Amanda Spishak‑Thomas

Instructor of Record

• 05/2021 - 07/2021: Columbia School of Social Work
  Instructor of Record - Advocacy: Decolonizing Mezzo- and Macro-practice in Social Work

Guest Lecturer

• 4/2025: Columbia School of Social Work
  Guest Lecturer - Advocacy: Decolonizing Mezzo- and Macro-practice in Social Work, "Labor Organizing"
• 12/2023: Rutgers University Health Sciences
  Guest Lecturer - Introduction to Implementation Science and Program Evaluation, "Dissemination and Sustainability"
• 11/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Guest Lecturer – Social Welfare Policy, "U.S. Health Policy"
• 11/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Guest Lecturer – Human Behavior in the Social Environment, "Social Ties, Social Support, and Behavior"
• 06/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Guest Lecturer – Program Evaluation in Social Services, "Dissemination and Sustainability"
• 07/2019: Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work
  Guest Lecturer – Seminar in Social Welfare Policy II: Health and Mental Health Systems, "Health Policy Advocacy and Political Social Work"

Teaching Associate

• 09/2020 – 12/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Teaching Associate – Human Behavior in the Social Environment
• 09/2020 – 12/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Teaching Associate – Social Welfare Policy

Teaching Assistant

• 01/2020 – 05/2020: Columbia School of Social Work
  Teaching Assistant – Seminar on Policy Practice II

Pedagogical Trainings

• 06/2019 – 08/2019: Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  Senior Teaching Mentor – Summer Health Profession Education Program (SHPEP)
• 03/2019 – 06/2019: Inclusive Teaching Training, Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning

Selected Comments

• Mandi is an incredible instructor. She was so thoughtful in the planning of this course and did, what I think, is the best she could given the course objectives.
• Mandi was amazing! You can tell she really knows her stuff and put so much time and effort into creating the course structure. Maybe I am exposing myself too much, but I have never read as many of the assigned readings as I did in this class. I truly enjoyed the readings, they never once felt like a burden to get though, and I learned so much from them. I also appreciated how positive and uplifting Mandi was about all of the work that my classmates and I are involved in.
• Prof Mandi was a progressive professor which is what I seek. The entire course had an anti-oppressive and abolitionist lens which I think is so important to highlight and center in social work education. She also was very willing to meet outside of class to discuss projects which was very helpful in a 10 week course. The open mics were very interesting. The syllabus was amazing. I'm grateful to have learned from Prof Mandi.
• Informative, efficient with time, and gracious with her students. Mandi is the epitome of what a social worker should be, and let her students explore the deeper meanings of practice along with her. The class was attention-grabbing and I looked forward to it every week.
• Mandi is one of the best professors I've had at CSSW. First, she was extremely organized. Mandi had all readings uploaded to Canvas and sent out the slides and a pre-course email each week. She had clearly put in full effort to prepare for class each week, reading all the discussion posts, designing beautiful slides, and bringing in timely topics. This effort was clear in her selection of readings. The syllabus is one of the best I've seen, with readings that very clearly related to the weekly themes of the course, were current and relevant, and provided a clear, rich, and engaging arc of learning. I also loved how she planned for guest speakers throughout the course to continue to connect our in-class learning immediately to real-world relevance. With Mandi's attentiveness and preparation, I felt cared for and supported as a student such that I could learn to the best of my ability. Mandi also struck a rare balance of providing useful, constructive feedback without being judgmental. Mandi's commitment to teaching and learning was so valuable. As a student, it made me feel like Mandi feel was a partner in our learning rather than someone trying to guide us in her own direction. It was clear to me that she listened to each student's contributions and gave her full self to every conversation and class session. I deeply appreciated her thoughtful and detailed feedback on each assignment, and availability in office hours to discuss our projects and interests.
• Mandi was the best TA I've had this semester. She answers emails so timely and is great at clarification and gives great feedback on work. 10/10 would recommend Mandi, she is the most helpful.
• Mandi was always there if I needed help of any sort. She was so organized, responsive and also highly interested in the course material--and it showed! Mandi is actually one of the best TA's I've had in my educational experience.
• Always available for consultation. Excellent lecturer too.
• Mandi was great at providing feedback and answering questions. She also always provided relevant recommendations to course material.