Faculty of Social Work research symposium to go ‘Global to Local’

For the first time in its history, the Faculty of Social Work’s Annual Research Symposium is taking an explicitly global lens this year. The theme of the faculty's 17th Annual Research Symposium is Global to Local: Collaborating with Communities to Create Change, which speaks to a central idea reshaping contemporary social work: today’s most pressing challenges do not stop at borders, but require locally relevant solutions.

As Dr. Christine Walsh, PhD, associate dean of Research and Partnerships and chair of the symposium, notes, “Displacement, climate impacts, global conflict, and widening inequality are interconnected realities and require responses that are ethical, relational and grounded in the knowledge of those most affected.”

The international theme also allows the faculty to showcase one of its greatest strengths.

“Our faculty is home to some of the strongest international social work scholars in the country,” says Dr. Aamir Jamal, PhD'13, one of the symposium organizers who leads the faculty’s Global Engagement Strategy. 

For this year's symposium, Jamal has organized a panel that features some of the faculty's leading international scholars, including Drs. Ajwang’ Warria, Julie Drolet and Yahya El-Lahib, all PhD. As Jamal notes, these scholars “have deep strengths in international and Indigenous social work, and a long history of working with communities locally and globally,” and will explore how centring local voices and lived experience strengthens global frameworks for change.

Symposium to honour, celebrate legacy and impact of key scholars

With a nod to UCalgary Social Work’s 60th anniversary, this year’s symposium will honour and celebrate the legacy of a few of the faculty's impactful thought leaders, including a conversation between Professor Emerita Dr. Linda Kreitzer, MSW'98, PhD'04, one of the foremost scholars on the development of African social work, and current PhD student Jill Hoselton, BSW'14, MSW'22, whose own dissertation research on settlement among Somalian women refuges takes its roots from Kreitzer’s scholarship.   

An afternoon discussion with Professor Emerita Dr. Mary Valentich, PhD, continues the theme with a panel titled A Life of Thoughtful Disruption. The discussion, facilitated by Dr. Liza Lorenzetti, MSW'06, PhD'17, includes community social workers Lemlem Haile and Carla Bertsch, BA'08, whose careers have been inspired by Valentich’s remarkable contributions to activism and policy change at the local level. 

Afternoon events will include a panel featuring transdisciplinary researchers in the field of family justice, an online keynote, and panel discussions that include some of the faculty’s leading scholars who work at the intersection of local and global practice. 

The Global to Local theme will also be explored in research posters presented by students at the March 4 event at the faculty's Calgary campus and March 5 event at the Edmonton campus. Jamal says he’s anticipating some impactful student research on Islamophobia and student well-being, as well as arts-based research exploring identity, migration, and belonging among immigrant Indian women in Canada, great examples of how international social work is not only abroad, but also very much “at home.”

Ultimately, the symposium as more than an academic gathering, says Jamal. 

"Social work is at a crossroads" he says. “The future depends on our ability to listen deeply, to share power, and to build solutions not for communities, but with communities. This symposium is an important step in that direction.”  

2026 Symposium Schedule

March 4, 2026

Online Panel Discussions

8:30 a.m. - noon 

The online portion of the symposium will feature the keynote address and panel discussions.

Calgary Campus Event

12:30 - 3:30 p.m.

7th floor, Mackimmie Tower, Calgary campus

Research posters and discussions with Calgary faculty, students and community members. Light lunch served (free event).

Calgary Community, Evening Event

5:30 - 9 p.m.

Learn from, and listen deeply to, the community. Details coming soon. Dinner served (free event).

March 5, 2026 

Edmonton Campus Event

4:30 - 8:30 p.m.

3rd floor, Enterprise Square, 10230 Jasper Ave., Edmonton campus

Research posters and discussions with Edmonton faculty, students and community members, as they present their research. Light dinner served (free event).