Abstract Call Out
Dr. Susan Hillock of Trent University, Ontario, Canada is proud to announce that she has the University Of Toronto Press’s support to go ahead with a call out for abstracts for a new and innovative book that she is calling- Greening Social Work Education. This manuscript will be an edited multiple contributor collection that examines how social work educators can best consider/infuse sustainability content into social work curriculum, incorporate green teaching methods, and mobilize students and colleagues towards climate action/justice/leadership. The editor makes the case that, although other academic disciplines such as Environmental and Indigenous Studies have been writing, debating about, and researching this topic for years, and the social work profession is ethically bound to do what it can to protect the environment, social work has been slow to learn from these experts, incorporate current climate change knowledge and content into our curriculum, and collectively act together stop climate change, ensure social justice, and intervene in the international climate emergency.
Hillock envisions 3 main thematic areas in this book:
Section 1- Climate Change and Social Work– this section will describe the current state of the environment, the implications of climate change, as well as, its differential impact on vulnerable diverse service user groups, what is (or is not) being included/covered on this topic in current social work curriculum across Canada, CASWE accreditation standards and our ethical obligations as social workers to protect the environment and teach this content, and what we need to quickly learn from the expertise of Indigenous peoples, climate activists, as well as other academic disciplines, about sustainability education and climate change/action/justice;
Section 2- Sustainability and Social Work- Current Issues and Trends– this section will be quite wide ranging, from exploring the challenges of operating sustainably within large academic institutions, mobilizing our colleagues, unions, and associations to press for sustainable and ethical investment/divestment, ensuring green resources and technology, to examining more “ground level” issues and concerns that faculty and administrators face in terms of sorting out how to green our social work curriculum, adapt our teaching methods, materials, and resources, as well as, intervene/deal with environmental disaster and trauma, climate anxiety, and ecological grief;
Section 3- Greening Social Work Education: Applications and Recommendations– this section presents concrete application and recommendations about how to best teach about sustainability within social work, introduce/include green social work education curriculum, practice, and research, explore innovate teaching methods and potentialities for interdisciplinary research and community service partnerships, and mobilize students, colleagues, institutions, and communities to provide leadership in this climate emergency.
She is also interested in any other creative ideas that you may have, that fit the theme of this book, but that may not be listed above. If you are interested in contributing to this book and would like to submit an abstract to be considered for inclusion in the manuscript, please do so, to [email protected], no later than December 1, 2020.
Kind Regards, Susan
Dr. Susan Hillock
Associate Professor,
Social Work Department,
Trent University
Pronouns- She/Her
