Program
The world of today no longer faces social issues confined within borders. Inequality, displacement, polarization and the climate crisis are deeply interconnected. This master’s program trains you to become a critical, reflective social professional who can work across cultures and contexts to co-create just and viable social practices.
About International Social Work
The full-time International Social Work program takes 1 year and covers 2 semesters. The key focus? Developing critical praxis and carrying out community-engaged research in real social contexts — often together with international partners. During your program, you learn to analyze complex social issues, understand global–local connections, and challenge harmful practices. You also learn how to design research that contributes to social justice and more viable ways of living and working together. In this year, you shape your own learning journey as you grow into a reflective and ethical international social worker.
The master comprises a total of 60 ECTS credits.
1st semester
The foundation
Semester 1 brings together theory, reflection, and action — preparing you for deeper engagement in the months ahead. You build a strong foundation for critical and international social work practice. You explore key theories - from intersectionality and postcolonial studies to eco-social approaches - that help you analyze how power, inequality, and global dynamics shape everyday life.
Start of your research
You also start your community-engaged research journey. With guidance from lecturers, you design a research proposal rooted in real social challenges. At the same time, you begin developing your transformative potential: reflecting on your own position, unlearning biases, and experimenting with practices that support social justice.
Semester 2
Critical thinking and practical strategies
In the second semester, you carry out the research project you designed in semester 1. You work with communities, professionals, and international partners to co-create insights and practices that contribute to meaningful change. You continue developing your transformative potential by examining your own role in social systems and learning how to act responsibly within intercultural and transnational settings.
This semester challenges you to connect critical thinking with practical strategies - turning ideas into real impact. By the end of the year, you’ve grown into a reflective and ethical practitioner who can work with complexity across borders.
Graduation project
Supporting long-term social change
Your graduation project is a community-engaged, practice-based research project. You collaborate closely with a real community or organization to explore a pressing social issue and contribute to more just and viable practices. You integrate critical theory, reflective practice, and hands-on engagement. Instead of imposing solutions, you work with people — acknowledging local knowledge, context, and lived experience.
The result is a transformative project that connects research with action and supports long-term social change.
Type of research
Research in this master is grounded in critical, participatory, and decolonial approaches. You learn how to design studies that do more than describe problems — they help imagine and build alternatives. You work with methods such as:
- Community-engaged research
- Participatory Action Research
- Decolonial and critical methodologies
- Practice-based research linked directly to social transformation.
Throughout the program, you receive close supervision to ensure your research is ethical, context-sensitive, and co-created with the people most affected by the issue you study.
Master of Science in International Social Work
After 1 year of hard work, you’ve earned your Master of Science in International Social Work. Congratulations! The program you've completed is accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). That means you now hold an internationally recognized degree - one that prepares you to work across borders, contexts, and cultures. Ready to get your career moving as a reflective, critical practitioner who contributes to social justice and more viable social practices?
Master of Science
A good match?
Want to discover whether International Social Work at HAN is the right choice for you? Experience it for yourself at the Open Day. Our students and staff look forward to meeting you there!
Careers
Find out about job opportunities for graduates in International Social Work.
