We encourage all students of all levels to participate in the following events at SSWR 2025 Seattle.
“Meet the Scientist” Luncheon (separate fee required) REGISTER NOW
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 12:15 PM-1:30 PM, Pacific
- Organizers: Justin Harty, PhD, Early Career Director-at-Large, Arizona State University, Fatima Mabrouk, MSW, Doctoral Student Director-at-Large, New York University
- Juan Rios, DSW, Seton Hall University
- Mimi Abramovitz, DSW, Hunter College
- Camille R. Quinn, PhD, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- Sheretta Butler-Barnes, PhD, Washington University in Saint Louis
- Yuanjin Zhou, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin
- David Turner, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
- Eunhye Ahn, PhD, Washington University in Saint Louis
- Dale Maglalang, PhD, MA, MSW, MPH, New York University
- Jane McPherson, PhD, MPH, LCSW, University of Georgia
The Society for Social Work and Research will be holding the annual Meet the Scientist Luncheon. This special session provides a forum for early career scholars including doctoral students, post docs, and assistant professors to talk and interact with invited scholars from all levels (postdocs, and assistant to full professor) who are leaders in social work research and the Society. Participants are encouraged to sit with invited scholars who are at career levels of interest and/or have similar research or advocacy interests. Early career scholars will have the opportunity to ask questions about career development, challenges in the field, research initiatives, and where the field might be heading. Each invited scholar will be seated at a table with up to 6 early career scholars.
Student Session and Luncheon: Palestine, Free Speech and DEI Bans: Social Work’s Response to Silencing Tactics, Genocide, and Systemic Injustice
Saturday, January 18, 2025, 12:30 PM-1:45 PM, Pacific
- Sireen Irsheid, PhD, The University of Chicago
- Amie Thurber, PhD, Portland State University
- Adam McCormick, PhD, University of Texas at El Paso
- Brianna Suslovic, MSW, The University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
- Aneelah Afzali, American Muslim Empowerment Network
Social Work’s inaction in the face of ongoing genocide across the world speaks to a recurring issue: the disparity between our ethical principles and practical actions. Social Work has fallen short in upholding its core values amid genocide and erasure of Palestinians by colonial entities. This silence in the face of genocide is part of a larger tendency within social work to neglect our obligation to stand with the most marginalized and oppressed as demonstrated by the indifference towards genocide in African, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean countries such as Yemen, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, and Haiti. Silencing tactics by social work schools, agencies, and organizations have limited students, faculty, and staff’s ability to challenge social injustice and work for social change on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed people. The fight for social justice should not be minimized by global distance as MLK Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Genocide is far reaching and silencing tactics have also obscured the state-sanctioned genocide in African and Caribbean nations, necessitating greater attention and action among social work to address these overlooked human rights injustices. These silencing tactics around genocide are occurring within a context of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bans which collectively hinder our ability to dismantle oppressive structures uphold the core values of Social Work. Students, staff, and faculty have faced violence and academic discipline for exercising their right to free speech and protest through peaceful demonstrations and encampments. The combination of silencing, surveillance, and policing tactics have negatively impacted the overall safety and well-being of all those on campus regardless of their stance and involvement on the issue. Genocide’s relevance has transcended into the field of Social Work with many implications for researchers, practitioners, and the communities they serve. This topic is not only relevant to those who focus on global social work, but for those working in all subsets of the field including legal studies, immigration, mental and physical health, housing justice, military, colonial and decolonial studies, racial and Indigenous studies, and policy at all levels, macro, mezzo, and micro.
This year’s Student Luncheon convenes a diverse group of social work scholars, educators, organizers, and practitioners to discuss and promote a dialogue on: 1) Silencing tactics, and the politics of free speech within the context of Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion bans, 2) Encampment for Palestine and the importance of advocacy and resistance, 3) Utilizing the case of Palestine as well as Haiti, Sudan, and Congo to highlight Social Work’s responsibility in promoting a unified approach to addressing systemic inequalities and advocating for human rights.
About SSWR: The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) was founded in 1994 as a free-standing organization dedicated to the advancement of social work research. The Society for Social Work and Research advances, disseminates, and translates research that addresses social work practice and policy issues and promotes a diverse, just, and equitable society. As part of this mission, SSWR organizes an Annual Conference with over 500 symposia, workshops, roundtables, poster presentations, and a student luncheon.
Mentor Match Program
“Coffee with a Scholar”: organized by the SSWR Doctoral Committee for the SSWR 2025 Annual Conference that will be held in Seattle, WA, January 15-19, 2025. The goal of the program is to facilitate a potential mentorship opportunity for doctoral students by coordinating one-to-one meetings between faculty and researchers at other institutions over the course of the SSWR 2025 Annual Conference. We expect these meetings to take the form of an hour-long coffee date during the conference. This is a great opportunity for faculty and students across institutions to connect! Sign up deadline is 12/2/2024. SSWR will make the best efforts to match applications received by deadline. If you would like more information, please contact Jordan Goodwin and Nadia Neimanas at nneimana@asu.edu. Thank you for your interest in our mentorship program.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) provides opportunities for students to “earn” their registration fee by volunteering at the SSWR 2025 Annual Conference. Volunteers assist with registration, monitor sessions (handout materials, count the number of attendees in each session, assist presenters with AV needs, sign CEU forms) and provide directions to attendees. Volunteers are expected to contribute a total of six (6) hours of time during the conference. Student volunteers must watch a 20-minute training video before their first volunteer shift. Students who are also presenters may schedule their volunteer time so it does not conflict with their presentations. Learn more.
Student Social Hour – all students are welcome!
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 7:30 PM-9:30 PM, Pacific
