Education

Research

Dr. Dennis’s interdisciplinary work focuses on Indigenous elders living in the U.S and Canada, with particular attention to the communal experiences and care related to the land and healing with a focus on the following areas:

Research in the news

Teaching and supervision

Dr. Dennis teaches in the Master of Social Work based in Indigenous Knowledges (MSW-IK) Program. She has taught the following courses in partnership with a knowledge holder:

  • SWRK 7720: Critical Theory and Indigenous Peoples with Ed Azure
  • SWRK 7750: Indigeneity, Power and Privilege with Sherry Copenace
  • SWRK 7780: Social Work, Social Challenges and Indigenous Peoples with Ed Azure
  • SWRK 7800: Indigenism, Elder lead with Sherry Copenace
  • SWRK 7740: Indigenous Peoples, Identity and Social Work, Elder lead by Ed Azure

Mary Kate mentors students in the MSW-IK program related to their projects and theses which have focused on Indigenous social work intersecting the following selected topics: land-based interventions, cultural resurgence and identity, substance abuse and recovery, research on parents and suicide, social workers and self-care, and grief interventions.

Publications