Richard M. Cooper, PhD, MSW
- Director of the BSW Program and Co-Coordinator African American Studies
- Race
- Social Justice
Affiliated Programs
- Social Work (PhD)
- Social Work (MSW)
- Social Work (BSW)
- Human Sexuality Studies & Social Work (MEd or PhD & MSW Dual Degree)
Education
- PhD, Urban Education (2002)
Temple University (PA) - MSW, Social Work Practice (1984)
Howard University (DC)
About Me
I have a working class background and was raised in semi-rural Chester County, PA. I was drawn to activism and social change buttressed by the Civil Rights Movement and a desire to engage in the work that addressed oppression and racism directly. Social work for me is a calling. I seek to prepare students to cogently discover and articulate their future work/mission for a myriad of practice opportunities in the field.
My goal is to improve and develop students' knowledge bases and skill sets. But more importantly, I teach them to become change agents and to understand the value and importance of the work that we undertake. For me it is an honor and a privilege to closely interact with students on their educational sojourns.
Research Interests
My research interests are culturally centered educational pedagogy, therapeutic methodological frameworks, healing, counseling agency-based practice, and emancipation-oriented paradigms for African Americans and other disempowered populations.
Media Expertise
- Social work clinical practice and counseling
- Socio-political issues regarding African Americans
- Adolescent and youth popular culture
- racism
- African American music
- Domestic polices
- Initiatives from President Obama
- Black history
- Black males
- Hip hop culture and R&B music
- Culture diversity
- Movie reviews
- Counseling issues
Publications
- Cooper, R.M., Groce, J.T., & Thomas N.D. (2003). Changing direction: Rites of passage programs for African American older men. Journal of African American Studies, 7(3), 3–14.
- Cooper, R.M., & Caucus, B. (1998). African-centered social work supervision: Moving from African-centered theory to Africana social work practice. Journal of the National Association of Black Social Workers.
News
In the Media
- CBS 19
CBS 19 5PM News
- The Philadelphia Tribune
The Beyoncé Class: All about the music and magic of a star
Noteworthy
Widener Professor Shares Presentation at Black Freedom Movements Then and Now Conference
Richard Cooper, clinical faculty in social work and co-coordinator of african american studies, recently spoke at the “Black Freedom Movements Then and Now” conference at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
Cooper’s presentation focused on the life accomplishments of Bishop Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He highlighted Allen’s wide-ranging influence as a spiritual leader, entrepreneur and activist who challenged racial assumptions in the early American republic.
Allen’s work included institution building, mutual aid, economic development, education, civic engagement, music and advocacy on behalf of both free and enslaved black people.
Cooper explored how Allen united multiple dimensions of Black leadership that later became distinct traditions within African American history. The presentation argued that through Allen’s religious visions and his efforts to build independent black institutions, he laid the groundwork for the Black freedom tradition and subsequent movements for collective advancement and racial justice.