Center for Religion & Civic Culture

Assistant Professor of Social Work
University of Southern California

Kristin Ferguson earned a doctor of philosophy degree in International Comparative Social Welfare Policy and Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington in May of 2003 in a bi-national, dual degree program between UT-Arlington and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Mexico. She is a member of Phi Beta Delta (Epsilon Chapter), the National Honor Society for International Scholars; the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the International Consortium for Social Development. Since 2005, she has served as an appointed member of the CSWE Council on Global Learning, Research and Practice, charged with developing and integrating an international dimension in social work curricula across the country.

Dr. Ferguson's research interests include homeless and street-living youth, social and spiritual capital, outcomes evaluation and social development interventions with street youth. Previously, she was the principal investigator of an international, interdisciplinary research project that identified best practices in faith-based organizations servicing street-living children in Los Angeles, Mumbai and Nairobi. Additionally, she led a feasibility study with homeless young adults in Hollywood to evaluate the impact of participation in an income-generating cooperative on diverse health, mental health and social outcomes. She is currently funded to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of community-based services for vulnerable children in Nairobi, Kenya, and separately for youth victims of commercial sexual exploitation in five cities in the United States.

Dr. Ferguson teaches courses in macro practice, social policy and international social work.