Open Educational Resources
Document Type
Syllabus
Publication Date
8-1-2026
Abstract
This syllabus is an Open Educational Resources (OER) remixed version of SSW 701.50: Social Welfare Policy, which is taught at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. This version updated the content and integrated additional OER materials, as part of the Summer 2026 cohort of The Open Knowledge Fellowship at the Mina Rees Library. It is a Zero-Textbook (ZTC) cost course and integrates materials from a range of academic disciplines. Official course description is as follows:
"This foundation course furnishes you with the orienting knowledge and skills needed to examine social welfare policies and to understand their relevance to social service delivery and social work practice. Drawing on liberal arts knowledge, Social Welfare Policy and Services I contextualizes social welfare policy and the social work profession, historically, conceptually, and ideologically. You will become familiar with basic issues, concepts, values, terminology, frameworks and ethical issues that define social welfare policy and that influence their ability to work with diverse groups and populations at risk and to think critically. This course exposes you to knowledge about family life, the market economy, government policies and other social structures that may or may not meet basic human needs, promote social and economic justice or recognize human rights. It alerts you to social welfare policy's contribution to both oppression and social justice and explores how you and your social work colleagues can work to support but also to change the social welfare system."
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
CUNY OER Funding
CUNY OER Initiative
Included in
American Politics Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Policy History, Theory, and Methods Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social History Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Justice Commons, Social Policy Commons, Social Welfare Commons, Social Work Commons, United States History Commons
Comments
Funded in part by the CUNY OER Initiative. Created as part of the Open Knowledge Fellowship, a program of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Mina Rees Library.