Student-led Symposium creates a space rooted in community care on World Social Work Day

World Social Work Day on March 19 marked the debut of the student-led McMaster Social Work Symposium. Gathering a diverse array of speakers, facilitators, and panellists, the inaugural Symposium set out to carve a student-oriented space in the school of social work rooted in community care.

While being open to all, it was intentionally developed to be focused on Indigenous, Black, and racialized students, professionals, faculty, and alumni. The symposium was conceived as a response to the longing of many students in the school for an accessible space to foster education and networking opportunities among racialized individuals, both in academic and field settings.

In collaboration with the McMaster school of social work, the steering committee led by two post-degree BSW students, Sharon Kang as chair, and Dannie Yan as vice chair, organized around the theme Fostering Connections, Collaborations, and Solidarity. While spearheaded by students, the initiative was supported by many McMaster social work faculty and staff members, as well as its inaugural PhD fellow and EDI convener of student caucuses Anabelle Ragsag.

The event commenced with a land reflection from McMaster social work associate professor Randy Jackson, Anishinaabe from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation. This reflection set the tone for an engaging dialogue that followed.

Clare Warner, senior advisor of equity, inclusion, and anti-Racism at McMaster delivered a powerful keynote emphasizing the transformative potential of building connections, particularly within the helping professions like social work. Her message resonated deeply with many in attendance, highlighting the impact of building connections to healing and sustenance, the affirmations of different perspectives, resistance towards dominant false narratives, more inclusion of lived experience, and a sense of safety amongst peers and collaborators.

Recognizing the dynamic and holistic nature of building connections to others and the self, the Symposium invited movement sessions and self-reflection through the arts led by Clairandean Humphrey and Abrar Mechmechia. Clairandean identifies as a Black Trans media artist, founder of Clairity Tarot, and practitioner at the Good Body Feel Studio. Abrar is a Hamilton-born mental health counsellor, founder of Abrar Trauma & Mental Health Services, known for her and her team’s trauma-informed healing circle sessions in the community, work she started doing at international organizations in Syria at the start of the civil war.

A panel discussion followed, featuring bioethicist and new full-time social work faculty Rochelle Maurice, transnational feminism in social work PhD student Maimuna Khan, Indigenous cultural competency consultant Troy Hill, YouThrive lead clinician Jaleesa Bygrave, and Vanessa Aguirre, a restorative practitioner and MSW student. Throughout the panel, discussion ranged from ethics within social work practice to hardships experienced or observed in youth. Panelists described how these themes directly translated into works of care, essentially becoming the driving force behind their academic and community careers now.

As a culminating activity, social work PhD candidate Lydia Pandian led participants through a poster-making session, employing a variation of a rangoli art method used in India in which different colours represent different emotions. It was a moving way to conclude the conference, reminding us that we are all painters of our human experience, and by sharing our stories, we build upon the meaning of our own lives.

Arielle Canning, co-chair of the Social Work Queer and Trans student caucus, spoke in the Symposium with these words: “fighting for queer and trans justice cannot be done without fighting for racial justice or disability justice. We must look out for the interest of all members of the community and recognize that the roots of all intolerance support the growth of the forest, as do the roots of love.”

Torri Smith, president of the McMaster Social Work Student Collective, and Samia Alli-Shaw, co-chair of the Social Work Disability Action Group student caucus, also sent their recorded messages highlighting the collaborative nature of the event and emphasized the need for more student-oriented initiatives in the school like this symposium.

As the curtains drew to a close, Caitlin Craven, the executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, provided the closing remarks, encouraging everyone to reflect on how meaningful collaborations and solidarities might look like between academia, community, and social work practice.

Post-symposium, feedback from various social work professionals who participated expressed how encouraging and exciting it was for them to see racialized social work students mobilizing together in both the student caucus and the school of social work.

The symposium was made possible through the incredible support of the school of social work under the leadership of professor and director Saara Greene, the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, Understanding Social Work Leaders in Canada Project, and the McMaster University Office of Community Engagement as well as the volunteer time provided by its steering committee members Sharon Kang, Dannie Yan, Liz Grigg, and Samia Alli-Shaw, with social work student caucuses convener Anabelle Ragsag, field and alumni relations manager Sue Nepal, and academic manager Tammy Maikawa.

Ehitohameh Oware is a third-year BSW student at McMaster University, and is exceedingly passionate about social justice, policy, law, and advocacy. She loves to paint, write poetry, and do photography. Shaista Okhai is a post-degree BSW student at the same university. With her prior experience in medical research, Shaista envisions a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to translating social science research into practical tools and shaping public policy.