Call for Abstracts

2nd Annual Social Work DayInternational Congress on Qualitative Inquiry

16-19 May 2012

“All are Welcome”

The Eighth International Congress on Qualitative Inquiry will take place at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, from May 16-19, 2012. Abstracts are due by 1 December 2011.

The theme of the 2012 Congress is “Qualitative Inquiry as Global Endeavor.” To learn more about the 8th International Congress and how to participate, please visit the website at (www.ICQI.org).

The 2012 Congress will offer scholars opportunities to debate issues, to think about qualitative inquiry as a shared, global endeavor, to engage in the politics of advocacy, to form coalitions, to examine how qualitative research can be used to advance social justice, while addressing racial, ethnic, gender and environmental disparities in education, welfare and health care.

The theme of the Congress is consistent with social work’s values and mission. The Congress, therefore, is an opportunity for social work researchers to get together with other researchers to explore how their work fits with the values of social justice and care, which social workers claim as their bedrock. While research of various types has a place in the promotion of social welfare and development, qualitative research has a special place because we want to understand the meanings of human experience in order to bring about more just and caring societies. We do this by telling stories, developing and evaluating policies and interventions, and challenging and transforming ideologies that lead to injustice and callousness.

Social Work Day

Social workers have a special day dedicated to social work research. At Social Work Day, social work researchers share their research and thinking as well as to learn what other researchers from throughout the world are thinking and doing. An international event, Social Work Day last year attracted scholars from 11 different countries. There were nine concurrent sessions and 33 papers with time for conversations within the sessions and also during the generous breaks and receptions.

Graduate students, new professors, practitioners, and seasoned professors mingled at the great Social Work Day get-together. The networking possibilities are endless. We even had door prizes. All you had to do to win was to throw your name into a hat and have your name pulled out.

After a day devoted to social work qualitative research, participants at Social Work Day attended the International Congress on Qualitative Inquiry. This conference is another opportunity to share and to learn from scholars from many different disciplines and who live and work in more than 65 different countries.

For the papers to be given at the 2nd Annual Social Work Day, all methods and topics are welcome. Last year, sessions included the intellectual history of qualitative social work research, intervention research, reflexivity, phenomenology, advocacy, the place of theory in qualitative research, grounded theory, deductive qualitative analysis, narrative analysis, photovoice, arts-based research, ethnography, performance studies, and critical discourse analysis related to race, gender, sexual identity, and abuse. The only requirement for papers is that they be related to social work and that the authors are clear about the methods they use, their results, and the thinking behind their work.

Videos About Social Work Day & the Congress

To get a sense of what Social Work Day is like, take at look at the video of Social Work Day 2011. You can link to it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GtiRqLw-8U Michal Krumer-Nevo, as associate professor at Ben Gurion University, was a keynote speaker, for the main conference. Her lecture is on youtube as well. Link to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJpyeWJAC8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdKnW7klE5gNorman Denzin, who is the convener of the main conference, is on youtube as well, giving his welcome. That link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7y1zILQOPg

Of special note is the cheap rates of staying in University housing—$40 or less. The restaurant food is international and also delicious and cheap, with lots of free food at least four times at receptions and barbeques.

If you want to discuss ideas and topics for Social Work Day or the main conference, feel free to contact Jane Gilgun at jgilgun@gmail.com. Jane is the convener of the conference and is a professor, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA. If you have ideas about sessions, initiatives, publicity, fund-raising, or any other relevant topic, please contact Jane. She will let you know if others have similar interests and will help you network.

We are looking for sponsors for Social Work Day to help fund graduate students and international scholars to attend. Open up your wallets and show how important qualitative approaches are to social work, social welfare, and social development locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.