Nine faculty members and three Ph.D. students from the School of Social Work (SSW) traveled to Kampala, Uganda, July 15-19 to participate in the 18th biennial conference of the International Consortium of Social Development. Scott DiLisi, the U.S. ambassador to Uganda and an alumnus of the University, held a special luncheon for the University of Minnesota delegates attending the conference.
Pictured above, left to right, are Hoa Nguyen, Juliana Carlson, Colleen Fisher, Ross VeLure Roholt, Barbara W. Shank, Elizabeth Lightfoot, Ambassador DiLisi, Priscilla Gibson, Hee Yun Lee, Peter Dimock, David Hollister, James Reinardy, Alex Fink, and Michael Baizerman.
In the capital city near Lake Victoria, the University group shared their work on emerging issues in social development and visited agencies and organizations in a nation that faces major challenges–extensive poverty, HIV-AIDS, malaria, accelerating population growth with inadequate infrastructure, and vast unemployment.
The University of Minnesota was a founding member of the consortium, an interdisciplinary organization in which social work has played a particularly strong leadership role.
All nine SSW faculty members and three doctoral students presented papers. Their topics included global youth development, strategies for health accessibility, refugee housing, community-based participation in social development, study abroad and transformational learning, and theories of social development.
A highlight of the conference was the opening address by Livingstone Sewanyana, executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative based in Kampala, reported SSW professor and director James Reinardy.
“He gave a clear presentation on the challenges faced by Uganda,” said Reinardy. “His remarks, particularly on human rights, helped set the tone for the conference and for the conversations many of us had with social welfare and social service organizations there.”
Ambassador DeLisi’s lunch provided an opportunity to share ideas and research on social development.
Reinardy provided partial support to the SSW participants to jumpstart creation of an international cohort in the school and showcase their work internationally. Many combined the conference with site visits for their research.