Office of Global Engagement
The Office of Global Engagement (OGE) at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work offers students and faculty opportunities for global research, global academic exchange programs, and global practicum education.
Our Mission
To enhance the missions of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and The University of Texas at Austin, by promoting academic and research global engagement initiatives, prioritizing underserved contexts and populations across the world. These activities are guided by a commitment to promote social justice and human well-being through global academic experiences, research initiatives, and advocacy grounded in global alliances.
Global Engagement Practicums
Learn from practitioners around the world and build your global social work skills by completing your final 500-hour practicum immersed in another culture. The Office of Global Engagement coordinates with the Office of Practicum Education and UT’s Texas Global to offer advanced Clinical and APP practicums each spring working with children, families, refugees, indigenous business owners, exemplary social work healthcare teams, community organizing, and counselling settings.
Santiago, Chile
Santiago is a cosmopolitan city set in the Andes with history reaching back more than 10,000 years. The Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile provides additional academic support for interns placed at either of two agencies.
- A community-based hospital with an exemplary social work department providing evidence-based services that improve the quality of patients’ lives and reduce the need for readmission.
- A program that uses a variety of interventions conducted by the Network of Integral Accompaniment for refugees and individuals in need of international protection.
Fluent Spanish is required for clinical internships in Chile. Proficiency is required for APP placements. The faculty liaison will assess the students’ level of fluency.
For more information, contact: Professor Anita Guajardo.
Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca is a tourist destination that at the same time has one of the highest poverty rates in Mexico. It also has one of the highest percentages of indigenous residents among all of Mexico’s states. The SHS offers practicums at four different agencies.
- A school-based outreach program serving children who would otherwise be working on the streets of Oaxaca. This established non-profit provides outreach, education, and counseling for children at or below the poverty line and their families.
- An entrepreneurial program that builds capacity and develops sustainable, profitable business models with indigenous communities surrounding Oaxaca.
- Projects promoting the recognition of labor rights, gender equality, the participation of children and youth, the economic empowerment of women, cohesion and the social fabric, governance, and environmental education.
- A grassroots feminist organization dedicated to the empowerment of girls and women.
Fluent Spanish is required for clinical internships in Mexico. Proficiency is required for APP placements. The faculty liaison will assess the students’ level of fluency.
For more information, contact: Professor Michael Romero.
Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington is the capital city located on the southernmost tip of the north island. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the rich culture and the relationship between the national government and Māori leadership while immersed in New Zealand. The program provides counseling and wellness services primarily to young adults ages 18-24 in a structured clinical setting. Therapeutic modalities include solution-focused, narrative, cognitive behavioral, and relational practice among others.
For more information, contact: Asst. Dean Tanya Voss.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Belfast is the commercial, educational, and service center of beautiful Northern Ireland, a United Kingdom member state. Interns will be placed with one of up to three different agencies working in and around Belfast to build and solidify healing, peacemaking, and restorative justice related to historical and ongoing trauma.
For more information, contact: Assoc. Dean Noël Busch-Armendariz.
Cape Town, South Africa
South Africa is often referred to as the rainbow nation because of its diverse cultures and religions. Some examples within South Africa’s borders are Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Tswana, Ndebele, Khoisan, Hindu, Muslim, and Afrikaner people. Internships in South Africa are based in the Cape Town area. The cultural richness of this international city makes it an incredible learning immersion in itself.
Students may intern at a variety of practicum sites that offer clinical and APP practicums. Placements in Cape Town have ranged from a substance use disorder treatment center, a grassroots housing advocacy organization, a child welfare policy think tank, and a clinical counseling center for children who have experienced trauma. Clinical and APP internships available.
For more information, contact: Professor Tammy Linseisen.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Switzerland and Hungary
Internships may be in Geneva, Switzerland or Budapest, Hungary, both remarkably beautiful and historic locations in the heart of Europe. Social work students have been interning at the UNHCR in Switzerland and other UN sites for more than three decades. Opportunities vary but duties typically include program planning, strategic planning, technical consulting with field staff, program monitoring and evaluation, all in some of the most exciting settings in Europe and Asia.
For more information, contact: Asst. Dean Stacey Jordan.
Global Academic Exchange Program
