UMB StaffGeoffrey L. Greif, PhD, MSW, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Social Work (UMSSW); Victoria D. Stubbs, MSW, former full-time clinical instructor, UMSSW; and Michael E. Woolley, PhD, MSW, retired professor, UMSSW. “Interracial Marriage: How Diverse Couples Navigate Relationships in a Divided Time” (Columbia University Press, 2026).
The rate of interracial marriage in the United States has steadily increased: One in six new marriages now crosses racial or ethnic lines. Yet these partnerships are not always embraced or even accepted by families, friends, and society. Within families, issues ranging from food and holiday traditions to parenting approaches and beliefs about gender roles sometimes must be negotiated between cultures. In a time of national division, questions of race and identity have become deeply fraught. The way these couples navigate differences is a model for how Americans, despite their differences, can come together. This book — based on interviews with and surveys of hundreds of people and informed by the authors’ many decades of experience as therapists and researchers — explores how intermarried couples build lives together. People of varied backgrounds describe how they navigate a world where others wonder about their relationship, question the parentage of their children, and treat them differently from their partner based on their appearance. Spouses relate their experiences forming fulfilling relationships in the face of potential disapproval, and they speak candidly about the joys and challenges of raising mixed-race children. Many of these couples have strengthened their relationships by learning to communicate across cultural barriers, and they share strategies for overcoming misunderstandings. At once large-scale and intimate, this book offers practical advice and timely insight into the triumphs and struggles of love across lines of difference.
Ania M. Jastreboff, MD, PhD, University of Maryland School of Medicine alumnus, co-author. “Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It’s Like To Be Free” (Simon & Schuster, 2026).
For her entire adult life, co-author Oprah Winfrey has struggled with her weight. She never thought in her lifetime that medicines would provide hope, health, and healing for people like her. But as her conversations with Ania Jastreboff from the Yale School of Medicine reveal, we’ve learned that having obesity is not a choice. It’s not a question of willpower. Obesity is a disease. It’s a question of biology, created by our bodies’ need to survive and the environment we created and now live in. And it’s treatable. The new medications can lower our body fat set point (our brain’s “Enough Point”), so that we lose weight without battling biology with willpower. Jastreboff describes strategies to optimize health and manage side effects all with the reassuring perspective of decades of experience treating patients with obesity and leading studies with these medications.
Renée Hutchins Laurent, JD, dean, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, co-author. “Essential Lawyering Skills: Interviewing, Counseling, Negotiation, and Persuasive Fact Analysis,” Seventh Edition (Aspen Coursebook Series, 2025).
“Essential Lawyering Skills: Interviewing, Counseling, Negotiation, and Persuasive Fact Analysis” continues to emphasize the role of the attorney in the lawyer-client relationship. Widely respected by practitioners and teachers, the authors’ introductions, visual aids, and realistic examples illuminate the basic mechanics of these key skills. Case situations and problem-solving scenarios engage students in developing essential lawyering skills that mirror legal practice. The topic of professional responsibility is integrated throughout. Highlights of the seventh edition include a new subsection on professional use of legal technology, and in particular, generative artificial intelligence, in practice; recent research on communication modes in negotiation, including a new subsection on videoconferencing; and a new subsection on the “Career Satisfaction of Making a Difference.”
Richard P. Barth, PhD, MSW, Distinguished University Professor, UMSSW, co-author. “Understanding Child Welfare” (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026).
The book outlines which child welfare system reforms are likely to have the greatest benefit for at-risk and maltreated children and families. Chapters cover crucial debates and initiatives mapping the evolution of child welfare services in the United States and presenting comparisons with other approaches to child welfare services across the globe. The authors adopt a chronological approach, from initial contact to case closings, beginning with the prevention of child maltreatment and extending through out-of-home care, with a particular emphasis on services to older youth. The book also considers how to approach issues stemming from the importance of understanding and addressing diversity in race, ethnicity, and culture among child welfare involved families and offers opportunities for the evolution of child welfare services.
Naeemah Staggs, EdD, MHS, senior training specialist, UMSSW, co-author. “Triple Threat”(Books & Things Publishing, 2024).
“Triple Threat,” a children’s book inspired by the childhood friendship of co-authors Staggs, Kellie Jackson, and Leigh Powell, teaches kids to embrace their differences and shows how friendship can be found when you least expect it. In the book, a young singer, a beginning dancer, and an aspiring actress all attend a summer camp at Howard University. What begins as three young strangers reluctantly thrown together emerges as a friendship destined to be. Although they appear to share nothing in common initially, they discover that they in fact fit together perfectly.
Laura Ting, PhD, MS, associate professor, UMSSW, co-author. “An Antiracist/Anti-Oppressive Framework for Social Work Research” (Cognella Active Learning, 2025).
This book meets the need for a new framework in social work research, one which places antiracist and anti-oppressive principles at the forefront. The book examines ethical guidelines, evidence-based practice, measurement techniques, and data collection strategies, integrating quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. It features reflective pieces from social work researchers and practitioners alongside case studies of social work students applying antiracist/anti-oppressive principles in research. This approach provides real-world applications and engages readers with practical exercises, fostering deeper understanding and introspection on the transformative nature of research.
