News from the Wilma Hepker School of Social Work and Sociology

There’s lots happening in the School of Social Work and Sociology! 

Read our latest news stories.


Martin Luther King Jr. Day events and Peacekeeping Week 2018

Civil discourse and civil rights to be the subject of a series of events January 15–20

Walla Walla University begins Peacekeeping Week Monday, Jan. 15, with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. Guest speaker Olive Hemmings will present “Our Common Suffering, Our Common Hope” at 11 a.m. in the University Church, 212 S.W. Fourth St., College Place.

Hemmings is a professor of religion at Washington Adventist University where she teaches New Testament; world religions; social, biblical, and theological ethics; and dogmatic theology. She has a bachelor’s degree from Northern Caribbean University, a master’s degree in New Testament and biblical languages from Andrews University, and a doctorate in theology, ethics, and culture from Claremont Graduate University.

Hemmings is a member of the clergy in the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists where she pursues a yearly itinerary of preaching and teaching. Her book, “Sacred Texts and Social Conflict,” is a “case study of the debate over women’s ordination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church to demonstrate the ways in which sacred texts function as the site of power for communities in conflict.”

Additional Peacekeeping Week events

Monday, Jan. 15
A MLK Community Peace March will commemorate the life and activism of Martin Luther King Jr. with students from WWU and Whitman College and the community. Participants will gather at 4 p.m. at the Whitman College Reid Center, 280 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, to march to the GESA Powerhouse Theater, 111 N. 6th Ave., Walla Walla.

Tuesday, Jan. 16
The WWU Pegasus Club will host a viewing and discussion of “I Am Not Your Negro,” about the life and impact of writer James Baldwin. The program will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Administration Building, room 117, 204 S. College Ave., College Place. The discussion will be facilitated by Kellie Bond, WWU associate professor of English, and Timothy Golden, WWU professor of philosophy.

Wednesday, Jan. 17
The Social Work Club will host “Privilege Walk: Find Where You Stand” at 6:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theater, 306 S.W. Fourth St., College Place.

Thursday, Jan. 18
An evening colloquium titled “Onions, Wine, and Immigrants: Justice for the Sojourner” will be held at 6 p.m. in the Peterson Memorial Library Reference Room, 104 S. College Ave., College Place. The colloquium will feature a panel discussion including Mariela Rosas, education program coordinator for Children’s Home Society; Mary Aparicio, WWU student; Aaron Bobrow-Strain, associate professor of politics at Whitman College; and Jody Washburn, assistant professor of biblical studies at WWU.

Friday, Jan. 19
The Amnesty International Club and the History Club will offer hot drinks and copies of the United States Constitution from 8 to 11 a.m. in front of the Administration Building and on the stairs in front of Chan Shun Pavilion, 100 S.W. Fourth St., College Place.

At 9:30 p.m. in the Student Association Center, 32 S.W. Ash St., College Place, the Black Students Christian Forum will present “WWJD: How Can I Be a Peacekeeper.”

Saturday, Jan. 20
A Sabbath Seminar titled “Practical Peacemaking” will be held in Canaday Technology Center, room 105, 306 S.W. Fourth St., College Place, at 10:30 a.m. A panel discussion will include Pedrito Maynard-Reid, WWU assistant to the president for diversity and professor of biblical studies and missiology; Derek Glatts, senior theology major; Susan Smith, WWU professor of social work and sociology; Katie Pekar, Peacemaking Week committee chair and biology graduate student; and Terrie Aamodt, WWU professor of history and English.

Additional details about Peacekeeping Week events and the WWU Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration are available at wallawalla.edu/MLK.

Posted Jan. 8, 2018

A series of events during Peacekeeping Week, Jan. 15 to 20, will highlight civil rights and civil discourse.
Professional portrait of Olive Hemmings.
Olive Hemmings, professor of religion at Washington Adventist University, will open Peacekeeping Week events on Monday, Jan. 15, as she speaks in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Department News

Warmest congratulations to our 2021 graduates!  You are awesome!

A new opportunity for practicums in the Walla Walla Valley just opened.  Check it out here.  

WWU has its first doctoral program--our very own Doctor of Social Work! Check out our webpage at https://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/grad-studies/social-work-dsw/.