Brenda Kurz, Ph.D.
Profile Summary
Brenda Kurz , Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Casework and is Chair of the Casework concentration. Brenda teaches courses in casework, micro foundation theory and practice, and social work practice with children and families. Her areas of specialization include casework, foundation practice, and research.
Education
- Ph.D. - University of North Carolina, 1986
- M.S.W. - Smith College, 1983
- M.S.P.H - University of North Carolina, 1981
- B.S. - Duke University, 1978 (Magna cum laude)
Research Interests
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Violence Prevention and Mental Health Promotion in Children
Mental Health and Health Care Utilization of Low-income Ethnically Diverse Women
Research and Scholarship Links
- coming soon
Contact
- Phone: (860) 570-9153
- Email: brenda.kurz@uconn.edu
- Room: 308 SSWB
Professional Experience
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, 2006 - present, University of Connecticut School of Social Work, Assistant Professor, 1999-2006
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University School of Social Work, 1994-99
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Smith College School for Social Work, 1993-00
Lecturer, University of North Carolina School of Social Work, Jan. May 1993, Jan.- May 1994
Lecturer, Smith College School for Social Work, Summer 1992 and 1993
Assistant Clinical Professor, Psychiatric Social Worker, Duke University Medical Center, Division of Psychiatry, Durham Community Guidance Clinic, Sept. 1987 - May 1994
Professional Work Experience
Rural Public Health Zone Coordinator, U.S. Peace Corps, Bunkonde, Zaire, July 1986 - May 1987
Publications
Articles, Books, and Book Chapters
Kurz, B., & Werkmeister Rozas, L. (2006). The Concept of Race in Research : Using Social Index Variables. Submitted to the Journal of Social Service Research.
Malcolm, B. & Kurz, B. (2005). Mental illness and West Indian women in WIC: Beliefs about causes, health care utilization, and symptomatology. Submitted to the Caribbean Journal of Social Work.
Kurz, B., & Hesselbrock, M. (2006). Ethnic differences in mental health symptomatology and mental health care utilization among WIC mothers. Social Work in Mental Health. 4(3), 1-21.
Cordero, A., & Kurz, B. (2006). Acculturation and mental health of Latina women in WIC. Affilia. 21; 41-58.
Kurz, B., Malcolm, B., & Cournoyer, D. (2005). In the shadow of race: Immigrant status and mental health. Affilia. 20, 434-447.
Kurz, B. (2005). Depression and mental health service utilization among women in WIC. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity. 14(3/4).
York , R., Kurz, B., Powell, M., & Rohrer, G. (2001). Evaluation of a comprehensive state program for adolescent mothers. The Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 25(2), 157-168.
Brown, P., Rice, A., Angell, B., & Kurz, B. (2000). Faculty hiring practices in social work education. Critical Social Work, 1(2), 1-13.
Angell, B., Kurz, B., & Gottfried, G. (1998). Suicide and North American Indians: A social constructivist perspective. Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 6(3/4), 1-26.
Martin, S., Cotten, N., Browne, D., Kurz, B., & Robertson, E. (1995). Family violence and depressive symptomatology among incarcerated women, Journal of Family Violence, 10(4), 399 - 411.
Merritt, R.B., Rogers, J.G., Kurz, B.J. (1978). Genic variability in the longnose dace, Rhinichthys cataractae, Evolution, 32:116-24.
Book Reviews
Kurz, B. (2002). [Review of the book “Promoting positive outcomes: Issues in children’s and families’ lives.”] Journal of Primary Prevention, 22(4), 437-440.
Kurz, B. (2000). [Review of the book “Psychotherapy with “Impossible” cases: The efficient treatment of therapy veterans.”] Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 18(1), 81-85.
Kurz, B. (1999). [Review of the book “Trauma in the lives of children: Crisis and stress management techniques for counselors, teachers, and other professionals.”] Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 18(1), 81-85.
Kurz, B. (1998). [Review of the book What about America’s homeless children? Hide and seek.] Residential Treatment for Children and Youth,16(1), 91-93.
Kurz, B. (1998). [Review of the books Making the peace: A 15-session violence prevention curriculum for young people and Days of respect: Organizing a school-wide violence prevention program]. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 15(3), 83-86.
Kurz, B. (1997). [Review of the book Children in danger: Coping with the consequences of community violence]. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 14(2), 139-143.
Grants and Sponsored Programs
Principal Investigator, Center for Excellence in Health Disparities Proposal Development Grant, April 2006
Collaborator from the University of Connecticut to the Pink and Blue Study (Principal Investigators – Drs. Kim Yonkers and Kathleen Belanger of Yale) a five-year, five million dollar grant from NICHD to study the effects of stress-related disorders on pregnancy –February, 2005.
Authored the evaluation section, Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, SAMHSA, School and Community Violence Prevention Project - September, 2003.
Principal Investigator, University of Connecticut Large Grant Program - Faculty Research Account - A typology study of mental health and health care utilization of an ethnically diverse group of mothers in the WIC program - May, 2003
Principal Investigator, University of Connecticut - Faculty Research Account - A study of mental health and health care utilization of an ethnically diverse group of mothers in the WIC program - April, 2002
Co-Principal Investigator of an evaluation contract (Michie Hesselbrock, Principal Investigator), Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services’ Connecticut Coalition for the Advancement of Prevention (CCAP), funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) - PRISM Initiative - 2000-2004
Consultant, Family Reunification Grant, Annie E Casey Foundation, 2002 to present
Consultant, Family Stages Grant ( Bridgeport, CT), Catholic Family Charities, 2003 to present
Co-Principal Investigator with Reginald York, PhD, NC Department of Health and Human Services, Evaluation of the Adolescent Parenting Program, Fall, 1997
Presentations, Conferences and Lectures
Kurz, B, Smith, M. & Geller, B. (2006).Improving access to care. Invited speaker at the Conference Addressing Perinatal Depression: Implication for consumers and Providers. Jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine – Office of Continuing Education and the Connecticut AGEC Program.
Kurz, B. (2006). Understanding and Treating Perinatal Depression in Low-Income Women . University of Connecticut School of Social Work Continuing Education Series, March, 2006, West Hartford, CT.
Kurz, B. (2006). Prevalence, treatment and barriers to treatment for depression among ethnically diverse low-income women. Invited speaker at the Connecticut Medicaid Council’s Quality Assurance Subcommittee’s Women Health Forum: Perinatal Depression and Oral Health Care During Pregnancy, Hartford, CT.
Felke, T, & Kurz, B. (2004). GIS as a Tool for Social Work Planning and Practice. Presentation. Council on Social Work Education. Annual Program Meeting. Anaheim, CA.
Kurz, B. (2004). Use of racial/ethnic categorizations in research: A methodologic approach to addressing ethnic heterogeneity. The Society for Social Work and Research, 8 th Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.
Brown, P., Rice, A., Angell, G., & Kurz, B. (1999). Faculty hiring practices in social work education: A national survey. Paper presentation. Council on Social Work Education, Annual Program Meeting. San Francisco, CA.
Kurz, B., Carawan, C. (1998). Who are we anyway? Roundtable Discussion. Baccalaureate Program Directors Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Kurz, B. (1998). Methods to deal with extremely manipulative clients. Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center. Greenville, NC.
Kurz, B. (1997). Red Flags and Referrals, Workshop at the Third Annual Public Health Social Work Conference Expanding the Vision: Public Health in the Twenty-First Century, Winston-Salem, NC
Kurz, B. (1995). A synthetic strategy to teaching research: When the rubber hits the road. Presentation at the Baccalaureate Program Directors Conference, Nashville, Tennessee
Manley, G., Artis, L., Kurz, B., & Lowe, G. (1995). Is the concept of mental disorder culturally relative? Panel Presentation at the East Carolina University School of Social Work and Criminal Justice Program Workshop on Ethics, Lies, and Videotapes: Challenges to Professionals in Search of Moral Being, Greenville, NC
Lyons , C., Polhamus, P., Laney-Bell, B., Flowers, M., & Kurz, B. (1990). Portable social work: Home visiting with troubled families, Panel Presentation at Conference on Treatment with the Severely Troubled Individual and Family, Durham, NC
Kurz, B. (1988). Early childbearing: For whom does it matter? Poster Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Boston, MA
CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic. Collaborated with these agencies beyond the PRISM grant requirements, including writing the evaluation section of a grant, January 2001 to summer 2004
Reviewed article for Addiction, April 2001
Family and Medical Leave Task Force, Committee member for Representative Chris Donovan, November 1999 - March 2000
Consulted with the Hillcrest Area Neighborhood Outreach Center in West Hartford, CT , November 1999 - May 2000
Honors, Fellowships and Distinctions
Accepted to the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program - National Institute of Mental Health sponsored workshop on Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, Ann Arbor, MI, 1995
Delta Omega Society Student Service Teaching Award, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, 1986
Pogue Fellowship, given by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in recognition of academic achievement, 1983 -1984
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Traineeship, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, 1979 - 1981
Alice M. Baldwin Scholarship, given by Duke University in recognition of academic achievement, 1977 - 1978
Outreach and Service
University Service
University of Connecticut, School of Social Work: Chair of the Casework Method, September, 2005 to present
Field Advisory Board. Prepared materials for orientation, involved key field instructors in a discussion of curriculum revisions, and prepared and modified evaluation materials, September 1999 - 2005
Community Service
Connecticut Department of Public Health Perinatal Depression Workgroup member and chair of the Evaluation subcommittee, September 2005 to presentCommunity Service
Connecticut Department of Public Health, Division of Health Systems Regulation, Social Work Consultant. Review and recommend action to be taken regarding complaints about care and service issued by social workers, June 2003 to present
Unitarian Church, West Hartford: CropWalk treasurer, Jan 2005 to present
Sunday school teacher, Sept. 2003 - Feb 2003, and Sept. 2004 to May 2005
Women, Infants and Children’s Program. Conducted a transportation survey for the northern Hartford WIC clinic (summer, 2003) and provide requested data to the WIC offices, 2002 to 2005.
Save the Center, Volunteer with this West Hartford group, fall 2003 to 2005