Mahasweta M. Banerjee

Mahasweta M. Banerjee
  • Professor
  • BSW Program Director

Contact Info

785-864-8950
Twente Hall, Room 121
Lawrence
1545 Lilac LN
Lawrence, KS 66045

Personal Links

Education —

Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Research —

Dr. Banerjee’s work focuses on theories and practices associated with enhancing social and economic justice; community development; micro-enterprise as an anti-poverty strategy; international social development; and qualitative and quantitative research. In particular, explore her resources (below and at links on left) that connect spirituality with the capabilities approach, culturally competent international social work research, coping and strengths responding to welfare reform in the US, and cultural and religious perspectives pertaining to poverty and strengths in India.

Selected Publications —

Publications

Reviewed/Refereed

Book Chapters

  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2018). Reflections on Cultural Competency related to Poverty from a Study (Abroad) in India Course. In S. Chama and M. Sossou (Eds.) Creating successful bridges through study abroad: An International Social Work and Culture Competency Approach. NY: Nova Scientific Publishers, Inc. 
  2. Banerjee, M. M. (in press). Self Help Groups as Social Enterprises: Case Study of Social Entrepreneurship from India. In M. Nandan, T. Bent-Goodley, & G. Mandayam, Social Work Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship and Social Value Creation: Relevance for Contemporary Social Work Practice. NASW Press. 
  3. Banerjee, M. M. (2016). Processes and dilemmas of doing international research in India. In In Alice K. Butterfield and Carol Cohen (Eds.) in Practicing as a Social Work Educator in International Collaboration. CSWE Press. Arlington, VI: CSWE Press. 

Journal Articles

  1. Banerjee, M. M., Friedline, T., & Phipps, B. (2017). Financial capability of parents of kindergarteners. Children and Youth Services Review, Doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.08.009. 
  2. Rauscher, E. E., Friedline, T., & Banerjee, M. M. (2017). We’re not rich, but we’re definitely not poor: Young children’s conceptions of social class. Children and Youth Services Review, (83), 101-111. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.035 
  3. West, S., Banerjee, M. M., & Friedline, T. (2017). Coming up short: Family composition, income, and household savings. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. 
  4. Banerjee, M. (2016). "We Routinely Borrow to Survive" - Exploring the Financial Capability of Income-Poor People in India. Social Work, 61(4), 349-358. doi:10.1093/sw/sww045 
  5. Banerjee, M., & Damman, J. L. (2016). The capabilities approach: A framework to understand and enhance TANF recipients’ employability. Journal of Poverty. 

Non-Reviewed/Refereed

Book Reviews

  1. Banerjee, M. (2017). Urban Social Work, 1(2). 

CSWE Self Study for the BSW Program

  1. Banerjee, M., & Motoyama, M. J. (2017). Self study for reaffirmation of accreditation of the bachelor of social work program, Volume I, II, III. 

Selected Presentations —

Invited Presentations/Lectures

Reviewed/Refereed

Presentations – Other Levels

  1. Androff, D., Pawar, M., Rice, K., Fisher, C., Hermoso, J., Jaya, D., Kar, S., Pillai, V., Banerjee, M. M., & Abu Bader, S. (2019, October). Achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs): The International Consortium for Social Development. CSWE, Denver, CO.
  1. Banerjee, M. M., Menon, G., Fisher, C., Singh, S., & Butterfield, A. (2017, October). Partnership Presentation, International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD): Opportunities for Researchers, Educators, and Practitioners. Council of Social Work Education, Dallas TX.

Non-Reviewed/Refereed

Presentations – Other Levels

  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2018, April 11). Cultural Competence, Border Crossing and a Social Work Study Abroad in India Course at KU. Woodyard Award Lecture, Burge Union, Forum C.

     
  2. Banerjee, M. M. (2017, November). Absence of South Asian Students in KU’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy. KU South Asian Students Association, Lawrence, KS.

Presentations/Lectures

Reviewed/Refereed

International

  1. Banerjee, M. Examining financial well-being through the lens of gender. International Consortium of Social Development, Indonesia.

National

  1. Banerjee, M., & Jung, E. An examination of financial well-being through the lens of gender. Council on Social Work Education, APM 2020, Virtual.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2021, November). Students' Challenges and Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, Orlando, Florida.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2020, September 24). Financial Capability of Parents of Young Children: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study. The 2020 Convening on Financial Capability and Asset Building: Achievement, Challenges and Next Steps, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2020, September 24). Financial Socialization of Six to Eight-Year Old Children: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study. The 2020 Convening on Financial Capability and Asset Building: Achievements, Challenges and Next Steps, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

Presentations – Other Levels

  1. Banerjee, M. M., & Jung, E. (2019, October). Exploring Social Work students' financial capability and financial well-being. Council on Social Work Education, Denver, CO.
  1. Jung, E., & Banerjee, M. M. (2019, October). Better-off and worse-off Americans' financial capability and financial well-being. Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Denver, CO.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2019, July 17). An examination of financial well-being through the lens of gender and income. International Consortium of Social Development (ICSD), Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2017, October). Building Financial Capability for Children and Their Families. Council on Social Work Education, Dallas TX.
  1. Mahasweta, B. (2017, July 9). Kindergarten Children Parents' Challenges and Opportunities for Financial Capability. International Consortium for Social Development, 20th Biennial International Symposium, Zagreb, Croatia.
  1. Banerjee, M. M. (2016, November 4). "My children are actually a barrier": Financial Capability of Parents of Kindergartners. CSWE, Atlanta, GA.

Awards & Honors —

Group Honor/Award

Revolutionizing Academia Learning Community, Center for Teaching Excellence. (May 2021 - Spring 2022)

Incorporate DEI into SW540, Introduction to SW Research for BSW Juniors

Individual Honor/Award

Phi Beta Delta Honor Society. (2009 - Present)

Budig Award for Teaching Excellence, School of Social Welfare. (May 2020 - 2020)

Council on Global Learning, Research and Practice, Council on Social Work Education. (August 2015 - August 2018)

Infuse global content into social work curriculum through research and practice

Woodyard International Educator Award, University of Kansas, Office of International Programs. (2017)

Phi Beta Delta, KU Chapter of Phi Beta Delta. (May 1, 2016)

Faculty Award given to a faculty member at KU

Memberships —

International

Advisory Boards and Committees

Board Member

International Consortium for Social Development (September 2010 - Summer 2020)

Other Professional Service

Associate Secretary General for Communication

International Consortium for Social Development (September 2010 - Summer 2020)

External Peer Review

Affilia Review manuscripts. (2020 - Present)

Journal of Human Rights and Social Work Reviewed one manuscript from Bangladesh three times.. (April 30, 2020 - November 7, 2020)

Fulbright Specialist Program (Spring 2015 - Fall 2016)

Grant Reviewer, Ad Hoc

Israel Science Foundation (Spring 2016 - April 11, 2016)

National

Advisory Boards and Committees

Board of Directors

Council of Social Work Education (July 2017 - July 2020)

Editorial Responsibilities

Editorial Review Board Member

Journal of Social Work Education Review manuscripts on a monthly basis. (July 2018 - Present)

Journal of Community Practice Review manuscripts, attend board meeting, participate in board decision making. (March 2018 - Present)

Urban Social Work (July 2016 - Present)

Other Professional Service

External Peer Review

Advances in Social Work (October 2017 - Present)

Member

CSWE Global Council on Research, Teaching, and Practice (Spring 2011 - Spring 2017)

ACOSA International Sub-committee on Collaborative International Research (2010 - 2015)

ACOSA International Sub-committee on International Best Practices (2010 - 2015)

Reviewer

Journal of Poverty (2004 - 2015)

State

Advisory Boards and Committees

Advisory Committee

Anti-Poverty Work Group, Lawrence, KS, USA. Advisory Committee member for Anti-Poverty Work Group. This is one of four United Way work groups developing plans to address poverty among BIPOC families in Douglas County.. (January 2020 - Present)

Community Impact Committee, Lawrence, KS, USA. Member of Community Impact Committee, a standing committee of the United Way of Douglas County. (January 2020 - Present)

Local

Advisory Boards and Committees

Board Member

United Way of Douglas County, Lawrence, KS, US. (February 2019 - Present)

Service-Other Levels

Advisory Boards and Committees

Board Member

Spent an extensive amount of time to develop a CSWE sponsored Faculty Development Trip to India with our collaborator, TISS. Eventually, it did not happen., Global Council on Learning, Research and Practice of CSWE (2016)

Editorial Responsibilities

Editorial Review Board Member

Journal of Social Work Education (2015 - 2018)

External Reviews

Reviewed a manuscript submitted on status of social work education in India.

Boise State University.

External Reviewer for Candidate applying for Full Professorship. Reviewed application materials for a faculty member who had applied for promotion to full professorship at Portland State University.

Ohio University.

University of Connecticut.

University of Oklahoma.

University of South Carolina.

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

University of Kansas

University

Advisor

International Institute Initiative (Spring 2016 - Fall 2016)

Committee Member

Institute of International Studies (2015)

South Asia Studies Program (2015)

Faculty Senator

Member. (Fall 2011 - 2015)

Member

Center for Global and International Studies (Fall 2010 - Present)

Sabbatical Applications Review. Reviewed 47 sabbatical applications. (October 2020 - December 2020)

Friends of the Department of Religious Studies Group (2007 - December 2020)

Provost's Design Team: Faculty Success. The Committee operated from May to December 2020. In Summer we met once a week for 90 minutes. In fall, the meetings were once in two weeks. It was a lot of intense work related to teaching and learning during COVID-19. We drafted several recommendations for faculty success. (June 4, 2020 - December 9, 2020)

Executive Council of Graduate Faculty. Significant and time-consuming service. Reviewed University Graduate Fellowship review for 10 programs at KU. Three separate categories: 1st year student fellowship, 1st year underrepresented student fellowship and Dissertation fellowship. (September 2014 - May 2018)

South Asian Studies Group (Spring 2016 - Fall 2016)

Mentor

KU Women's Leadership Institute (Summer 2015 - Summer 2016)

President

Phi Beta Delta Honor Society (2013 - 2016)

Reviewer

Woodyard International Educator Award. Review applications for Woodyard International Educator Award. (2018 - Present)

School Service

University of Kansas

Advisor

MSW Advisor (Fall 2013 - Spring 2016)

Co-Chair

School of Social Welfare, PRT Committee (May 2017 - Present)

Co-Director

Toni Johnson Office of Race and Social Justice (Summer 2016 - May 2017)

Committee Chair

BSW Program Committee (Fall 2016 - Present)?

PRT Committee (May 2015 - May 2017)

Faculty Mentor

Junior Faculty: Sarah Jen. (October 2018 - Present)

Jancy Stroud-Brush. Mentoring new adjunct for SW540 and SW541. (June 2014 - Present)

Nancy Kepple, Pre-tenured faculty (Spring 2016 - 2019)

Jason Malousek, Adjunct Faculty. SW 540 and SW 541. (Summer 2016 - Spring 2017)

Terri Friedline, Pre-tenured faculty (Spring 2016 - Spring 2017)

Member

Faculty Executive Committee. Participate in all Faculty Executive Committee functions including revision of the School's Governance document. (January 2020 - Present)

PRT. Tenure and Promotion reviews, PRT policies and procedures. (January 2020 - Present)

School of Social Welfare Ad-hoc Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup (Spring 2017 - May 2018)

Dean Search Committee (Spring 2017)

Ad hoc Grievance Committee (June 2016 - July 5, 2016)

Mentor

Nancy Kepple, Pre-tenured Faculty Member (March 2020 - July 2020)

Adjunct faculty mentor: Jason Malousek. (August 2018 - May 2019)

Participant

Research Conversations organized by Terri Friedline and Mary Kate Dennis on first Friday of every month. Presented at this group four times. (Fall 2015 - Fall 2016)

Representative

Doctoral Student Orientation (August 2015 - August 2016)

Professional Memberships

CSWE, (Fall 1990 - Present)

Council on Social Work Education

Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA), (Fall 1992 - Spring 2019)