Ann Sullivan

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Ann Sullivan

Lecturer of Social Work

Social Work

Office Hours

Monday 12-2, Tuesday 11 - 1, Thursday 9 - 11

Biography

Ann Sullivan has served as a community social worker for over 20 years. Areas of specialty include child and adolescent wellbeing, collaborative management, community mental health, disaster behavioral health response and child welfare and the impacts on transition aged youth. She has worked at MSU Denver for 7 years, serving as full-time faculty for 4 years.

Research Interests

    Topics include: a) Design Justice in the online teaching space; centering online learning using anti-oppressive strategies; b) Field education - the changing landscape of work based field experiences; d) Court and child welfare systems and impacts on client populations; e)Peer support roles with youth and young adults

Teaching Interests

    As a PhD in Social Work, my dissertation focused on youth voice within the child welfare and family court systems. I bring a passion for student field education that links theory and practice for emerging social workers. Specific field of interest include child welfare and community mental health systems integration for at risk youth populations as wells a commitment to improved wellbeing for the emerging adult populations. My teaching philosophy is informed by anti-oppressive classroom practices. As such, I engage the voices of students in my course instruction. I institute instructional practices that give voice to the knowledge and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and others who identify as People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized communities. I hold myself and students accountable to evaluating the ways our multiple identities interact within these systems. I am committed to life-long learning. Anti-oppressive classroom experience must start with me and my own reflection on my power, perspectives and biases. I believe that my teaching philosophy will grow and change through my efforts to unlearn and to learn new ways of understanding oppressive systems and teaching approaches. Specific strategies include intersectional identity introductions, student choice in assignment completion, mid-semester feedback, small group and big group activities as well as written and recorded assignment submission.

Education

PhD in Social Work

Colorado State University

MSW in Social Work

Colorado State University

BS in Political Science

Santa Clara University

Published Works

    Boyce, E., Clockston, M. J., Cottrell, S. B., Sullivan, F. A. (2025). Advances in Social Work, "An autoethnographic exploration of Design Justice as a framework for anti-racist, equitable curriculum design.".. Advances in Social Work Carol Hostetter, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW, Editor https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork. Cottrell, S. B., Boyce, E., Clockston, M. J., Corvino, A. P., Sullivan, F. A., Taylor, A., Baranski, M. A. (2025). Design Justice: Engagement and Equity in Pedagogy. Springer Nature Publisher , Boyce, E., Clockston, M. J., Cottrell, S. B., Sullivan, F. A. (2024). An autoethnographic exploration of Design Justice as a framework for anti-racist, equitable curriculum design. Advances in Social Work, 24(3), 609-627. https://doi.org/10.18060/27598. Sullivan, F. A. . www.mswtoolbox.com. none, P.O. Box 173362, Campus Box 47