News Archive
Students
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As the country celebrates National Native American Heritage Month and the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates on the future of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Erika Salinas, PhD candidate at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, is keeping the connection to her Native community the focus of her work.
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Single mother and domestic abuse survivor Yvonne Elliott applied to the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work with a singular, career-changing goal in mind: to become a private practice therapist in order to better support her two children. However, almost immediately after started the program, she discovered a greater purpose.
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As a child, Jennifer Weck always knew she wanted to work in a school. When other kids were pretending to be doctors or astronauts, she was pretending to be the school principal. Now, after a career in health and fitness and having two children, Weck has come full circle. She will complete her Master in Social Work (MSW), with an emphasis in school social work, in May 2022.
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Many people fear the places Hector Jiminez needs to be. He relies on his battlefield experience — and his studies at USC, where he’s earned two graduate degrees — almost every day.
In environments where gang violence stalks communities, Army veteran Hector Jiminez is unafraid. He served eight years in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 1990s before returning to Southern California, where he followed a meandering path to a military social work degree at USC.
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Each year, USC recognizes six current PhD students, and their primary advisor, with exceptional academic profiles. Tasha Perdue, graduating PhD student at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, and Alice Cepeda, associate professor, are 2021 recipients of the USC PhD Achievement Award for Perdue’s dissertation work focusing on the illicit drug market in Dayton, Ohio.
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Each year, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work honors students who have made significant achievements in their academic careers and contributions to the community. We are proud to recognize the following students for their outstanding accomplishments.
Social Work Alumni Association Award
Recognizes great potential to contribute to the social work profession and the USC alumni community.
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For several years, PhD student Abigail Palmer Molina has focused her dissertation study on the experiences of mothers participating in an intervention for maternal depression, implemented as part of the Head Start program in South Los Angeles. The majority of the mothers were Latina immigrants, and Palmer Molina looked at their experiences to provide a richer picture of the intervention's effectiveness. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, she was compelled to find out how these women, and their communities, were being affected.
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On April 1, 2021, CBS premieres United States of Al - a new comedy from producer Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory) about a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life and the interpreter who served with his unit in Afghanistan and has just arrived to start a new life in America. The show explores the relationship between these two men and how they help each other adjust to their new lives.
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Eunhye Ahn has a passion for improving the lives of children and families. Her journey to social work, however, was not a straight line. With an undergraduate degree in business, she began her professional career in the private sector and it was there that she became interested in the potential for data collection and analysis to be used for social good.
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USC social work master’s student MaryAnn Samson helps other students apply for CalFresh benefits with a smile — and no judgment.
Hannah felt stressed every time she went shopping at the market. The USC student had to be so careful with her tiny budget that she often bought cheap food that offered calories but little nutrition.