Amy Krings, Ph.D., MSW

About

Amy Krings is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on how marginalized groups collectively advance social and environmental justice, and how social workers and community organizations can support individuals in becoming social change agents. She has published on the topics of environmental justice organizing, political engagement and participatory decision-making processes, youth participation, social welfare policies, gentrification and equitable development, and social justice education.

Dr. Krings received her Ph.D. from the Social Work and Political Science Joint Doctoral Program at the University of Michigan. Her dissertation research used participatory methods to examine how a Southwest Detroit community benefits coalition organized to protect community health and promote environmental justice. Her practice experience includes work as a community organizer, grant-writer, and director of a non-profit focused on violence reduction and police reform.

Dr. Krings is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Article of the Year Prize (2020) in International Social Work, the Marie O. Weil Award for Article of the Year (2019) in the Journal of Community Practice, the Faculty Member of the Year Award (2018) presented by the School of Social Work Student Organization at Loyola Chicago, and the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA) Emerging Scholar Award (2014). She has guest-edited a special issue about social work and sustainability for the International Journal of Social Welfare and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Community Practice. She is a member of the Grand Challenge Advisory Council: Social Responses to a Changing Environment, a Board Member of ACOSA, a Board Member of Influencing Social Policy (ISP), and serves on the CSWE Environmental Curricular Guide Task Force. She was a 2021 Visiting Scholar through the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Degrees

PhD     The University of Michigan
MSW    The University of Michigan
BSW    Xavier University

Research Interests

• Community Organizing
• Environmental Justice
• Gentrification
• Social Justice Education
• Social Welfare Policy
• Theories of Social Change

Courses Taught

• Community Organizing and Policy Practice
• Integrated Micro / Mezzo / Macro Social Work
• Integrative Field Seminar
• Policies and Strategies of Community Intervention 
• Philanthropy, Public Policy, and Community Change
• Social Theory and Social Change
• Social Welfare Policy

Awards

2022 Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) Faculty Fellowship. Loyola University Chicago.

2022 Interdisciplinary Curricular Fellowship. Loyola University Chicago.

2021 Visiting Fellowship at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

2020 Article of the Year in International Social Work. “Environmental social work in the disciplinary literature, 1991 – 2015”

2019 Marie O. Weil Award for Article of the Year in Journal of Community Practice. “Integrating youth participation and ecosocial work: new possibilities to advance environmental and social justice”

2018 Faculty Member of the Year Award. Presented by the School of Social Work Student Organization (SSWSO) Loyola University Chicago

2014 Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA) Emerging Scholar Annual Award 

2013 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Outstanding Research Mentor Award                                      

Selected Publications

To access her most recent publications, please visit:

• BePress Page (includes Open Access to Most Publications)
• Google Scholar Profile

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Melstrom, R., Mohammadi, R., Schusler, T., & Krings, A.(2021.) Who benefits from brownfield cleanup and gentrification? Evidence from Chicago. Urban Affairs Review.
• Krings, A. & *Copic, C. (2020). Environmental justice organizing in a gentrifying community: Navigating dilemmas of representation, recruitment, and issue selection. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 102(2), 154-166.
• Markus G. B. & Krings, A. (2020). Planning, participation, and power in a ‘shrinking city’: The Detroit Works Project. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(8), 1141-1163.
• Krings, A. & Schusler, T. (2020). Equity in sustainable development: Integrating social work and environmental justice to prevent environmental gentrification. International Journal of Social Welfare, 29(4), 321-334.
• Krings, A., *Trubey-Hockman, C., Dentato, M. & Grossman, S. (2019). Recalibrating micro and macro social work: Student perceptions of social action. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 39(2), 160-174.
• Schusler, T., Krings, A. & *Hernández, M. (2019). Integrating youth participation and ecosocial work: new possibilities to advance environmental and social justice. Journal of Community Practice, 27(3-4), 460-475. Winner of the Marie O. Weil Article of the Year Award in the Journal of Community Practice
• Bell, F., Dennis, M. K., & Krings, A. (2019). Collective survival strategies and anti-colonial practice in ecosocial work. Journal of Community Practice, 27(3-4), 279-295.
• Teixeira, S., Mathias, J. & Krings, A. (2019). The future of environmental social work: Looking to community initiatives for models of prevention. Journal of Community Practice, 27(3-4), 414-429.
• Thurber, A., Krings, A., Martinez, L. S., & Ohmer, M. (2019). Resisting gentrification: The theoretical and practice contributions of social work. Journal of Social Work.
• Krings, A., Fusaro, V., Nicoll, K. L., & Lee, N. Y. (2019). Social Work, Politics, and Social Policy Education: Applying a Multidimensional Framework of Power. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(2), 224-237.
• Chin, M., Hawkins, J., Krings, A., *Pegeuro-Spencer, C., & Gutiérrez, L. (2018). Investigating diversity in social work doctoral education in the United States. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(4), 762-775.
• Krings, A., Victor, B., Mathias, J, & Perron, B. (2018). Environmental social work in the disciplinary literature, 1991 – 2015. International Social Work, 63(3), 275 - 290. Winner of the Article of the Year Prize in International Social Work
• Krings, A., Kornberg, D., & Lane, E. (2018). Organizing under austerity: How residents’ concerns became the Flint water crisis. Critical Sociology, 45(4-5), 583-597.
• Krings, A., *Thomas, H., Lee, S. J., *Ali, A., & *Miller, L. (2018.). Mothers’ perceptions of educational quality in a context of urban austerity. Children and Youth Services Review. 88, 298-307.
• Lee, S. J., Krings, A., *Rose, S., *Dover, K., *Ayoub, J., & *Salman, F. (2016). Racial inequality and the implementation of emergency management laws in economically distressed urban areas. Children and Youth Services Review, 70, 1-7.
• Krings, A., Austic, E., Gutiérrez, L. M., & *Dirksen, K. (2015). The comparative impacts of social justice educational methods on political participation, civic engagement, and multicultural activism. Equity & Excellence in Education. 48(3), 403-417.
• Teixeira, S. & Krings, A. (2015). Sustainable social work: An environmental justice framework for social work education. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 34(5), 513-527.

Book Chapters

• Kemp, S. P., Palinkas, L. A., Mason, L. R., Billiot, S., Mitchell, F. M., & Krings, A. (2022). Creating Social Responses to a Changing Environment. In Barth, R.P., Shanks, T.R., Messing, J. & Williams, J.H. (Eds.). Grand challenges for social work and society. Oxford University Press.
• Thurber, A., & Krings, A. (2021). Gentrification. In Encyclopedia of Social Work. Oxford University Press.
• Mason, L., Kemp, S., Palinkas, L., & Krings, A. (2021). Responses to Environmental Change. In Encyclopedia of Social Work. Oxford University Press.
• Krings, A. & *Thomas, H. (2018). Integrating green social work and the U.S. environmental justice movement: An introduction to community benefits agreements. In Dominelli, L. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work. (pp. 397-406). Routledge.
• Krings, A., Spencer, M. S., & Jimenez, K. (2013). Organizing for environmental justice: From bridges to taro patches. In Dutta and C. Ramanathan (Eds.), Governance, Development, and Social Work. (pp. 186-200). Routledge.

Publications – Other

• Matthies, A.-L., Krings, A., & Stamm, I. (2020). Special Issue on Research-based knowledge about social work and sustainability. International Journal of Social Welfare, 29(4), 297-299.

Policy Briefs and Community Reports

• *Copic, C., Schusler, T., and Krings, A. (2020). Environmental Gentrification in Chicago: Perceptions, Dilemmas and Paths Forward. 1-44.
• Krings, A., Kornberg, D., & Lee, S. (2019).Lessons and policy implications from the Flint water crisis. (CSD Policy Brief No. 19-41). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
• Schusler, T., & Krings, A. (2018). Addressing environmental gentrification: Improving environmental health for children and youth without displacement. Prepared for the Center for the Human Rights of Children (CHRC) at Loyola University Chicago.

Invited Talks

• Social Workers as Bridge Builders: Community and Policy Practice During a Pandemic, Increasing Incivility, and Misinformation. Influencing Social Policy (ISP) and Association of Community Organization and Social Action (ACOSA). Brown School at Washington University. St. Louis, MO.
• Environmental Justice Work on the Southside of Chicago: An Interview with Cheryl Johnson. Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) and the School of Social Work. Loyola University Chicago Climate Change Conference.
• Bowen, E. (Interviewer). (February 12, 2018.) Episode 233 – Dr. Amy Krings. Austerity Politics: What Social Workers Need to Know about Emergency Management Laws. inSocialWork Podcast Series.