Date of Award

Spring 6-13-2025

Document Type

Dissertation in Practice

Degree Name

Ed.D. in Higher Education

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Higher Education

First Advisor

Sarah Hurtado

Second Advisor

Chris Nelson

Third Advisor

Sarah Bexell

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Anthropocene, Ecological justice, Education, Resilience, Social work, Sustainability, Higher education

Abstract

This Dissertation in Practice evaluated the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) Ecological Justice Pathway to examine how resilience is conceptualized and cultivated within the curriculum. Grounded in a constructivist paradigm and guided by an ecological justice framework, this evaluation explored the pedagogical and curricular strategies designed to prepare social work students for the emotional, ethical, and professional demands of practicing in the Anthropocene—a time marked by ecological degradation, climate crisis, and compounding social inequities.

Through qualitative methods, including faculty interviews and curriculum document analysis, the evaluation identified both explicit and implicit components that foster student resilience. My analysis of the findings revealed that resilience within this program is not framed as an isolated individual trait, but as a relational and dynamic capacity, shaped through connections to land, community, ancestry, and self. The curriculum integrates interdisciplinary and culturally responsive approaches, including Indigenous knowledge systems, critical posthumanism, and eco-pedagogy, to support students’ intellectual, emotional, and ethical development.

This evaluation highlights the urgent need for higher education to shift from traditional instructional models toward transformative curriculum design that nurtures holistic well-being, critical consciousness, and collective agency. In this Dissertation in Practice, I propose a framework for developing justice-oriented, emotionally grounded, and ecologically literate social work practitioners equipped to meet the complex challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Copyright Date

6-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Windy Selig

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

200 pgs

File Size

1.2 MB

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