The Brief & Brilliant session aims to translate social work research to engage a broad audience and emphasize public relevance. The goal is to highlight the main conclusions of a scholar’s work (or the work of others in their area) rather than the methodological details behind it. The session is a TEDx-style event held annually at the SSWR conference that showcases social work scholarly talent.
Get inspired by the Brief and Brilliant talks! Check out the links below to watch these insightful presentations:
- 2025 Brief and Brilliant
- 2024 Brief and Brilliant
- 2023 Brief and Brilliant
- 2022 Brief and Brilliant
- 2021 Brief and Brilliant
- 2020 Brief and Brilliant
- 2019 Brief and Brilliant
- 2018 Brief and Brilliant
- 2017 Brief and Brilliant
SSWR 2025 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Cultural Betrayal, Sexual Abuse, & Healing for Black Women & Girls: Dreamstorming a Free World – Jennifer M. Gómez, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – F*ck the Statistics, Respectfully – Love, a BIPOC Teen Mom – Michelle Ridley, PhD, LMSW
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Reality Check: Transforming Cancer Education for Latina Immigrant Women through Augmented Reality – Venera Bekteshi, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Among U.S. College Students: Can We Stop It? – Lianne Urada, PhD
SSWR 2024 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – The Right to Healing – Jonah DeChants, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Wellness Play Stations: Merging Ancestral Wisdom, Innovation & Play to Change the Game in Black Mental Health – Zuleka Henderson, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Epistemology of the Oppressed: Centering Lived Experience As Knowledge in Social Work – Tiffany Younger, Mssp, MSc
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Live Music for the Mind, Body, and Soul – Kim Carmona Aptekar, LCSW, MSW, MSEd
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Bridging Eras: Harnessing the Power of Social Work History to Navigate Today’s Ethical and Political Challenges – Justin Harty, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Social Workers Have Weight Bias, Too. Yes, Maybe Even You! – Virginia Ramseyer Winter, PhD
SSWR 2023 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Contagious Communication: HIV Stress Exchange and the (queer) transmission of intergenerational stress – Tyler Argüello, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Our stories are our medicine: re-membering as a practice – Ramona Beltran, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – The gatekeepers: Engaging men in gender justice and girls’ education in Northwest Pakistan – Aamir Jamal, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Uprise Anti-Microaggressions: A Deeply Personal Dialogue On The Praxiz of Equity & Justice – Fatima Mabrouk, MSW
- Brief and Brilliant Session – The possibilities, paradoxes, and praxis of an abolitionist social worker – Durrell Washington, PhD
SSWR 2022 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – From Empathy to Action: How Latina Transgender Women Work with Law Enforcement Officers to Address Experiences with Discrimination and Violence, Joanna Barreras, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – COVID-19, Racial Microaggressions, and Asian American Population, Shinwoo Choi, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – “Child Protection” and the Rationale for Surveillance in the Child Welfare System – Victoria Copeland, MSW
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Reaching the 99% of Men Who Engage in Intimate Partner Violence: The Importance of Addressing IPV Perpetration Outside of the Criminal System – Maxine Davis, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Poverty Is Not A Problem – Mathieu Despard, PhD
- Brief and Brilliant Session – I Got Your Back: Digital Storytelling and Socially Engaged Art As Macro-Therapeutic Interventions to Foster Community-Level Collective Efficacy and Positive Youth Development – Caroline Sharkey, MSW
SSWR 2021 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Reconceptualizing Historical Trauma Theory for Social Work Research and Practice, Chelsea Allen
- Brief and Brilliant Session – There Are Never Only Two Options (a.k.a. F*ck The Binary), Jama Shelton
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Black Womens’ Mental Health & Liberation Matters!, Lani Jones
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Is Universal Basic Income the Solution to America’s Crumbling Safety Net?, Leah Hamilton
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Reinventing Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Marginalized Populations, Liliane Windsor
SSWR 2020 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Beyond the Border: Health and Well-Being in Young, Latinx, U.S. Citizen Children, Esther Calzada
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Racial & Economic Bias in the Era of Interactive Technologies: Reducing Human Control or Enhancing Societal Capabilities, Judy Krysik
- Brief and Brilliant Session – A Radically New Understanding American Poverty and Inequality, Mark Rank
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Invisible Visits: How Race and Gender Affect Healthcare, Tina Sacks
- Brief and Brilliant Session – (RE)Imaging Trauma Recovery: Black Youth Redefining Collective Healing Through Social Action for Racial Equity, Anna Ortega-Williams
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Confronting Whiteness in Schools of Social Work, William Frey
SSWR 2019 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Introduction by Kimberly Bender
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Anita Barbee
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Kristie Seelman
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Henrika McCoy
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Mieko Yoshihama
SSWR 2018 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Introduction by Kimberly Bender
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Nalini Negi
- Brief and Brilliant Session – John Wallace
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Daphne Watkins
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Ruth McRoy
SSWR 2017 Conference (watch playlist)
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Jennifer Bellamy
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Tanya Sharpe
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Jeremy Goldbach
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Laina Bay Cheng
- Brief and Brilliant Session – Kimberly Bender
