The Contours of Filipino Social Work Praxis in the Canadian Diaspora Virtual Symposium
February 7 to 9, 2025
Since the 2017 formation of the Filipino-Canadian Social and Community Workers Network (FCSCWN), there has been a growing number of Filipino and Filipino-Canadian social work scholars entering into graduate studies as well as tenure-track faculty positions.
The Contours of Filipino Social Work Praxis in the Canadian Diaspora Virtual Symposium is the first academic conference for FCSCWN. We invite Filipino-Canadian scholars and practitioners in all stages of their careers (including undergraduate and graduate student scholars, community-based researchers, service providers, community organizers) to gather for critical kuwentuhan (storytelling) on the emerging field of Filipino-Canadian social work.
Dates:
- Friday, February 7th
Opening Ceremony
Opening Keynote - Saturday, February 8th
Panelists and Q&A - Sunday February 9th
Workshop
Closing Keynote
Driving and Guiding Questions:
- How do we center Filipino ways of knowing and diverse lived experiences to inform social work theory, policy and practice?
- In what ways do we push against boundaries to include and center critical, feminist, and decolonizing frameworks?
- How can our process of building Filipino knowledges contribute to the decolonizing work of Indigenous, Black, Queer, and other racialized and marginalized research and activism in ways that are more reflexive and reciprocal?
Friday, February 7, 2025
Day One Schedule (subject to change)
6:30 PM EST: Welcome and Opening Remarks
7:00 PM EST: Opening Keynote
Speaker: The Honourable Wanda Thomas Bernard, PhD, C.M., O.N.S Senator – Nova Scotia (East Preston)
Title: Creating New Possibilities in Social Work: Lessons from an Africentric Perspective
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Day Two Schedule (subject to change)
Wellness Drop-in
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM EST: Wellness break with Jaisa Sulit
Panel Presentations
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST: Strengthening the transnational links between the Philippines and Canada
- Melissa Cortez (MSW Student, McMaster University)
- SherJan Maybanting (MSW Student, University of Regina)
- Dr. Jessica Ticar (Assistant Professor, Algoma University)
- Nellie Alcaraz (PhD Student, McGill University)
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST: Break
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST: Combatting in/visibility in Canadian social work
- Benjamin Bongolan (PhD Student, University of Toronto)
- John Segui (PhD Student, University of Toronto)
- Shella Zagada (PhD Candidate, University of Toronto)
- Monica Anne Batac (PhD Candidate, McGill University; Lecturer, University of Manitoba)
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM EST: Break
4:30 PM – 6:30 PM EST: Bridging theory, practice, and policy through anti-racist and decolonizing efforts
- Althea Gorospe (MSW, Toronto Metropolitan University)
- Darnel Tormon Forro (PhD Student, Memorial University of Newfoundland; Faculty Member, Red Deer Polytechnic)
- Anabelle Ragsag (PhD Student, McMaster University)
- Dr. Jacqueline Colting Stol (PhD, McGill University)
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Day Three Schedule (subject to change)
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST: Community Activity
- Future Imaginings of Filipino-Canadian Social Work
Esther Dimalanta
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM EST: Closing Panel
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM EST: Closing Remarks