Officials at Duke's Divinity School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Social Work announced a new dual degree program between the two schools that will prepare students for "a unique kind of social service."
"We hope the dual degree program will build on the strengths of the two schools, each of which is a leading institution in its field," said Greg Jones, dean of the Divinity School. "We are particularly interested in the connections of the two schools in enhancing racial reconciliation as well as strengthening families and children."
Although Duke and UNC did not officially announce the collaboration until Oct. 15, the program already enrolls two students, both of whom started at Carolina this semester. The program allows participants to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Duke and a Master of Social Work degree from UNC in four years--a task that would otherwise take five years.
Jack Richman, dean of the School of Social Work, said the collaboration will help prepare students to work in a vocation that has gradually moved toward looking at the intersection of spirituality and social work over the last decade.
"Social work has really been looking into how, for many people, spirituality gives them strength in changing things that are causing problems in their lives," Richman said. "There is an overlap of spiritual and social aspects in social work in hospitals and prisons, for example. It's important that the same person trained in both areas could walk that thin line."
Willie Jennings, senior associate dean for academic programs at the Divinity School, said the program may help solve problems in communities suffering from budgetary cutbacks by putting the work of two people into one person's hands.
"The work of the social worker and minister often dovetails, and very often you'll find ministers and social workers collaborating heavily in caring for the souls and bodies of people," he said. The dual degree program will draw on coursework at both Duke and UNC and will also include integrated seminars on both campuses, taught by both faculties.
Jennings said the program will expose students to real-life experience in both social work and ministry. The seminars, he said, will put students in touch with practitioners in each field. Students will also have the opportunity to serve in field education placements by drawing on the Divinity School's resources in clinical practical education, the interdisciplinary Duke Institute at the End of Life and the Theology and Medicine program.
Richman said the School of Social Work may also consider starting similar programs with theological institutions for students from other religious backgrounds, although those plans are "very rudimentary."
"The real plan is to work on this program with Duke, see how it goes and find out if we need a different denominational perspective," he said. "But certainly it's more than just Christianity that might be interested in something like this."
Richman acknowledged, however, that collaborations with other schools could present a number of logistical problems.
"Duke is right down the street," he said. "If we're looking for a rabbinical institute, we may have to go to New York or Ohio for this caliber of collaboration."
Jennings said the Divinity School is not actively considering other collaborations at this time.
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