Background

A social work course was offered as an introductory course/subject in the bachelor’s program in Sociology from 1994. In order to expand the field of social work at RUPP, the Department of Social Work was established at RUPP after three years of planning with the University of Washington in Seattle, and the first cohort of undergraduate students were admitted to the Department in 2008. At the same time (2005), to respond to the immediate need for strengthening the capacity of social workers currently working in government, civil society and private sectors, RUPP partnered with Ewha Womans University (EWU) in Seoul to plan and establish the Master’s Program in Social Work. In June 2007, the MOU between RUPP and EWU was officially signed describing the support of EWU Graduate School of Social Welfare in establishing the Master in Social Work program at RUPP. A curriculum for this MA Social Work program was designed in collaboration with the EWU academic experts. In January 2009, EWU supported RUPP in conducting a workshop to gather all local and international stakeholders’ comments on the drafted Master’s program of Social Work curriculum at the RUPP Campus II. Attending the workshop were 60 participants from various NGOs and government agencies working in the field of social work and social welfare in Cambodia. Reflecting comments from the stakeholders, the curriculum was finalized. The majority of the courses in the curriculum are offered by the faculty from the Graduate School of Social Welfare at EWU.  EWU has been leading the development of Korean social work in academic, education, and practice fields since its establishment of the Department of Social Work in 1947 as the very first kind in South Korea. EWU launched the Graduate School of Social Welfare in 2006 combining its earlier master’s, doctoral and evening graduate programs with the aim of providing a more intensified professional education in social work. The EWU Graduate School of Social Welfare is continuing its efforts in training future leaders in social work both in Korea and abroad with its dedicated faculty. For more information on the Graduate School of Social Welfare at EWU, please click Here.