The Honourable Wanda Thomas Bernard highlights Africentric social work’s evolution and influence in her 2024 Alumni Association Distinguished Speaker Series lecture
Categories: Alumni + Friends
Dean Charmaine Williams, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, and Alumni Association President Andria Allen. Photo by Colleen Lightbody.
On May 31, the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work Alumni Association welcomed the Honorable Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard to the University of Toronto to present the 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series lecture.
The lecture took place in person and online, with in-person attendees filling the Music Room at Hart House to hear Dr. Bernard — a professor emeritus at Dalhousie University and Canadian Senator — speak.
Citing lessons from the field, Dr. Bernard highlighted how Africentric social work in Canada has moved from the margins to the centre to create opportunities for systemic change and empowering pathways for Black families and children.
A highly regarded social worker, educator, researcher, community activist and advocate of social change, Dr. Bernard was the first African Nova Scotian to be hired in a tenure track position at Dalhousie University, where she also served as Director of the School of Social Work for ten years. She is a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW) and a founding member and current President of the Africadian Empowerment Academy (AEA).
Dr. Bernard also co-edited the book Africentric Social Work, an invaluable resource for social work students and practitioners alike. (Dr. Bernard encouraged those interested to purchase the book online from the publisher, Fernwood Publishing, or online or in person at A Different Booklist, in Toronto.)
The lecture was followed by a Q&A. Afterwards, in-person attendees joined the Alumni Association and Dr. Bernard for a reception, to reflect on the talk and celebrate 10 years since the establishment of the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
The Distinguished Speakers Series, created by the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work Alumni Association in honour of the Faculty’s 100th anniversary in 2014, brings leading edge thinkers to the Faculty, to explore avant-garde issues. By fostering dialogue about crucial societal challenges, these lectures benefit students, alumni, researchers and the community.
This year’s lecture took place during the University of Toronto’s Alumni Reunion, which ran from May 29 to June 2.
Watch the lecture online
Those who missed Dr. Bernard’s lecture can view it online via FIFSW’s YouTube channel.
More photos from the 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series lecture
All photos by Colleen Lightbody.