Research News
Dr. Stephanie Boddie experienced a meaningful and productive visit to Ghana during the Advent season. She began her journey in worship with Rev. and Mrs. Nathan as well as Mrs. Cynthia Dogbe, leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church whose ministry reflects faith in action locally and globally.
How do you take academic research on a subject matter as taboo and sensitive as domestic violence and turn it into a theatrical art piece for the community? Meet Garland School alum Geneece Goertzen, PhD, MDiv, LMSW, who turned her passion for abuse advocacy and research into an award-winning play.
The contributions of graduate students are invaluable to Baylor University. More than 5,000 graduate students research, teach and pursue their own post-graduate degrees in the field of their calling, sowing into the University as they grow through its instruction. Baylor's Graduate School bestows Outstanding Graduate Student Awards annually through a highly competitive process. This includes our own Heather Deal.
Baylor University is well-represented again on a prestigious list compiling the top 2% most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University, 43* current or retired Baylor faculty members appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. This includes our own Dr. Holly Oxhandler.
Stephanie Boddie, PhD, a longtime interdisciplinary Baylor University faculty member, researcher and author, has been appointed as The Fuller Family Endowed Chair for Social Justice in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. In this position, Boddie will continue her teaching, research and scholarship on the needs of those made vulnerable in society. Her work is intended to support churches and other organizations as they serve neighbors around them.
This story examines recent incidents of abuse within religious communities, highlighted by a troubling video from Kenya, to reveal systemic issues such as hierarchical authority and cultures of silence.
Over the past four years, the Garland School of Social Work (GSSW) has received federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This funding addresses critical shortages in the nation's mental health workforce.
The Bridges to Belonging project is equipping congregations across Central Texas to more fully welcome youth and young adults (ages 13–25) facing disabilities, mental health challenges, and chronic illnesses. In its first year, the project has begun sparking dialogue and fostering new relationships among local churches, all aimed at making congregations more accessible, inclusive, and truly representative of the body of Christ.
Baylor University has been awarded a nearly $1 million grant from the EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants Program (CCGP) to drive transformative local initiatives aimed at bolstering food security, advancing sustainable agriculture and enhancing climate resilience in Waco’s underserved communities.
At this year's CSWE Annual Convention, members of our Garland School family had the opportunity to travel to Kansas City and present their research to the larger Social Work community. We are so proud of the research being done by GSSW faculty, students, and alumni, and we invite you to check out the important topics that they've been studying!
The Garland School was well represented at the 2024 NACSW Annual Convention this year. The gathering saw many GSSW faculty, students, and alumni present research on some of today's most significant topics in the field of social work. Much of the work that was demonstrated at the conference was centered around our 10th Competency - which we are so proud of! Come and explore the wide array of cutting-edge research topics that our Garland School community is bringing before social workers at the national level.
Before she came to know Baylor as a student, Lucy Huh, a doctoral candidate in Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work, was first introduced to Baylor through the late Diana R. Garland – the namesake and inaugural dean of Baylor’s School of Social Work – and her pioneering research on clergy sexual abuse of adults.