James received his MSW from the UW School of Social Work in 1979. In 1984 he completed two years of post-masters Marriage and Family Therapy clinical training through the Presbyterian Counseling Service’s affiliation with Seattle Pacific University.
From 1979 to 1989 James worked for Senior Services of Seattle/King County, where he was a core instructor in a groundbreaking research and demonstration project in health promotion with older adults. He also developed and provided direct services to individuals and multigenerational families at urban, suburban and rural senior centers. His practice experience includes pro-feminist work with men, group work with persons experiencing separation or divorce, and family therapy work with diverse families.
James joined the School in 1989 as the MSW Evening Degree Coordinator /Practicum Coordinator. Since then he has worked with faculty to expand MSW graduate opportunities for Washington’s place bound and working people. The program in 1989 enrolled approximately 45 students living within commuting distance to the UW campus. Currently the Extended Degree Program enrolls over 200 students, provides both evening and weekend (full day Friday/Saturday) scheduling options, and serves students who live throughout Washington State.
He is the lead instructor for two core required MSW foundation courses, SocW504, exploring privilege, oppression, social justice and allyship, and SocW511, focusing on working with families and group work. He is the faculty coordinator for the SSW Anti-Racism and White Allyship Group and is on the faculty team teaching Practicum Instructors to promote culturally relevant practice and supervision. He offers white privilege independent studies for interested students.
James recently completed a multi-year Presidency of the Seattle Chapter of Amigos de las Americas, a non-profit that prepares and sends high school and college youth to Latin America to work on sustainable community development projects. Summer of 2011 he co-authored Chapter by-laws with fellow Island County citizens to launch a Whidbey Island PFLAG Chapter (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbian and Gays).