Dr. Tyler Argüello (he/él/they/elle) is both a Professor of Social Work and the Director (Chair) of the School of Social Work (SSW). During spring 2024, he is on sabbatical conducting critical empirical and policy  research on social work curriculum that cultivates Queer affirmative social work practitioners, as well as other DEI related projects.

In the SSW, Dr. Argüello teaches courses regarding social justice / power / privilege / oppression, advanced behavioral health practice, practicum supervision, psychodiagnostics, working with 2LGBTQIAPK+ publics, and qualitative research (thesis). In the College of Health & Human Services, he has received the Outstanding Teaching Award. And, he was the 2023 Campus Nominee by the Sac State President to the California State University, Office of the Chancellor, for the Wang Family Excellence Award in Outstanding Faculty Teaching.

As a queer, non-binary, bilingual, and White scholar-practitioner invested in praxis, or "practivist," Dr. Argüello’s research and clinical work is a transdisciplinary project that concerns communicative practices, Queer Theory, and the production of intersectional identities, sex/ualities, and health disparities, namely HIV. As of late, Dr. Argüello studies intergenerational stress within Queer male populations, including developing a critical theory and practice framework named "HIV Stress Exchange," inclusive of all long-term survivors and all HIV statuses. Additionally, Dr. Argüello collaborates on research projects concerning topics central to 2LGBTQIAPK+ communities and social welfare with interdisciplinary colleagues across campus and other institutions, including addressing anti-queer stigma in social work education and practice. In the College of Health & Human Services, he received the Outstanding Scholarly & Creative Activities Award. Dr. Argüello has received two Fulbright Awards (teaching/research).

Concurrent to his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Argüello has been a practicing clinical social worker for over 29 years, primarily around community mental health, HIV/AIDS, and 2LGBTQIAPK+ communities. He maintains a recognized private practice (tele-health), consults with regional and state government and NGOs, provides clinical supervision, is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LCSW [California] & LICSW [Washington]), is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), and he is a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW). Parallel to his appointments at Sac State, he is a faculty member for the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center, Central Valley and Northern Interior, UC Davis; and, he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor with Touro University, California, College of Osteopathic Medicine, in the Psychiatry Residency Training Program that is a collaboration across Touro, the Department of State Hospitals of the State of California, and Dignity Hospital. Additionally, Dr. Argüello is a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs through the Coro Center for Civic Leadership, San Francisco, California. In 2023, in recognition of the impact across the State and social work profession due to his scholarly pedagogy and community-embedded clinical work, he was awarded the Social Worker of the Year from the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter.

Dr. Argüello received his doctorate in Social Welfare from the University of Washington at Seattle, the same institution that granted his MSW (Health & Mental Health), BASW, and BA (Spanish Language & Literature). During his graduate studies, he was awarded two competitive pre-doctoral training grants, the NIMH Prevention Trainee grant and the NIH Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Trainee grant. These both facilitated his research studying the production of "HIV" as social discourse across various scales of multi-media and best practices in health communication. His dissertation received a national social work doctoral research award from The Ohio State University. 

Selected Publications & Scholarship

Argüello, T. M. (2023, January). Contagious communication: HIV Stress Exchange and the (queer) transmission of intergenerational stress [Brief & Brilliant Session]. Society for Social Work Research (SSWR), 27^th Annual Conference. Phoenix, AZ and online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdCohTDMFxI&list=PLJdTqpT-GHqJgOHnufOPnpxzg8lf8Eg9e&index=3

Leitch, J., McGeogh, B., & Argüello, T. M. (2023). A thematic analysis of mental health providers’ practices with sexual and gender minority clients. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2023.2213668

Prock, K. A., Cavanaugh, D., Cummings, C., Russo, C., Aersolon, D., Prieto, L. R., & Argüello, T. M. (2022). Do we practice what we preach?: Exclusionary LGBTQ+ policy at religiously-affiliated institutions of higher education with CSWE-accredited social work programs. Social Work Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/02615479.2022.2149392

Argüello, T. M. (2022). HIV stress exchange: Queer men, intergenerational stress, and intimacy amidst the time of HIV. Journal of Homosexuality. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2022.2036533

Argüello, T. M., La Torre, J., Dentato, M., & Smith, M. (2022). Identity development and coming out. In M. Dentato (Ed.), Social work practice with the LGBTQ community: The intersection of history, health, mental health and policy factors (2^nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Argüello, T. M. (2021). Heteronormativity and social work: The what that dare not speak its name. In S. J. Dodd (Ed.), The Routledge international handbook of social work and sexualities, 12-22. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429342912

Argüello, T. M. (2020). Decriminalizing LGBTQ+: Reproducing and resisting mental health inequities. CNS Spectrums, 25(5), 667-686. doi:10.1017/S1092852920001170.

Argüello, T. M. (Ed.). (2019). Queer social work: Cases for LGBTQ+ affirmative practice. Columbia University Press.

Argüello, T. M., Baiocchi, A., & Price Wolf, J. (2018). Social work matters: Californians’ perceptions of social welfare. Social Work, 63(4), 305-316. doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy032.

Argüello, T. M., & Walters, K. L. (2017). They tell us “we don’t belong in the world and we shouldn’t take up a place”: HIV discourse within Two-Spirit communities. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. doi: 10.1080/15313204.2017.1362616

Argüello, T. M. (2016). Fetishizing the health sciences: Queer theory as a social work intervention. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 28(3), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/10538720.2016.1191407

     *Editor’s choice for “Best Article” of 2016-2017

Argüello, T. M. (2015). Queering social work methods in health disparities and health promotion in the United States. In J. Fish & K. Karban (Eds.), Social work and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans health inequalities: International perspectives, 281-296. The Policy Press.

Areas of Interest

• HIV, intergenerational stress, normativities; 2LGBTQIAKP+ mental / health; affirmative practices
• Critical Discourse Studies; Queer Discourse Studies; Social Semiotics; transdisciplinary methodologies
• Queer Theory, Queer Studies, LGBT Studies; interdisciplinary epistemologies
• Health promotion; social and cause marketing; production of intersectional identities, sexualities, genders

Courses

• SWRK 144, Working with LGBTQ+ Publics
• SWRK 202, Social Work & Diverse Populations
• SWRK 206 A/B, Advanced Social Work Practice (Behavioral Health)
• SWRK 210, Methods of Social Research
• SWRK 223, New Developments in Psychodiagnostics (DSM-5-TR)
• SWRK 244, Working with LGBTQ+ Publics
• SWRK 296 A/B, Practicum Supervision
• SWRK 500, Thesis 

Academic Appointments & Accomplishments (Select)

• Social Worker of the Year (2023), National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
• Campus-Wide Nominee (2023) by Sac State President to the California State University, Office of the Chancellor, Wang Family Excellence Award, Outstanding Faculty Teaching
• Director (Chair), School of Social Work, 2021-2024
• Outstanding Teaching Award (2020-21), College of Health & Human Services, CSU, Sacramento
• Phenomenal Faculty Award (2019-20), School of Social Work & Social Work Student Association, CSU, Sacramento
• Director, MSW Program, School of Social Work, 2019-2021
• Outstanding Scholarly & Creative Activities Award (2017-18), College of Health & Human Services, CSU, Sacramento
• Councilor, Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Council on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity & Expression, 2013-2019
• Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, Coro Center for Civic Leadership, San Francisco, California
• Fellow in the Public Humanities, Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington, Seattle

ACT UP

(c) Daniel Quasar  

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