Educational programming for professional social workers in the United States is generally acknowledged to have begun in the late 19^th century with the training provided for those serving the urban poor in New York’s Charity Organization Societies (Ginsberg, 2005; The Road to 1952: AASSW and NASSA, http://www.cswe.org/About/57763/57765.aspx).  From its beginning social work education has been shaped by the social issues and service contexts impacting those who are disadvantaged due to economic hardship, social injustices, disabilities, or systemic oppression.  As social issues have changed over time so too has the focus of social work education, the types of knowledge and skills taught, and the breadth of education that is now considered critical to the success of professional social workers.

This article explores the cross-disciplinary nexus between the fields of Human Services and Sociology at The George Washington University, USA. The authors discuss programmatic changes recently implemented in the curriculum of the Human Services Program in an effort to align it more closely with the disciplinary focus of Sociology while maintaining the Program’s distinctive strengths. Using engaged scholarship as its pedagogical cornerstone, the Human Services Program seeks to deepen the knowledge and skills of its undergraduate majors by linking service learning and community-based research. The authors reflect upon both the successes and challenges of this effort.

This article focuses on two intertwined elements of a pedagogical and research nature. The intention is to indicate a significant line of scholarly investigation and analysis at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University. This is an approach combining urban issues and phenomena which constitute social problems with actions and undertakings that are rooted in social welfare and social work.