Human Rights-Based Approach to Short-Term Study Abroad

Short-term study abroad experiences are on the rise across social work programs. This increase is fueled by the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) that social work programs graduate students who are ready to engage diversity and function ethically as global citizens who understand mechanisms of oppression. With the increasing number of short-term study abroad trips, this brief offers a framework that provides strategies for empowering the populations and communities in which these trips occur. Developing short-term study abroad trips from a human rights-based framework rather than a needs-based approach is urgent and necessary, as the community in which the visit will occur is placed at the center of planning efforts and its members become equal and active participants. 

The brief is accessible and relevant to both instructors and students, with thoughtful emphasis placed in each chapter to align with the needs of each group more distinctly. It is conceived with both travel-based (field education) and classroom learning (pre-trip preparation) in mind. Though developed with more depth, theory, and evidence than a "how-to manual," the brief serves as an exemplary "guide" that prepares those engaging in short-term study abroad trips with information and strategies that are derived from the key concepts of a rights-based approach to field education. 

Human Rights-Based Approach to Short-Term Study Abroad is essential reading that engages students and faculty with case examples to illuminate the complex concepts that are taught by faculty as well as specific exercises and assignments to guide both faculty and student through the process of developing and implementing short-term study abroad trips. This brief is of immediate relevance for undergraduate and graduate coursework in field education, international social work, human rights, global social work, and macro social work, as well as useful for any practitioner seeking CSWE accreditation.

Dr. Karen Rice obtained her MSW from Temple University in 2000 and her PhD in 2011 from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She serves as the Chair of the School of Social Work at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where she has been on faculty since 2006.  She teaches research, statistics, diversity, and international social work to students across all three levels (BSW, MSW, DSW) of social work education.  Utilizing a social justice and human rights framework, her research centers on ways to enhance individuals' (youth, students, adults) levels of compassion, advocacy, and dialogue across and within various social groups.  Trained in Intergroup Dialogue, Dr. Rice conducts trainings and co-facilitates dialogues to raise awareness, foster understanding and appreciation, build alliances, and develop individual and collective efforts to promote positive social change. Additionally, her ongoing research and practice centers on the creation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive policies, practices, and programs within institutions and communities, domestically and internationally. Whenever possible, she employs expressive arts to examine and explore these issues as well as to raise awareness, impart knowledge, and promote positive social change. Dr. Rice is the co-founder of Global Champions 4 Humanity, a summer youth program fostering global citizenship. 

Dr. Heather Girvin earned her MSS from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research in 1995 and returned to earn her PhD in 2002.  Dr. Girvin joined the faculty of the Millersville University School of Social Work in Millersville, Pennsylvania in 2007.  She teaches social theory, family violence, child welfare, and diversity across all three levels of social work education (BSW, MSW, DSW).  In her research, Dr. Girvin implements a human rights-based perspective that centers on social justice, while exploring trauma-related to broadly-defined violence.  Dr. Girvin’s current research interests include alternatives to traditional social services and therapies, with particular interest in animal-assisted therapies and the expressive arts. Dr. Girvin is particularly interested in the development of strategies that span the levels of intervention, resist the premature medicalization of problems, and incorporate compassion and solidarity rather than “service implementation.” She is the founder of Lone Oak Animal-Assisted Therapy and Educational Services, an equine-assisted therapeutic services and educational non-profit program.