By Julia Grimaldi

The social work department will hold the Third Annual Conference on Social Work in the Global Environment on Nov. 14 in the Georgian Room of Old Main from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Attendance is free for students and faculty. A registration link will be provided to attendees and presenters online before the event.

This conference is following the First Annual Conference of Social Work: International Conference for Students in Social Work Programs in Pennsylvania and the Second Annual Conference on Immigrants and Families.

Although the past two conferences were limited to KU faculty and students, this conference is open to those from other universities. The conferences ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., contrary to this year’s 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students need not attend the entire conference. Refreshments will be provided between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

The Third Annual Conference on Social Work in the Global Environment “focuses on local and global institutions responding to human needs, including political, economic, criminal justice and health systems, among others,” said professor of social work, Dr. Yeboah, and graduate student, Katherine Pritchett, who are helping to plan the conference. “This year’s conference will offer attendees the opportunity to listen to a wide range of topics, including gender equality, family planning, acculturation experiences and poverty and hunger, focusing on the impact of existing institutions that currently respond to these global concerns.”

To plan this conference, both students and faculty members were able to submit proposals to include. Using blind copies of the submissions, the review board, compromised of Dr. Mary Rita Weller, Dr. Yasoda Sharma, Dr. Yoon Mi Kim and Dr. FangHsun Wei reviewed the proposals. The accepted proposals were contacted to prepare their projects to present.

A keynote speaker from Elizabethtown College will guide the conference. There will be a panel presentation between social work and sociology faculty, oral paper presentations and poster presentations. After each presentation, students will be able to ask questions to clarify the material. Though this conference is about social work, it will touch on political science, sociology, criminal justice and philosophy issues.

There is a lot of value, according to Dr. Yeboah and Katherine Pritchett. “Presenters will discuss not only present societal and global conditions, but also how these conditions affect human well-being, and the implications of this on individuals and families worldwide,” they said.