PhD Student
Contact Information
Email: vnkwanzi@crimson.ua.edu
Areas of Interest and Expertise
- Anti-Human Trafficking Research & Programming
- Community Engagement and Scholarship
- Global Social Work
- Mental Health
- Social Work Education
- Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants
Education
- Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration, Uganda Christian University, Mukono Uganda
- MSW, Radford University, Virginia
Bio
Violet Nkwanzi’s research focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating mental health interventions for vulnerable populations. Violet is particularly interested in the mental health of survivors of human trafficking, refugees, and children and adolescent mental health programming in low-resource settings. Originally from Uganda, much of Violet’s research is centered there and in sub-Saharan African communities. Violet is currently serving as the assistant to the Executive Director of the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship (JCES). Before joining The University of Alabama, School of Social Work Ph.D. program, Violet was a lecturer at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, Uganda, where she taught core social work courses for four years. While at The University of Alabama, Violet has independently taught an international social work course and worked with Dr. Catherine Carlson as a Graduate Research Assistant on her NIMH-funded study to implement mental health services within a school-based violence prevention program in Uganda. In addition, Violet has collaborated with Dr. Carlson and Willow International, a Uganda-based human trafficking rehabilitation center, to implement a trauma-informed mental health intervention for female survivors of human trafficking.