Social Work

Bachelor of Arts Major

We’re at our most human when we’re helping others. Social workers aim not just to lend a helping hand, but to equip people to lead better lives while eliminating situations that cause personal and societal oppression, injustice, marginalization, and discrimination. Graduating from one of the country’s oldest continually accredited Social Work programs, you’ll be prepared for a lifetime as an advocate and healer.

Through a mix of classroom experiences, field work, community engagement, and work crew assignments, you’ll learn how different social systems work and develop professional problem-solving skills to help you make positive changes in the lives of others.

Why study Social Work at Warren Wilson?

Faculty Relationships: You’ll build long-lasting relationships with your professors through regular collaboration on projects and research.
An Impressive Resume: Our Community-engaged learning is built into your requirements to graduate, so you’ll leave with a packed resume and opportunities to pursue the career or grad school opportunities you want.
Practice with Professionals: Every Social Work major completes applied learning and research through their senior practicum in a social service agency, under the supervision of a licensed social worker.
Advanced Standing: You are eligible for advanced standing status for MSW programs at graduation.

Every student will complete community-engaged coursework, an internship and original research as part of their major

A Sample of Our Partnerships

Buncombe County Department of Health Care & Human Services
Veterans Treatment Court
Lakeview Center for Active Aging
Verner Center for Early Learning
NC Council for Women & Youth Involvement
Western Correctional Center for Women
The Mediation Center of Western North Carolina
Equal Plates Project
BeLoved Asheville
Loving Food Resources

See how Social Work students put our education into action

Internship

Colt Valones ’23 worked on the Asheville Buncombe County Reparations plan with the Racial Justice Coalition.

Community Engaged Course

Working with community partners such as Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court and VTC Foundation, you will think critically about where macro practice occurs, in communities and organizations, and the components of effective change like building power, planning, mobilizing human resources, securing financial resources, marketing and public relations, developing organizations, taking action, and evaluating change. By synthesizing theory with the skills and techniques that support justice-oriented systematic change, you’ll complete a variety of projects for our community partners.

Work

You can work on any crew as a student, but many Social Work majors choose to be on crews such as:

Community Engagement
Wilson Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (WIDE)
Spiritual Life
Wellness
Queer Resource Center
Library

Study Abroad

Students completed a semester-long course exploring the topic of care farming, which employs the use of farming tasks and practices as a form of therapy, with a focus on the development of this style of treatment in the Netherlands. While on campus, students visited local facilities that use the interaction with plants and animals as therapeutic interventions and contribute to the development of a domestic Care Farming Network. Students then traveled to the Netherlands for two weeks, where they developed hands-on skills interacting with plants and animals through their immersive work experience at the Noorderhoeve care farm in the Dutch countryside, while also getting the opportunity to explore Amsterdam and other urban centers.

Research

Paula Castellanos ’23 completed her applied capstone research project titled “Does Providing a Self-Esteem Curriculum Delivered in Spanish for Bilingual Students Improve Their Engagement & Participation?” through surveys administered before and after the curriculum delivery at Place Bridge Academy in Denver, Colorado.
Paula Castellanos

Popular Courses

Advocacy from the Ground Up

Learn how to advocate for policy change at the state level while developing and practicing the professional skills of advocacy through independent and small group research on social welfare policy priorities. You will also travel to Raleigh to participate in Social Work Advocacy Day at the North Carolina General Assembly. There, you’ll network with over 800 social workers from around the state to advocate legislators on issues imperative to social work practice, values, and ethics.

Micro Social Work Praxis

You’ll explore human development across the life span with critical focus given to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, and generation. Working both independently and as members of small groups, you’ll apply theories and skills related to the change process with community partners such as Lakeview Center for Active Aging and Verner Center for Early Learning.

Principles & Skills of Being a Change Partner

In this course, you’ll learn and equip yourself with all the basic skills, values, and ethics required of all social workers. We will also cement the importance of social work practice being sensitive to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and class. With these skills equipped, you will actively participate in grassroots community engagement focused on Hurricane Helene recovery relief in our local area, such as helping rebuild homes in a riverside mobile home park and making meals for community distribution.

See the Catalog

Meet our faculty