NTNU-admission<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nAdmission deadline: 1st of February 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Course content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Inequalities in the context of social work and child welfare policy and practice have attracted much attention in research over the last decade. Much of this research has drawn on the techniques used by health researchers to map the social determinants of life expectancy, illness, and other outcomes. However, the study of inequalities in social work and child welfare must take into account the normative and value-based nature of these fields. While evidence of inequalities in child welfare interventions is steadily accumulating, theoretical conceptualizations regarding the mechanisms that underlie it are still in the early stages of development. How then can we address normative, relational, systemic and scientific complexities in research activities? How is inequality, power and social justice understood and conceptualized? How do we incorporate an intersectional approach to our research and develop more nuanced understandings of the field?
This course will examine some of the theoretical and ethical challenges associated with researching inequality in the fields of social work and child welfare. The course will also introduce students to methodological approaches and empirical findings from international studies within the area of child welfare systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning outcomes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Students will:
\u2013 gain knowledge about central theories in the field of social inequality, social work and child welfare
\u2013 think critically about researching, such as conceptualization and theorizing inequality and ethical dilemmas, in the context of social work and child welfare
\u2013 Gain knowledge on the empirical findings of the international research projects and learn about \u2013the methods used when researching child welfare inequalities
\u2013 Gain an in-depth understanding of the following key concepts: social justice, social power, stigma, intersectionality <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning methods and activities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Lectures, seminars, formative presentations by the participants, and facilitated in-class discussions. The course is taught in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Compulsory assignments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Written assignment (4500-5000 words) linked to one issue that deals with theoretical and\/or ethical challenges in social work inequality research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Required previous knowledge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Master\u2019s degree or equivalent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Course materials<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
General and individually selected syllabus. The general syllabus is announced at the beginning of the course. Deadline for submission of individually selected syllabus is stated at the beginning of the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Program<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n11-13 May, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NTNU, Campus Helgasetr, Trondheim<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Course coordinator: Bente Heggem Kojan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Involved staff: Emily Keddel, Anna Gupta, Brid Featherstone, Calum Webb, Mary Elizabeth Hemler, Rick Hood<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11th<\/sup> of May \u2013 Theoretical perspectives and central concepts<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n12.00 Welcome and introduction, Bente Heggem Kojan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12.30 What is inequality<\/em>? Perspectives on child and family welfare inequalities<\/em>, Rick Hood<\/p>\n\n\n\n13.45 Break<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14.15-15.30 What is Intersectionality? Why is it important to think about intersectionality in child welfare research?<\/em> Anna Gupta<\/p>\n\n\n\n12th<\/sup> of May- Empirical studies \u2013 relationship between inequality and child welfare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n09.0 \u201310.00 Researching social interventions with people \u2013 qualitative approaches, <\/em>Anna Gupta<\/p>\n\n\n\n10.00-10.15 Break<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10.15-11.15 Researching welfare inequalities – quantitative approaches,<\/em> Calum Webb <\/p>\n\n\n\n11.15.11.30 Break<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11.30-12.30 Researching child welfare inequalities in Norway<\/em>, <\/em>Mary Elizabeth Hemler and Bente Heggem Kojan<\/p>\n\n\n\n12.30-13.30 Lunch<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13.30-14.30 Domestic abuse, inequality and child welfare services, <\/em>Brid Featherstone and Rick Hood<\/p>\n\n\n\n14.30-16.30 WORKSHOPS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parallel workshops with students presenting and discussing abstracts\/ideas for essays. Workshops to be lead by involved staff. 2.5 hours (with 30 min break in middle). Appr. four students in each group = 30 mins per student to present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a. Presentation of case (5 mins)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
b. Clarifying questions (5 mins)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
c. Discussion (15 mins \u2013 presenter listens)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
d. Presenter concludes \u2013 (5 mins)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18.00Joint dinner for involved staff and PhD candidates<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13th<\/sup> of May \u2013 Rethinking child and family welfare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n09.00\u201310.00 Strategies for reducing inequalities through community-state partnerships (with comment on settler-colonial contexts but relevant beyond that), Emily Keddell (digital lecture)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10.00-10.15 Break<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10.15-11.15 Re-thinking the role of the state and the relationship with child welfare in a very troubled world,<\/em> Brid Featherstone<\/p>\n\n\n\n11.15-12.00 Summary of the course, led by Calum Webb and Bente Heggem Kojan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Current and future challenges in studying inequality in social work<\/em> \u2013 summarizing reflections and learnings with PhD students<\/p>\n\n\n\n12-13 Lunch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Where and when? Date. 11.\u2013 13. May 2026,\u00a0Room: TBA\u00a0 How to apply, see\u00a0NTNU-admission Admission deadline: 1st of February 2026 Course content Inequalities in the context of social work and child welfare policy and practice have attracted much attention in research over the last decade. Much of this research has drawn on the techniques used by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3338,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions\/3338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwel.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}