Department of Social Work

Education: 

• B.S.Ed., MSW, and Ph.D., The University of Georgia
• Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy, Appalachian State University

Specialties:

• Expressive arts
• Identity intersections - sexuality, gender, and religion / spirituality
• Social justice
• Individual and family therapy
• Leadership development

Biography: Denise L. Levy, Ph.D., LCSW, REACE is a Professor in the Department of Social Work; Affiliate Faculty in Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies; and a Research Affiliate with the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness. She previously served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Beaver College of Health Sciences, the MSW Program Director, and the BSW Program Director.

Dr. Levy began working at Appalachian State University in 2008 and has taught courses in both the MSW and BSW Programs, including Advanced Social Work Practice with Families, Cultural Competence in the Helping Professions, Foundations of Social Justice Practice, and field seminars. 

For more than 20 years, Dr. Levy has explored the intersections of religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, gender identity, and social justice through her research. As part of this work, Dr. Levy seeks to amplify the experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals who grew up as Christians, support faith groups who want to create affirming spaces, facilitate intergroup dialogue, and utilize intermodal expressive arts for personal healing and community building. She has approximately 50 publications and has presented at more than 50 conferences or meetings.

When she is not working, Dr. Levy enjoys cooking, gardening, listening to music, spending time in nature, running, art-making (knitting, crafting hand-stitched journals, creating lanscape quilts, making beaded jewelry, and more), traveling to Disney World, and spending time with her husband, Daniel, and their cat, Ruby. She likes to cheer for the Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Braves, New Orleans Saints, and Appalachian State Mountaineers.

Curriculum Vitae: view