News and Events
TWU student Demetria Ober spreads wings, flies solo in Spain
12/16/21
Texas Woman’s social work undergraduate Demetria Ober is studying abroad in Granada, Spain this year. As an individual who experiences blindness, she never imagined having the courage to leave her support system behind in order to fully immerse herself in a foreign language and culture.
Ratonia Runnels featured in Scientific American's 'Social Capital in Black Communities is Often Overlooked'
10/20/21
“'As a young student, I learned early on that social work was a secular field and that people who have a strong faith background almost have to be prepared to tuck it in their pocket,' says Ratonia Runnels, an assistant professor of social work at Texas Woman’s University, who nonetheless studies how religion might be integrated into social work.
In 2011 Runnels published a study looking at how Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina used spirituality and religion to cope."
Two TWU students awarded Gilman scholarships
8/4/21
Texas Woman’s University students Ashley Elliot and Demetria Ober look forward to expanding their worldview thanks to their recently awarded U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships. The scholarships will allow Elliot, an English major, to study abroad at Harlaxton College in England for the Spring 2022 semester and Ober, a social work major, to study abroad at Universidad de Granada in Spain for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Smartt Gullion, Tilton's "Researching With" named International Book Awards finalist
6/21/21
"Researching With: A Decolonizing Approach to Community-Based Action Research" by Jessica Smartt Gullion (Associate Dean of Research, College of Arts and Sciences; Associate Professor, Sociology) and Abigail Tilton (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; Professor, Social Work) has been named a 2021 International Book Awards finalist in the Education/Academic category.
According to the publisher's website, "Researching With" "is a guide for how to do research that is inclusive, engages in community-building, and implements a decolonizing framework. The text advocates for a collaborative approach, researching with communities, rather than conducting research on them. Reviewing both theory and method, Jessica Smartt Gullion and Abigail Tilton offer practical tips for forming community partnerships and building coalitions."
Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of American Book Fest, said this year’s contest yielded over 2,000 entries from authors and publishers around the world, which were then narrowed down to the final results.
Student project WomxnEmpowerWomxn donates hair products, hijabs to Children’s Advocacy Center
5/3/21
A Texas Woman’s University project called “WomxnEmpowerWomxn” was developed by students who collaborated with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County to donate African American hair products and hijabs for Muslim girls.
This project initially started as an assignment in TWU’s Social Work Macro Practice Class by Daniela Castillo Vazquez, Daisy Guerrero, Jennifer Nuno, Alesia Ortiz and Jacqueline Valdez-Ortiz. The group was given a list of multiple organizations but chose the center to help the kids in need.
The original goal for the group was to raise $500, but the group surpassed their goal by raising $1050 along with other physical donations.