Fayetteville State University Social Work Professor Named National President of the Society for Spirituality & Social Work

The organization, which was founded in 1989, has served as a way to unite social work scholars and practitioners with faith leaders and their communities across a diverse array of religious and spiritual traditions. Through national and international conferences held each year, the Society was a prominent voice in this area of social work practice and research. The Society has not been active for the past several years so Hardy is leading a planning team to relaunch the organization in 2019.

Hardy also serves on the Board of Directors for the North American Association of Christians in Social Work where she is Chair of the Board's Diversity Committee. She is responsible for the addition of a conference track focused on research with racial and ethnic minority communities and served as track co-chair for three years.

Hardy began her research on the Black Church and African-Americans of faith eight years ago. Since that time, she has published numerous articles on the topic of religion and spirituality with African-Americans. Over the past eight years, Dr. Hardy has also presented nationally and internationally on her research interests, been invited to speak on panels and at workshops on social workers' need to collaborate with the Black Church, served as co-guest editor for a special issue of the journal Social Work & Christianity centered on the Black Church, and is currently a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought and Social Work in Public Health. She is also writing a book for NACSW Press which integrates social work and spirituality from an African-American perspective due out next year.

Currently she is finishing a manuscript on a month-long breast health study involving black churches in Hartford, CT.

Fayetteville State University is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina and the second-oldest public institution of higher education in the state, having been founded in 1867. FSU offers degrees at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral levels. With more than 6,200 students, Fayetteville State University is among the most diverse institutions in the nation. Chancellor James A. Anderson is the 11th chief executive officer.