Rosemary Barbera, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Social Work

Rosemary A. Barbera is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at La Salle University. She has been working in human rights since the 1980’s in the U.S. and Latin America.  Her areas of practice include human rights, surviving torture, community rebuilding after human rights violations, participatory action research, and Social Work in Latin America.  Current research examines the role memory plays in post-dictatorship society, community resilience after disaster and building human rights social movements. She has also worked with Juntos/Casa de los Soles, the Agrupación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos, and the Junta de Vecinos Concierto y Cultura. For the past 20+ years she has brought students to the población La Pincoya in Santiago, Chile where they learn about past and present human rights issues and learn from human rights activists.

Areas of Expertise

  • Social work and human rights
  • Latin America
  • Immigration

Education

  • Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
    Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research
    Ph.D. – December, 2003        
  • Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
    Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research
    M.S.S. – May, 1996
  • La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
    Graduate Religion, emphasis on Pastoral Theology and Liberation Theology
    M.A. – May, 1986
  • La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
    School of Arts and Sciences
    B.A. in Religion – May, 1983

Certifications

  • Instituto de Idiomas, Cochabamba, Bolivia
    Certificate in Spanish language and Latin American cultures
    July – December, 1987

Teaching

  • Associate Professor/Field Coordinator – La Salle University Department of Social Work
    Philadelphia, PA – August, 2014 – Present
  • Associate Professor/MSW Program Director – Monmouth University School of Social Work
    West Long Branch, NJ – July, 2011 – August, 2014
  • Assistant Professor – Monmouth University Department of Social Work, West Long Branch, NJ
  • Instructor/Assistant Professor – Temple University School of Social Administration, Philadelphia, PA
  • Instructor – West Chester University, West Chester, PA
  • Instructor – Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
  • Assistant Professor/Field Practicum Coordinator – La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA

Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications                

  • Barbera, R.A. (2015).  Learning by Doing: Integrating Social and Economic Justice and Human Rights into Social Work Practice. In K. R. Libal, S. M. Berthold, R. L. Thomas, & L. M. Healy (Eds.). Advancing human rights in social work education (pp. 273- 291). Alexandria, VA: CSWE Press.
  • Barbera, R. A., & Stevenson, L. S. (2014).  Human Rights, Democracy, and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Social Development Issues (Co-editors), 36(3), pp. xi – xviii.
  • Garcia, del Soto, A. & Barbera, R. (2011). De Esperas y Esperanzas: Aspectos psicosociales en procesos de justicia transicional [From Waiting to Hope:  Pyschosocial Aspects of Transitional Justice). International Law:  Revista Colombiana de Derechos Internacionales [Colombian Journal of International Law]. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (School of Legal Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana), Colombia.
  • Barbera, R. A. (2009).  Community Re-membering:  Fear and Memory in a Chilean Shantytown. Latin American Perspectives, 36(5), pp.72 – 88.
  • Barbera, R. A. (2009). Human rights: Some implications for social work. In Tina Maschi, Carolyn Bradley & Kelly Ward (Eds.). Collaborative forensic social work: A comprehensive guide to practice (pp. 313-322). New York: Springer Publications.
  • Barbera, R. A. (2008).  Relationships and the Research Process:  Participatory Action Research and Social Work. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 19 (2), pp. 140-159.
  • Bricker-Jenkins, M., Barbera, R. A. & Young, C. (2008). Poverty through the lens of Economic Human Rights. In Dennis Saleeby (Ed.). The strengths perspective in social work practice, 5th edition (pp. 262- 280). Boston: Pearson Education.

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Barbera, R. (2008). Our proud heritage. Adoptive Families, 41(2), pp. 38 – 40.

Presentations

  • Barbera, R. A. (October, 2014). Community, Solidarity and Vicarious Resilience after Disaster.  At the Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education, Tampa, FL.
  • Barbera, R. A. (10 September, 2013).  40 Años de Protagonismo en Derechos Humanos.  Santiago, Chile
  • Belkin-Martínez, D., Barbera, R. A. & Hessmiller, J.  (Nov. 2012). Educating for Social Justice Work:  Methodologies for Clinician Activists. At the Council on Social Work Education’s Annual Program Meeting, Washington, D.C.
  • Barbera, R. A. (April, 2012). Relationships and Research – Advancing Human Rights through Participatory Action Research.  At the Be the Evidence Conference at Fordham University School of Social Work.
  • Barbera, R.A. (2011). Liberation Perspectives:  A Framework for Radical Social Work Practice.  At the Social Welfare Action Alliance Conference, Washington, DC.
  • Barbera, R. (March, 2010). Life Course Challenges. Social Work Day at the United Nations.
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