Master Social Work - Critical Diversity and Community Studies M.A.

In line with the mission statement of the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin, the programme combines perspectives within critical diversity studies and community orientation in relation to the theories, concepts, action strategies and spheres of action in social work. Intersectional analyses and perspectives take a look at differing power relations in their simultaneity, their contradictions, and their relations. Community action specifies the multifaceted concept of community, moving towards emancipatory approaches to action, including participatory and collaborative intervention strategies, empowerment and power sharing, social culture, education and memory work, policy practice and transformative justice, as well as personnel and organizational development. It focuses on professional social work options for action that are understood as socially critical and transformative and open up a design perspective for social work.

The goal of the action-oriented Master's programme is to give students a foundation in power-critical and community-oriented theories and concepts within social work to enable them to intersectionally analyse social inequality, differentiation and conflict, as well as resources, resistance, and potential for change in their overall social, historical, political, economic, social, and cultural contexts. On this basis, perspectives for action can be developed for practices that go far beyond individual cases and aim to achieve (social) change in various fields of social work. Accordingly, the students are appreciated and involved in the academic programme with respect for their circumstances, who they are and have become, their diversity, and their positioning. Their situated and reflected experiential knowledge in this regard will be activated and professionalized as a resource.

The programme is modularized and consists of the following 6 modules:

Module 1: Understanding, contextualizing and analyzing power and inequality relations in a critical way with regard to science and power.
Module 2: Recognising, reflecting and developing positionalities and relationalities
Module 3: Taking up, initiating and shaping change processes in a power-conscious and community-oriented way
Module 4: Concept workshop - Developing your own change project
Module 5: Elective module - Shaping, developing, expanding you profession and future topics
Module 6: Master’s thesis (composition)

The programme comprises 90 credits and concludes with the academic degree of Master of Arts (MA).

The Master's programme in Social Work - Critical Diversity and Community Studies (KriDiCo) is aimed at university graduates who hold a bachelor's or diploma degree with a SAGE profile (abbreviation for Social Work, Health, Education and Training) or who have completed studies in social sciences, cultural studies, humanities, economics, law, social sciences, spatial sciences, or comparable studies with a power-critical, intersectional, or community-oriented focus.

It addresses individuals who are already engaged in transformational processes within their organization, a community or society in the context of their academic work, activism, civil society or professional practice and who want to reflect, establish, and develop their practice in active exchange with others.

Please note: teaching in the MA KriDiCo takes place in German. Appropriate language skills are required for application (see application checklist for details). The costs for semester fees and contributions are about 310 Euro incl. the semester ticket.

The programme starts each year in the summer semester. Detailed information on application, admission requirements, and admission procedure can be found in German under "Bewerbung".