW ’59, as a passionate, energetic person who was dedicated to  helping the poor .  Coughlin passed away in January 2020 at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California.

  • Eunhye Ahn

    Eunhye Ahn has a passion for improving the lives of children and families. Her journey to social work, however, was not a straight line. With an undergraduate degree in business, she began her professional career in the private sector and it was there that she became interested in the potential for data collection and analysis to be used for social good.