“My goal is to not only foster a climate where students actively learn how to counsel others but to empower our budding clinicians to become social justice advocates...”
Assistant Professor Melissa Kaplowitch is passionate about teaching and connecting with students. Her didactic classes are part lecture and part experiential. Building a safe space in the classroom with students, she invites them to examine ways in which culture has shaped their own worldview and impacted their understanding of and interactions with others. Teaching at Salem State since 2001, Kaplowitch accepted a full-time, tenure track position in 2021, before becoming the MS in Counseling program coordinator in 2022. Her overall goal for students is to gain effective and ethical counseling practices that serve culturally diverse populations.
For example, in the graduate course entitled Community Counseling in a Multicultural and Diverse Society, students directly interact with members of marginalized populations to learn and research the history and context of group members. Corresponding assignments aim to assist students in gaining a deeper understanding of microaggressions and the ways in which specific uses of language can be particularly hurtful. The nature of this course prompts rich discussion where class members self-reflect about their personal identity and personal experiences of living in a culturally diverse society.
Kaplowitch sets out to help students find the vocabulary, self-awareness, and courage to become social justice advocates to best support their clients. If you help someone breathe easier, she believes they’re in a better position to succeed. “It is only when we learn how to be an upstander and speak out that we can truly initiate much needed change,” Kaplowitch asserts. She’s dedicated her career to teaching students and members of the greater community to value differences, build inclusive practices, and create a culture of compassion and care for all people. Recognized for her leadership, Kaplowitch has been awarded the Commonwealth Certificate of Achievement Award and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award in 2024, as well as the Distinguished Teaching Award for non-tenure track faculty in 2017.
Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes
Kaplowitch remembers what it’s like to be a student. As the parent of three young adults, her children’s experiences steadily remind her of the pressures of being a student. She’s able to hold those feelings close and uses them to inform her teaching. Kaplowitch prioritizes turning assignments around quickly, believing that timely feedback improves learning and builds confidence. She prides herself on being readily available and responsive to the 15 undergraduates and forty graduate students she advises as part of coordinating the MS in Counseling program.
Kaplowitch’s empathy and commitment to advocacy extends deeply into the community as well. As a member of the Marblehead High School Student Advisory Committee, she consults with teachers, administrators, and students to ensure each student has equal and equitable opportunities to succeed in school. In her role as the North Shore Advisory chair of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) she works with members of 35 communities as a voice for justice and fair treatment for all. Partnering proactively and responsively with marginalized people and community leaders, Kaplowitch may advise on how to help people feel physically and emotionally safe; crafting a message for the community; speaking out directly; or, helping someone breathe a little easier. "It is my responsibility as a woman, an educator, and a mental health provider to be an upstander not a bystander,” she declares.