Eric Lock Email & Phone Number

I have been teaching macro-oriented social work classes for over 20 years, across a variety of excellent institutions. I began teaching as a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, moving the University of Washington from 2003-2009, then to the University of Wisconsin from 2009-2016, and finally to Rutgers University, where I have been an Associate Teaching Professor from 2016 to the present. I have taught a wide variety of classes, all on the "macro" side of the social work profession: Introduction to Social Policy, Social Work History, History of the Social Welfare State, Community Practice, Social Problems and Social Problem Analysis, as well as a course on inner-city poverty and a variety of courses on human service organizations and social service administration. I have a research background in public opinion analysis, social policy implementation, and the operation of youth development organizations. My scholarly interests center on the analysis of social problems, (particular the effects of concentrated urban poverty), and all phases of the public policy making process: from development, to selection, to implementation. I worked for about 7 years on an unfinished PhD dissertation project in which I intensively studied three inner city youth development programs--studying how administrators and youth workers translated abstract notions of youth development into concrete actions in day to day practice. My overarching goal as a Social Work educator is to contribute to what I think is the essence of professional social work education: the transformation of people from a diverse array of backgrounds into great social workers—i.e. proud professionals who are committed to effectively advancing the cause of social justice through a variety of activities and methods. I seek to challenge and inspire my students to think differently about the mission, activities and identity of social work, so as to remind them that that are joining a noble profession that seeks, if imperfectly, to center racial and social justice as its reason-for-being. I do this through my approach to course design, how I teach and how I engage with students interpersonally. Across all my courses, I convey to students a sense that becoming a social worker is specifically not about adopting an occupation, but rather a professional identity—and I emphasize the notion of identity so as to impress upon them that the learning they are doing in the present is only the beginning of a process that they will continue to develop and refine as their careers evolve.

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  Associate Teaching Professor

  Rutgers University

  Jul 2016 - Oct 2023 - New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

  Course coordinator and lead instructor for the following BASW courses: Social Welfare Policy and Services ISocial Welfare Policy and Services IIIntegration Seminar