Fulda University welcomed DAAD guest lecturer from Australia

Prof. Dr. Edwards is a professor at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and, as Academic Discipline Leader for Social Work and Human Services, is responsible for the development and management of the social work programs at BA and MA level. Her research and teaching focus is health and well-being, participation and disability, human rights, gender and inclusive development/disaster management. The funding programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for "visiting professorss" facilitates the guest lectureship in winter semester 2022/23. The stay of Prof. Edwards contributes to the further internationalization of Fulda University, a cooperation agreement between the two institutions is to be concluded soon.

As part of the team of lecturers at the Department of Social Work at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Edwards currently teaches three modules in the Bachelor of Social Work programme (campus-based). These courses deal with global perspectives in relation to social work topics and are extremely popular with students.

In addition to teaching, Prof. Dr. Edwards devotes herself to other teaching- and research-projects together with colleagues in the Department of Social Work. In collaboration with Prof. Dr. Monika Alisch, Prof. Dr. Sabine Pfeffer, Prof. Dr. Martina Ritter and Daniela Weil, she has planned and submitted a symposium called "Democratisation as a learning process in Social Work Education" as part of the “European Conference on Social Work Education 2023 - Diversity and Social Work Education: Building Bridges for Sustainable Futures”. In addition, Edwards is currently conducting a research project with Prof. Dr. Sabine Pfeffer entitled "Critical Insights from German Social Work Academics and Students". The project aims to critically examine the personal and professional viewpoints of faculty members and students in Germany regarding the internationalisation of the curriculum in order to develop recommendations for improving the internationalisation of social work.

Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Edwards has been active throughout Germany since her arrival in late October: She gave guest lectures, attended conferences and accompanied field trips as part of the "International Course in Social Work". In January, Dr. Edwards presented the concept of this 30 ECTS English-language course, which international social work students can take part in together with students from Fulda University of Applied Sciences, together with Prof. Dr. Pfeffer at the Department of Social Work at Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences in Austria.

Mid-February, Nicole Edwards will travel back home to Australia, where she will continue the ongoing research project. The publication of the results is scheduled for late summer 2023. Additionally, she will focus on student exchange in particular.