MS
Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, CUNY
Dr. Vicki Lens is currently a professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York. She has dual degrees in both social work (BSW., MSW., Ph.D.) and law. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. in Social Welfare, Dr. Lens worked as a public interest lawyer providing legal services to low-income people. As a New York State Assistant Attorney General she established the Suffolk County Public Advocacy Unit, which was responsible for prosecuting businesses for civil fraud and protecting the public from economic exploitation.
Dr. Lens's scholarly work focuses on poverty and socio-legal studies, including how legal and administrative systems- from government bureaucracies to street-level courts to the Supreme Court - can reinforce class, gender and racial inequalities. Her book, "Poor Justice: How the Poor Fare in the Courts," received honorable mention for the Society for Social Work and Research 2017 Book Award.
Dr. Lens is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Teaching in Social Work and, together with co-editors Drs. Naomi Farber and Maryah Fram, recently published the Special Issue: Beyond Ideological Mandates: Critical Reflections on Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Social Work Education. Dr. Lens is also a senior faculty fellow at Hunter College's Academic Center for Excellence in Research and Teaching (ACERT), where she has presented on various topics, including fostering critical thinking and civic engagement skills in the classroom.
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