Research Expertise

• International child adoption
• Child welfare
• Cancer health disparities

Teaching Expertise

• Social policy
• Feminist social work
• International social work
• Social theory

Background

Melania Popa-Mabe was promoted to her current title of Clinical Assistant Professor in 2018 after teaching as an adjunct instructor at the College of Social Work. She currently teaches in the undergraduate program, providing curricular leadership for social policy courses including Social Welfare Institutions, Policies and Programs, Social Policy Analysis, and Advocacy for Social and Economic Justice.

Popa-Mabe’s research and work experience in international child adoption and other transnational contexts informs her teaching international social work. Another key area of interest is feminist informed social work. Since 2018, she has been teaching Social Welfare For Women and Minorities, an elective offered by the College of Social Work and the Women and Gender Studies program. Popa-Mabe teaches in traditional and distance learning formats and completed the Carolina Online Learning & Teaching program in summer 2020, offered by the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Popa-Mabe received bachelor’s degrees in social work and sociology, and a master’s degree in human resources management from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. She earned her Ph.D. from the Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.