Summary

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ The Kendall Institute is a unique model for cultivating diversity through international social work initiatives. The Kendall mission is to promote strategic international collaboration to advance global initiatives and human diversity. All our activities seek to empower practitioners, researchers, students, and educators with relevant knowledge and skills to promote global diversity. The Kendall Institute Grant Program and the Fulbright Partnerships are two prime examples that demonstrate our commitment to human diversity. The workshop will discuss how the Kendall Institute is structured, its intentional and self-consciously global perspective, how we deliberate, and recently completed strategic plan.\ Members of the Kendall Institute constitute the Advisory Board who are established international social work scholars with expertise on assorted global social welfare issues.The workshop invites participants to dialogue with the Kendall presenters to deepen and disseminate ideas for pushing forward a diversity agenda for international social work.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

International Social Work Education, diversity, service learning

Summary

The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ This presentation focuses on the Kendall Institute’s partnerships with\ Fulbright Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State, and administered by Council for International Exchange of Scholars (https://cies.org/) and World Learning (https://fulbrightspecialist.worldlearning.org/). Fulbright awards are granted to US and non-US based students, faculty, and scholars from over 24 designated disciplines, including social work. Fulbright’s auspice, funding and mission provide a unique identity in fields of international cooperation and capacity building.\ The Kendall Institute’s partnership compliments existing mentorship and mutual support among social work educators, important factors in making successful applications to Fulbright programs. Our focus suggests a path to engagement in international collaboration, and a source for renewal of social work educators’ commitment to global social justice and international perspectives in professional education and practice.\ We welcome conference participants with wide ranging interests and experiences, both in\  existing international partnerships, and relatively new such perspectives and activities. Participants can anticipate positive outcomes, including gaining information, networking opportunities, and inspiration to begin or rekindle trajectories with Fulbright and similar international programs.\ This initiative is integrated with the Kendall Institute’s mission and portfolio, along with other activities including Kendall Institute’s Grants Program and integration of international, diverse practice in the education of future social workers in the United States.

Keywords (separate with commas)

international social work education, diversity

Summary

\ The Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education was established in 2004 by its namesake with the mission to advance global and local perspectives in social work for mutual understanding and advancement of human wellbeing.\ The proposed presentation is part of a group of three presentations that will highlight key strategic initiatives to promote diversity through collaborative global initiatives. They include one focused on the overall Institute, one about the Kendall Institute Grant Program, and the third about its Fulbright Partnerships.\ At historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), slightly more than three percent of students study abroad as undergraduates, compared to a 10 percent participation rate for all students.\ \ A Kendall sponsored project, the\ International Service Learning Program for Historically Black Colleges and University Toolkit (ISL HBCU), will assist in closing this gap. This presentation will address the challenges and opportunities for faculty and students to engage in international service learning. It will illustrate a case study of a successful implementation of such an international service learning course. It will outline the foundations and essential components of such a toolkit to provide utility for other schools of social work interested in such an initiative.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

service learning

Summary

Groups are central to human relationships, human rights, and the promotion of social justice. However, group work educators and partners rarely have opportunities to discuss their challenges and approaches. This session is unusual in focusing on a method of drawing participants from across geographic boundaries, fields of interest, and practice approaches to explore wide-ranging interests in group work in social work education.\\  Our purpose is to provide a forum to share experiences and engage in co-creating strategies to strengthen group work in social work.\\ \\ In previous sessions over the last 15 years, participants were engaged in vital aspects of group work education, practice, and research, including inclusion of service users and community members, equitable cross-cultural, cross-national, and interdisciplinary collaboration, and promotion of human rights and anti-oppressive practices within our institutions and communities. A foundational tenet of human rights is to promote the value of social support and solidarity within all communities.\\  An essential component of group work is to build connections and relationships that foster a sense of belonging, directly aligning with the concept of solidarity.\\ \\  Joining together with participants who bring diverse and unifying interests in group work in social work education, practice, and research has enhanced future work, influenced curriculum and policies, and encouraged partnerships to improve local and global conditions.\\ These sessions are conceptualized as incubators of essential advancements in group work, international collaboration, dissemination, and innovation.\\ \\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Groups, interdisciplinary collaboration, cross-culture, Human Rights, \\ anti-oppressive practices, experiences, narrative, community