November 4, 2003

Contact:
Jennifer Meriam, Director (954) 262-5355
Mike Laderman, Associate Director, (954) 262-5354
Mara Kiffin, Coordinator, (954) 262-5350

NSU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences Celebrates 15 Years of Educational Excellence

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) at Nova Southeastern University is marking its 15th Anniversary, celebrating its rapid ascent to become a highly respected academic institution and provider of accessible services to the South Florida community.

Located on NSU's East Campus, SHSS was founded in 1988 with the goal of teaching students to apply a holistic, relational perspective to the challenges facing individuals, families, organizations, communities, and nations. With an interdisciplinary sensibility and a commitment to individual and social integrity, SHSS seeks collaborative, creative, and equitable means for resolving human issues.

The school began with only one professor of record, three teaching assistants and a clinical director when Dr. Brad Keeney taught the first fall class in 1988. The first family therapy classes and practica were offered the next year. The school has since quadrupled its size, expanding to 18 full-time faculty, eight adjunct faculty and over 450 students. SHSS plans to continue on a steady course for growth, utilizing its innovative curriculum to continuously enhance the learning experience and professional advancement of its students, while working to meet the needs of the community it inhabits.

" The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences meets a two-fold need - that of educating professionals in the newest and innovative methods of solving conflict, and that of applying what has been learned to solve conflicts within the community," said NSU President Ray Ferrero, Jr. "SHSS's role in the community, and at Nova Southeastern University, is critical and will continue to be so in the future. Under the leadership of Dean Honggang Yang, SHSS will continue to innovate and contribute to the humanities and social sciences fields well into the future."

" My colleagues, predecessors, and I have been deeply committed to the fields of humanities, social sciences, and helping professions. Its role and missions in this world cannot be overstated," said Honggang Yang, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences. "I'd like to thank NSU and President Ferrero, as well as all of our faculty, past graduates, and current and future students, for their commitment to the field and to the community at large. We look forward to continuing to innovate, and to using that innovation to promote more constructive dialogs throughout the world."

Thanks to the flexibility of the school's online and on-campus programs, SHSS has produced graduates that work to further the school's mission by serving as experts in resolving problems with individuals, families and communities, as well as in prestigious programs, organizations, and companies throughout the world. Their success can be attributed in part to the invaluable, real-world clinical experience SHSS provides students. Two community services SHSS has founded - Community Resolution Services (CRS) and the Brief Therapy Institute (BTI) - are housed at the school, where many graduate and post-graduate students complete their practicum training and internships. Both units offer services to the community at large at affordable fees based on a sliding scale. CRS offers training and workshops, as well as mediation and facilitation services to individuals, families, organizations, and groups to resolve conflicts in their communities. BTI is South Florida's primary training center for brief counseling and family therapy, helping individuals, couples, and families with a variety of issues, including couple difficulties, parenting challenges, divorce adjustments, and school and behavior problems. Faculty members supervise behind a one-way mirror as students work with those who are seeking help from the institute.

SHSS is known for introducing new and innovative programs to the field. Its Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (DCAR) offers the only online Ph.D. program in the nation, and its Master of Arts in Cross-disciplinary Studies (MACS) is the only one of its kind offered in South Florida. The school recently launched a program to prevent bullying in schools - Students United with Parents and Educators to Resolve Bullying (SUPERB). SHSS also hosts the Common Ground Film Festival, which promotes conflict resolution through understanding and creativity. The annual film festival is free and open to the public.

SHSS also is home to two academic journals: "Peace and Conflict Studies," and "The Qualitative Report."

SHSS awards graduate certificates, master's, and doctoral degrees through innovative, interdisciplinary programs in conflict analysis and resolution, family therapy, cross-disciplinary studies, college student personnel, peace studies, family studies, family systems healthcare, healthcare conflict resolution, and joint programs with the Criminal Justice Institute, the Shepard Broad Law Center, and the College of Allied Health and Nursing.