Faculty of
Applied Social Sciences
in Wiesbaden
Current projects, experiences, "English for Staff", "Global Social Work - Approaches of Post Colonial and Indigenous Social Work" and "Peculiarities of Social Work in Ukraine under Conditions of Military Actions"
As part of the faculty event entitled "Internationalization at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences at Hochschule RheinMain" on 23 April 2024, members of the faculty were able to enjoy exciting contributions on a wide range of internationalization topics. Whether it was an insight into the plans for the upcoming Spring School in Malta, the Winter School in Cape Town and an update on the "Study International" certificate program by Prof. Dr Michael Klassen and Prof. Dr Gunnar Lang, impulses on language coaching by Dr Charla Schutte, current inspiring experiences in Ireland by Prof. Dr Kerstin Herzog, information on the establishment of psychosocial counselling centers in Luanda (Angola) as part of the AngoSAP project by Claudia Preißer and two lectures by international guests at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences: Prof. Dr. Ndangwa Noyoo (Director of the Southern African Policy and Development Nexus, Cape Town) with a guest lecture on "Global Social Work - Approaches of Post Colonial and Indigenous Social Work" and Dr. Yaroslav Slutskyi (winner of the best dissertation in the social sciences in Ukraine, HessenFonds scholarship holder and colleague in the Hessen-Ukraine bridging program) with a keynote lecture on "Peculiarities of Social Work in Ukraine under Conditions of Military Actions".
In addition to his guest lecture, Prof. Dr. Ndangwa Noyoo will enrich the faculty with English-language teaching during his visit in the "Project: Innovative Practice Development and Research" on April 26/27, 2024 . Ndangwa Noyoo's teaching and research focuses on, among other things, practical, research and evidence-based decision-making and approaches to how these can be innovative ways of implementing development projects in the Global South, using regions in Africa and South Africa for case studies. He is also interested in deepening the discourse around development theory constructs and then focusing more on practical experience.
It was a great pleasure to make contacts and be inspired. If you are interested in finding out more, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Vámonos - Vamos lá - Kick-Off Meeting (March 2024) Capacity-Building of Psychosocial Counseling Centers "AngoSAP" in Luanda, Angola
Following a successful online project application phase for the intensive planning of the EU-funded capacity-building project "AngoSAP", all representatives involved in the project from Universidad Namibe, Universidad de Cádiz, Universidad Lueij A'Nkonde, Institución Universitaria de Angola, Escuela Superior Pedagógica de Bié and Hochschule RheinMain met for the first time between 04.03.-10.03.2024 on site at the host Universidade Óscar Ribas in Luanda. The work packages put together were reflected on, adapted and concretized in order to implement sustainable, psychological and psychoeducational structures in various regions of Angola in close cooperation with the above-mentioned institutions. The target group here are all members of the respective university communities, i.e. students, professors and members of staff.
Thanks to the outstanding host Universidade Óscar Ribas (UÓR), the excellent project management by the Universidad de Cádiz and the valuable contributions of all project partners, a successful step towards the next phase of the project could be taken together. The International SW team is very pleased to have been part of the project and looks forward to further cooperation in the AngoSAP project.
If you have any questions or are interested, please contact us by e-mail.
A week full of comparisons - German-Finnish exchange at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences (Head: Sandra Holtgreve)
"And how is it with you?" - This question can trigger very different reactions when people from different countries and places around the world come together. The participants in the course "Global Social Work: A Finnish-'German Encounter" took this observation as an opportunity to take a closer look at comparisons and the underlying practical experiences of comparison in social work. The course was the result of a cooperation between Hochschule RheinMain and Savonia University in Finland and took place in Wiesbaden from November 6-10, 2023. It was organized in equal parts by lecturers from Kuopio and Wiesbaden. A mixed program of keynote speeches and workshops of Finnish and German teaching offered the twelve-member group space to discuss similarities and differences in welfare states and their handling of social problems and to reclassify any preconceptions about social systems, social work and everyday life in both countries. Three visits to institutions (EVIM Reha-Werkstatt, Campus Kindergarten, Mission Leben - Psychosocial Counseling Center) provided insights into different fields of practice. The conclusion of many participants: We learned a lot and had a lot of fun.
You can find more impressions here. You are also welcome to take a look at the report on the website of Savonia University of Applied Sciences.
The following points will give you an insight into the international activities of the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences:
2023
- Participation of the International Team in the "International Days" at HSRM 2023
From June 19 to 23, 2023, representatives of partner universities from nine countries visited Hochschule RheinMain. The exchange, which was all about internationalization and sustainability, offered a varied program. After the warm welcome of the guests by Vice-President Prof. Dr. Christiane Jost, the participants came into contact with each other during panel discussions, workshops, to which members of the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences also contributed, as well as cultural events and a film night. A review of the event "Challenges in Internationalization: Sustainable Mobility and Virtual Concepts" can be found in the press release of the higher education institution linked here.
2022
- May: Travel report on the current situation in Ukraine
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Trabert gave insights from his trip to Ukraine. At the beginning of May, he visited Ukraine for several days to deliver urgently needed medicines and medical equipment to aid organizations there and spoke directly with the people on the ground. At the information event, which was open to all students and members of staff at Hochschule RheinMain, he talked about his impressions and the current situation in Ukraine. The event provided an opportunity for discussion and exchange.
- March: Erasmus+ Staff Mobility in Edinburgh, UK
Christine Englert spent a total of five days in the United Kingdom as part of a training trip on a language course for teaching staff. On site, she reactivated her linguistic repertoire for teaching and was able to exchange ideas about teaching in a foreign language with colleagues from different higher education institutions. You can read about the experiences and pitfalls of her stay under pandemic conditions in a short report. You can find her report under this link.
2021
- International lectures by members of the department
In 2021, several faculty members presented their research contributions at international conferences. Researchers from the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences were represented at the 4th European Conference on Domestic Violence, the Sexuality and Social Work Global Online Conference 2021, the European Association for Social Work School's conference, as well as at workshops in Fribourg, Vienna and Aarhus, among others.
Archive:
- Presentation on the lecturers' international activities from 2008 to the present (PDF 17 MB)
- Excursion to Ethiopia 2018 (PDF 1.8 MB)
- Excursion to Lithuania 2008 (PDF 1.7 MB)
- International conference 2008 (PDF 333 KB)
- Presentation about the delegation trip to Ecuador 2009 (PDF 2.6 MB)
- Report on the delegation trip to Ecuador 2009 (PDF 687 KB)
Numerous international guest researchers regularly visit the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and enrich the perspectives on social work.
2023
Guest lecture "Resilience and Loss in Social Work" by Claudia Psaila from the University of Malta
Maria Adam
On 13.07.2023, Claudia Psaila gave an exciting lecture on dealing with grief and loss in the professional context of social work. Dr. Claudia Psaila is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta and draws on many years of practical experience as a psychotherapist and supervisor in hospices. She works and researches on topics such as spirituality and psychotherapy in social work, reflective practical experience, resilience and trauma-sensitive care work. Almost thirty participants followed the interactive lecture and exchanged views and resources on dealing with grief.
English-language lecture by Angela Preisser from the University of Würzburg
Maria Adam
On 04.07.2023 the lecture "Psychosocial Counselling with Interpreters - How Can It Work?" took place at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences. Angela Preißer is a psychologist with several years of experience in the field of psychosocial counseling in multi-professional and international contexts. She currently works in the university outpatient clinic for psychotherapy at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. Previously, she worked at the Evangelical Center for Counseling and Therapy at the Weißer Stein in counseling people with refugee experience and worked internationally in Iraq and Mexico, among other places. In the exciting lecture, Angela Preißer provided insights into the language-related challenges of psychosocial counseling with people of different origins and the possibilities of implementing counseling with the involvement of interpreters.
Erasmus+ Staff Exchange with Gulbiye Yasar from the University of Ankara
As part of an Erasmus+ teaching exchange, the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences welcomed Dr. Gulbiye Yasar from the Faculty of Health Management at the University of Ankara between 8 and 11 May 2023. As part of the master's degree program in Social Work, Gulbiye Yasar offered insights into the health and social system in Turkey. The keynote speeches complemented the international focus of the Master's program as part of the Summer School "Ethics and Management in Social Work", in which some of the course participants took part on site at the partner university in Malta and some virtually from Wiesbaden.
2022
Guest lecture by Jason Schaub from the University of Birmingham
The virtual guest lecture by Dr. Jason Schaub from the University of Birmingham took place on 23.11.2022. Dr. Jason Schaub is a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Birmingham. Before entering the academic world, he worked for over ten years as a social worker and social work manager in the USA, Ireland and the UK in the fields of mental health and childcare. In his guest lecture, he shared insights from his research in gender & sexuality, improving the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth, academic appointments for LGBTQ+ people, and leadership in social work and child protection practice.
Guest lectures by María del Carmen Panizzo Godoy from the GIZ in Peru
Hajo Peich
Hajo Peich
New perspectives bring new insights! On November 15-16, 2022, two events took place at Hochschule RheinMain with the lawyer and political scientist María del Carmen Panizzo from Peru. The first event, "Science makes policies - Strategies against gender-specific violence in South America", focused on innovative ways of designing, developing and using scientific studies on violence against women. María del Carmen Panizzo made an impressive presentation on how research access and the resulting research findings have enabled the private economic sector to become a new actor in the prevention of violence against women in various countries in South America.
How differently history can be written was the topic of the second event on 16.11.2022 with the theme: Violence against women: the invisible pandemic - What can Germany and Latin America learn from each other? I am a woman, I am Peruvian with African roots and I am a feminist. With these words, the legal and political scientist, Ms. María del Carmen Panizzo, took us on a journey through time. She shed light on the most important milestones between 1960 and the present day in women's struggle for a life free from gender-based violence at international and South American level. She impressively demonstrated how far legislation in South America has progressed in this area in contrast to Germany. She ended her presentation with the words: "I think we have done quite well, but I still think we have a long way to go."
Erasmus+ Staff Mobility with Pirjo Turunen and Tuija Pakarinen from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Kuopio
We learned how similar and yet different social work can look during the visit of Pirjo Turunen and Tuija Pakarinen from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The researchers visited the higher education institution from November 7-10, 2022. In addition to exciting insights into their research project "Hyvää jälkeä (Good Traces) - Transitions from care into adulthood as experiences and practices in the changing landscape of social care services" and joint practical visits, the four days together laid the foundation for a new partnership and initial planning for joint projects in the coming winter was undertaken.
Three visiting researchers from Ukrainian higher education institutions start six-month research fellowship
Member of staff Sandra Holtgreve; student assistant Maria Becker; Fellow Dr. Larysa Platash; Dean of Studies Prof. Dr. Gunnar Lang; Fellow Dr. Olena Oleksenko; Dean's Office member Peter Engert, Dean Prof. Dr. Christian Schütte-Bäumner; and Fellow Dr. Olga Lazarenko (from left). Corporate Communications | Hochschule RheinMain
A warm welcome! At the beginning of July 2022, three female academics began their six-month guest stay at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences. Dr. Larysa Platash, Dr. Olha Lazarenko and Dr. Olena Oleksenko are continuing their previous research activities at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences as part of the fellowship program for academics at risk from Ukraine. The academics are working on topics relating to inclusion and participation in education, misconduct in psychotherapy with a focus on trauma, interculturality and the experiences of international students. The social worker, psychologist and economist can now continue their research activities at the faculty, which had become uncertain due to the war following the Russian attack on Ukraine. Dr. Yaroslav Slutsky will soon complete the group of guest researchers and will begin his stay at the faculty in the fall.
Guest lecture by Dr. Einat Peled from Tel Aviv University
Dr. Einat Peled from Tel Aviv University enriched the faculty in the summer semester on 22.06.2022 with an exciting lecture on "Enhancing and sustaining services for people in the sex trade (IST) during COVID-19: Lessons learned from a longitudinal Israeli study on the impact of the pandemic on IST help services." Dr. Peled is a professor at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work. There she conducts research on topics such as gender as a social work issue. In particular, her research focuses on violence against women, prostitution and human trafficking and professional social work responses to these challenges. In addition to numerous publications, Einat Peled has been active as chair of the non-governmental organization Ruach Nashit, which advocates for people affected by gender violence and promotes their economic independence.
Erasmus+ Staff Mobility with Dr. Melahat Demirbilek
Melahat Demirbilek
From 16-18.05.2022, Dr. Melahat Demirbilek from the University of Ankara completed a guest stay at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences. During her visit, she gave a guest lecture on "The situation of refugees in Turkey - multiple dimensions" and taught classes in the MA Social Work program. Find out more about her experiences at the faculty in the PDF under this link.
International lecture series on the topic of "Adultism-critical social work"
Between October 2021 and June 2022, various national and international academics discussed their work with BA Social Work students. These included Prof. Dr. Asgeir Falch Eriksen from Oslomed, Natalia Fernandes from the Universidad do Minho, Spyros Spyrou from the University of Cyprus and Laura Lundy from Queens University of Belfast. The lectures were organized as part of the theory-practical experience project "Adultism-critical social work" by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Schulze, Nadine Fiebig, Rita Nunes and Sandra Holtgreve.
Guest lecture by Dirk Schubotz from Queens University Belfast on 29.06.2021
No abstract available for this lecture.
Archive: International guests at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
In this section you will find a list of previous guests of the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences.
- 24-27.01.2018: Workshop with Ken Potter on "Narrative Practice and Community Work." Ken Potter is a licensed clinical social worker and co-director of the Warren St. Family Counseling Center in Concord, New Hampshire/USA. He is known for his innovative approaches to the Narrative Therapy Movement and his work as a youth and family therapist.
- 28.09.2018: International symposium with the Bob Shapell School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University on the topic of "Professionalism in Social Work - Growing up in public responsibility in Israel and Germany". The speakers included (from left to right): Eugene Tartakovsky, Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University, Guy Shilo, M.S.W., Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University, Rita Nunes from Freie Universität Berlin, and Hisham Abu-Raiya, Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University (no photo). Here you can find the program (PDF 135 KB) of the international symposium.
- Dec. 2017: International symposium with Dr. Christine Brendel and Timm Kroeger to launch the "MamMut" project. Dr. Christine Brendel developed the regional program "ComVoMujer" to combat violence against women in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay. The goal of this program is to bring together the actors (men, women, the state and various companies) who are fighting violence against women and to develop various measures against violence against women. During the symposium, Christine Brendel presented good practice examples for the prevention of violence against women from South America, which can also be easily implemented in Germany.
- 27.11.-01.12.2017: Erasmus+ Staff Week at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences: Representatives from four partner universities (Namibia University of Science And Technology in Windhoek/Namibia; Wisconsin-River Falls in River Falls/USA; Fuzhou University, China; German Jordanian University in Amman/Jordan) visited RheinMain University of Applied Sciences. At the beginning of the Staff Week, Vice-President Prof. Dr. Christiane Jost greeted the guests with a warm welcome speech (PDF 190 KB).
- 23-25.11.2017: Guest lecture as part of the teaching of Prof. Dr. Tesfaye Semela in the seminar "Transnational and Transcultural Social Work using the Example of Ethiopia", organized by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Schulze and Dorothee Schäfer on "African History and Philosophy of Education with a Closer Focus on Ethiopia." Here you can get an insight into the workshops (PDF 1.7 MB).
- 03.07.2017: Guest lecture by Gabriela Renteria Hernandez on "New perspectives for children in poor and vulnerable conditions." Gabriela Renteria Hernandez is head of the "Centro de apoyo al niño y adolescente Trabajador (CANAT)". CANAT is a center founded in 2010 in the city of Piura (Peru) that cares for children from the age of three who are affected by poverty and exploitation. In her presentation, she gave interesting insights into the staff's work with children in vulnerable situations in Peru.
- 24.05.2017: Guest lecture by Timm Kroeger on "Working with men on the issue of violence against women." Timm Kroeger is a former member of staff at GIZ Ecuador/Peru. In his presentation, he reported on projects on the issue of violence against women in South America.
- 18.01.2017: Guest lecture by Rachel Rosen on "Uneasy bedfellows? Women's rights, children's rights, and domestic violence. The challenge of complexity in domestic violence." Rachel Rosen is Associate Professor of Sociology of Childhood at the Social Research Institute, UCL Institute of Education. She came to our Faculty of Social Work for the second time to give an inspiring talk on the challenges of complexity in domestic violence.
2023 Spring School at the University of Malta
HSRM Social Work students discovered the University of Malta in the city of Msida and focused their studies in an international context. The study trip was embedded in courses of Prof. Dr. Gunnar Lang, Prof. Dr. Michael Klassen and was accompanied by Team International SW. Pre- and post-study information can be found compactly in the OnePager, in Helpful Details, online access to materials at Studium International. Furthermore, you can find a press release here.
Thank you for participating and good luck with your follow-up!
The study trip was eligible for earning points in Studium International. Questions? Contact
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HSRM Social Work students discovered the University of Malta in the city of Msida and set specializations of their studies in an international context. The excursion was part of courses taught by Prof. Dr. Gunnar Lang, Prof. Dr. Michael Klassen and accompanied by the International SW team.
Information on preparation and follow-up can be found in compact form in the OnePager, in Helpful Details and online access to materials under Studies International. You can also find a press release here.
Thank you for your participation and good luck with the follow-up!
The field trip was suitable for earning points in Studium International.
Questions? Then get in touch with
Summer School 2018 - New York
Twelve B.A. and M.A. students from our faculty, joined by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Schulze and Prof. Dr. Davina Höblich, traveled to New York from 29 Jun - 06 Jul 2018. Students from the Silver School of Social Work at New York University (NYU) participated in the Summer School as part of the cooperation between HSRM and NYU.
The topic: "Where do you come from? (Im-) Migration Discourses in Germany and the USA".
For further information and impressions of the Summer School, you can browse through the following presentation (PDF 17,1MB).
Summer School 2016 - Wiesbaden
The Summer School with the topic "Human Rights and Social Justice in Social Work Research and Practice: Perspectives from Germany and the U.S.A." took place from the 15-22 Jul 2016 at our Faculty of Applied Social Sciences.
For further information and impressions of the Summer School, you can browse through the following presentation (PDF 1 MB) and the program of the Summer School (PDF 230 KB). Follow the link to find out more about the organizers and guest lectureres of the Summer School (PDF 257 KB).
Furthermore, a newspaper article about the Summer School was published in "Wiesbadener Kurier" (18.07.2016), which you can find here.
We are very glad for the opportunity to have worked with you and our guests from the New York University Silver School of Social Work!
Summer School 2014 - Loja, Ecuador
A Summer School with the Faculty's partner university Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja took place in Loja/ Ecuador in the end of July 2014. Prof. Dr. Ploil, Prof. Dr. Schulze and 11 students participated at the Summer School.
This presentation (PDF 3.7 MB) summarizes the main information about the Summer School 2014.
An article about the Summer School (PDF 4.7 MB) written jointly by Prof. Dr Heifrun Schulze and three studens, who participated in the event, was published in the Journal of the Hochschule RheinMain in January 2015. Read their experiences by following the link.
2011 International Summer School - Wiesbaden
The Summer School "Investigations by doing research of person-group-community" took place at our Faculty of Applied Social Sciences in September 2011. Students from Ecuador, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain and students from our faculty participated in the summer school. For two weeks, students and staff discussed questions on qualitative research methods with Prof. Dr. Heidrun Schulze, Prof. Dr. Eleonore Oja Ploil and guests, visited social institutions in and nearby Wiesbaden and enjoyed cultural activities in Wiesbaden.
Here you can find the announcement of the Summer School (PDF 255 KB) with the complete program.
A student of our faculty wrote an article (PDF 319 KB) about the Summer School. Another article (PDF 519 KB)(in German only) was published in the journal of the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences.