Dr. Nathan Stephens, assistant professor in the School of Social Work and affiliate faculty member in African American Studies, recently returned from a two and a half week visit to the University of Witwatersrand-Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits). Stephens was a visiting scholar with the School of Social Work and the African Center for the Study of the United States (ACSUS) as part of their inaugural Summer Learning Academy.
This inaugural event included a cohort of 18 people, most of whom were students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Stephens is conducting a study on the program, as he will explore the perceptions of these Black American social work students studying Afrocentric Social Work within a South African context. He will also engage with ways students describe their experiences and transferable Indigenous African social work practices. Social work as a profession in the U.S. is mostly facilitated by white women, so his work is unique because it affords Black participants the opportunity to study social work through the lens of African Centered Social Work in a country that is predominately Black.
Some highlights of his trip included visiting social service agencies and learning about the innovation and resilience of the staff in their service to the communities. Stephens also enjoyed learning about the Wits University School of Social Work curriculum, which does not require courses such as biology, algebra, and English. Instead, students complete multiple field-based experiences that start their first year of college. Stephens also noted the focus on macro- and mezzo-level social work practice compared to the micro-level practices that are emphasized in many U.S. schools of social work.
During his visit, Stephens served as a panelist with Dr. Rhonda Wells-Wilbon (Morgan State University, School of Social Work) and Dr. Assad el Malik (ACSUS) as part of a discussion about democracy and contextual issues in the U.S. compared to South Africa. He presented another talk surrounding the impact of the socialization of Black Americans on their perceptions of Africa and Africans through movies like “Tarzan” and early 20th century cartoons like “Jungle Jitters.” The latter includes racist depictions of African people, which Stephens argues has had a significant and mostly subconscious effect on our perceptions of Indigenous African people.
Stephen’s trip concluded with a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Johannesburg, where he and his cohort members met with Dr. Reuben E. Brigety, II, current U.S. Ambassador to Johannesburg. Stephens has been invited to serve as a consultant for the next cohort in 2025. He plans to present the results from his study on the inaugural cohort as a part of his contribution to year two of the program. This was Stephens’ first visit to the continent, and he was excited to learn about Afrocentric social work from practitioners and scholars in South Africa. His experiences in Johannesburg and surrounding townships like Soweto, compliments knowledge he gained as a 2023 graduate of the African Centered Social Work Academy of the National Association of Black Social Workers.
