Academics

Helen Glikman

Professional Details

Spring Courses

Professional Biography

I grew up in Cranston, RI and came to Massachusetts to go to school. I have lived here ever since. I got a B.A. in Sociology at Tufts University in 1978 and an MSW from Simmons College School of Social Work in 1984. I worked as a social worker in heath care settings at that point - for roughly four years at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and for nine years at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. My work in health care in an urban area got me interested in issues of urban poverty and social policy. It is thus that I left direct practice to pursue a doctoral degree. I earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University in 1999. My dissertation was on low-income young fathers; Theda Skocpol was the chair of my committee. I was honored, upon completion of my doctoral degree, to join "Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study". I was a research scientist on this study, where I interviewed families, supervised staff, and teamed with project administrators. It was here that I was privileged to meet Connie Williams, who was the senior ethnographer here in Boston on the Three City Study. I loved my work on the study and it helped define where I wanted to go as a new Ph.D. This led me to Salem State College School of Social Work, where I joined the faculty in 2001. This is my seventh year here. I teach in and coordinate the BSW program at the College. My work at Salem State has a particular social justice mission, as many of our students are non-traditional students, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds themselves. I also strongly believe in the role of government in supporting people and helping them move ahead in the lives. Hence it is a real privilege to work at this state college, and teach in its social work program. I am pleased to report I got tenure in 2006. I take my social justice work into the community as well. I chaired the political action committee (PACE) for the National Association of Social Workers in Massachusetts for six years. I am a delegate to the Urban Ministry of the Unitarian-Universalist Association. Related to this, I have been an active member at First Parish Unitarian in Cambridge for 25 years, and have held several leadership positions there. I currently serve on Boards of two organizations affiliated with the First Parish: Paine Senior Services, and the Cambridge Forum. Finally, I am a long-time member of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee, where I am chair of Ward 9.

Professional Interests

-- Scholarship of teaching and learning around BSW education -- Poverty and social policy -- Welfare reform -- Political action

Responsibilities

-- BSW Program Coordinator

Selected Publications

Glikman, H. (2004). "Low-Income Young Fathers: Contexts, Connections, and Self". Social

Work, 49, 195-206.

Selected Presentations

"Listening Carefully and Trying to Understand: Qualitative Research on Low-Income Families"

Brown Bag Series, Salem State College School of Social Work, Salem, MA, May 2004

"Social Work and Politics: Making a Difference (with Mary DeChillo and Angus McQuilken)"

NASW Statewide Symposium, Marlborough, MA, April 2004

"Stability and Change: Work and Love in Low-Income Families."(with Constance Williams)

Society for Social Work Research (SSWR), New Orleans, January 2004 (Poster)

NASW Statewide Symposium, Marlborough, MA, April 2004 (Presentation)

"Saying ‘Yes' to Political Action" (with Mary DeChillo)

BSW Field Instructors Meeting, Salem State College, October 2002

"Caring for Children and Managing their Care" (with Constance Williams and Judith Francis)

American Sociological Association, Chicago, August 2002

"Low-Income Families and Welfare Reform: An Ethnographic Study" (with Williams/Francis)

NASW Statewide Symposium, Marlborough, May 2002

"The Evolution of Intergenerational Support Networks: A Case Study of an Adolescent Mother's Journey into Adulthood" (with Tera Hurt and Linda Burton)

National Council on Family Relations, Rochester, November 2001

"Welfare, Children and Families: What are we Learning from the Boston Ethnography?" (with

Williams and Francis). Brandeis University, April 2002.

"Low-Income Young Fathers: Contexts, Connections, and Self"

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Social Work Department, Boston, February 2000

Wheelock College Department of Social Work, Boston, March 2000

"From Politics to Policy: Making a Difference"

NASW Statewide Symposium, Boston, April 1998

Personal Interests

On a personal note, I live in Cambridge with my husband Dan Bartley. Dan graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and is an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services, specializing in elder law. We recently adopted three cats from a local shelter: Millie, Marley, and Clyde.