In recent decades, there has been an ‘ethnographic turn’ in art, while social work has turned increasingly to artistic practice to both question and expand its impact. The first and only graduate program in the U.S. devoted explicitly to art and social justice, the Penn MFA/MSW is a 3-year joint degree program for students seeking an MFA concentrating on social practice and those seeking an MSW that integrates artistic methods into their practice as MSW-credentialed service providers.
The MSW/MFA dual degree program trains students as professional studio artists and social work practitioners, with a focus on the integration of art and social justice. It is open to students who have been admitted to both the Stuart Weitzman School of Design’s MFA program and SP2’s MSW program. The MSW/MFA curriculum addresses the needs of two sets of students: 1) those in social work who are seeking to integrate the arts into their practice as MSW-credentialed service providers, and 2) those in the arts who are looking for professional credentialing and a career in social justice that utilizes their MFA training.
Combining Field Placement and Studio
Two semesters of MSW Field Placement may be used to waive one credit of Fine Arts Studio in each the Fall and Spring semesters of the advanced year. Students who have been approved to have their field placement fulfill the MFA studio requirements will be provided additional supervision for their placement by an MFA faculty advisor. In their MSW advanced practice year (when enrolled in SWRK 704/708 and SWRK 714/718), students will enroll in FNAR 601 in the Fall and FNAR 602 in the Spring, but each of these studios will be weighted at 1 CU (instead of 2 CUs). Dual-degree students who are not completing SWRK 604/614 in the academic year immediately preceding the year in which they will take advanced practice class (SWRK 704/708 and SWRK 714/718) are responsible for reaching out to the SP2 Office of Field Education in December to begin planning for the upcoming year’s advanced field placement.
Total CUs for the Dual-Degree: 28
Students completing the MFA/MSW dual-degree need 28 total CUs, plus two (2) MSW field placements. Completed on their own, the MSW requires 16 CUs and the MFA requires CUs.
MFA/MSW Program Requirements
| SOCIAL WORK COURSES | |||
| SWRK | 6010 | History & Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare | 1 |
| SWRK | 6020 | Human Behavior in the Social Environment | 1 |
| SWRK | 6030 | American Racism and Social Work Practice | 1 |
| SWRK | 6040 | Foundations of Social Work Practice I + Field Placement | 1 |
| SWRK | 6140 | Foundations of Social Work Practice II + Field Placement | 1 |
| SWRK | 6150 | Introduction to Social Work Research | 1 |
| SWRK | 7040/7080 | Advanced Clinical/Macro Social Work Practice I + Field Placement* | 1 |
| SWRK | 7140/7180 | Advanced Clinical/Macro Social Work Practice II + Field Placement* | 1 |
| SWRK | 7130 | Understanding Social Change | 1 |
| SWRK | 7xxx | MSW Policy Option | 1 |
| SWRK | 7xxx | MSW Research Option | 1 |
| SWRK | 7600 or 7xxx | MSW Practice Elective: Mental Health Diagnostics (clinical students) or Macro Elective (macro students) | 1 |
| SWRK | xxxx | MSW Elective #2 (must be taken at SP2, but can be in MSW, MSSP, or NPL) | 1 |
| SWRK | xxxx | MSW Elective #3 (must be taken at SP2, but can be in MSW, MSSP, or NPL) | 1 |
| MSW-Only CUs: | 14 | ||
FINE ARTS COURSES |
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| FNAR | 5010 | 2 | |
| FNAR | 5020 | 2 | |
| FNAR | 6010 | 1* | |
| FNAR | 6020 | 1* | |
| FNAR | 7010 | 1 | |
| FNAR | 7020 | 1 | |
| FNAR | xxxx | FNAR Elective #1 | 1 |
| FNAR | xxxx | FNAR Elective #2 | 1 |
| FNAR | xxxx | FNAR Elective #3 | 1 |
| FNAR | 8010 or 8030 | Critical Issues in Contemporary Art | 1 |
| FNAR | 8020 or 8040 | Critical Issues in Contemporary Art | 1 |
| FNAR-Only CUs | 13 | ||
JOINT COURSES |
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| SWRK/FNAR | 7170/5057 | Art and Social Work | 1 |
| Joint-Course CUs | 1 | ||
TOTAL CUs REQUIRED FOR THE MFA/MSW: 28 |
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*Field placement needs to be at an approved art-focused agency in order to waive 1 CU from FNAR 601 and 1 CU from FNAR 602.