York’s School of Social Work will hold its second annual Research Symposium Day on April 24, titled "A Celebration of Research through Social Work", featuring research by faculty and graduate students.
The one-day symposium will run from 9am to 4pm in Room 1007, Kinsmen Building, Keele campus. To register, visit the School of Social Work, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, Web site.
Eight different presentations on a variety of topics will highlight the latest in social work research, from the quest for Kurdish women’s rights and the social construction of violence in intimate gay relationships to human rights language in transnational justice.
York social work Professor Stephanie Baker Collins will present the first talk of the day, titled "Women’s collective provisioning: A bridge to political action?", which looks at the supports and constraints that shape women’s provisioning work in community groups. Baker Collins’ research interests include social policy, community-based research, poverty, homelessness and women’s provisioning work. With extensive experience in social policy research, analysis and advocacy at the community and national level, she is particularly interested in the impact of public policies on the lives of the poorest persons in society.
York alumna Daphne Jeyapal (MSW ‘07) and Ibitoru Miadonye, a student in the Master of Social Work Program (MSW), will present research by York Professors Uzo Anucha and Narda Razack, graduate program director in the School of Social Work, titled "The Social Work in Nigeria Project: Reflections on Lessons Learned and Future Directions".
Right: Uzo Anucha
Anucha is heading up an international project to help improve the well-being of Nigerian women by strengthening social work education and practice along with faculty and researchers from York’s School of Social Work, the University of Windsor, the University of British Columbia and the University of Benin in Nigeria. The aim of Razack’s current research project is to analyze the experiences of York’s international practicum graduates, and their supervisors from the receiving countries, so an alternative vision for international exchanges can be realized.
Teresa Macias, a lecturer in York’s School of Social Work, will give a presentation on "Immunity, impunity and sovereignty: The limitations of human rights language in transnational justice", followed by York MSW student Daisy Mah speaking about "Tenant Outcomes with the Pear Avenue and Leonard’s Avenue Housing Model".
Right: Narda Razack
York Professor Maurice Poon will explore "Beyond Good and Evil: The Social Construction of Violence in Intimate Gay Relationships", while York Professor Amy Rossiter will tackle the question "Can Hannah Arendt’s Thinking about Thinking Help us Think About Social Work?". Rossiter is interested in exploring critical perspectives in social work, ethics and applications of feminist postmodernism to social work.
For the final two presentations of the day, York MSW student Hana Varzandeh (BSW ‘06) will talk about "Exiled from my Homeland or Myself: The former Kurdish political activist women and the quest for women’s rights" and York MSW student Andrea White will discuss "Liberty is therapy: Lessons for social work from the Italian mental health reform".