The Social Work Routes Podcast

Feb 10 2025 49 ep. 48 mins 1

The Social Work Routes Podcast artwork

Welcome to Social Work Routes - a podcast dedicated to exploring the pathways to social justice work. We listen to the stories of people involved in social work and activism – what brought them to the field? Where does their passion for social justice work lie? What experiences have shaped their perspectives? And what hopes and dreams do they have for the future? We have conversations with people around the globe to hear their stories of activism and change-making. My name is Kris Clarke and I am an associate professor of social work at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Join us on Spotify to listen to Social Work Routes -- stories of personal, political, and social transformation.

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Racism and Mental Health in U.S. History

Feb 10 2025 62 mins

Mab Segrest talks about her book, Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry from Georgia’s Milledgeville Asylum. Mab Segrest is the former Fuller-Matthai Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at Connecticut College.

A conversation about Finnish social work research

Oct 17 2023 31 mins

Tarja Pösö, Professor in Social Work at Tampere University, Finland, has a long experience of more than 30 years in studying social work, especially child welfare, from different perspectives, with a keen interest in cross-country perspectives and exploring methods and ethics for child welfare studies. Her work has been published in national and international journals and books.

A conversation about young masculinities in Finland

Sep 09 2023 44 mins

Harry Lunabba is a University lecturer in social work and a youth researcher at the University of Helsinki. In his research he has mainly focused on studies on young masculinities. His latest article analyses how to recognise young masculinities vulnerabilities in youth work. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/11033088231179552

A conversation with Minna Zechner on pathways into Finnish social work research

Aug 20 2023 38 mins

Minna Zechner is an Associate Professor in Social Work at the University of Helsinki. Her speciality area is health and social services. Her educational background is in social policy, both Master and Doctoral degrees are from the University of Tampere, Finland. For eight years she worked in a University of Applied Sciences in Seinäjoki, then moved on to the University of Lapland

A conversation on social work, migration and international education

Mar 27 2023 47 mins

Tobias Pötzsch, Ph.D, works as a lecturer in Social Work at the University of Helsinki’s Swedish School of Social Science. My doctoral dissertation; Critical Perspectives on Social inclusion in Integration Education Programs for Adult Migrants (2020) explored inclusion strategies through the lenses of anti-oppressive practices, critical whiteness studies, and critical migration

Stanley Witkin - a life in social work

Feb 22 2023 65 mins

Stanley Witkin is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of Vermont, USA and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. USA. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and an honorary doctorate from the University of Lapland, Finland. He is the co-founder (with Dennis Saleebey) and current president of t

A conversation on whiteness in social work education and practice

Sep 28 2022 60 mins

Harjeet Badwall is an Associate Professor at York University’s School of Social Work in Toronto, Canada. Her areas of research focus on disrupting racism, whiteness, and colonialism in Social Work. Harjeet teaches core theory and practice courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of the program. Her areas of focus include racialized and gender-based violence, practice

A Hmong-American pathway into nonprofit leadership

Aug 25 2022 55 mins

Susan was born and raised in Fresno, California, USA, to refugee parents of Hmong descent. She received her Bachelor of Social Work from California State University, Fresno, and her Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Organizational Leadership from National University. Susan is the founder and CEO of A Hopeful Encounter, Inc., a CBO (community-based organizatio

A conversation on international development and research ethics

Jul 03 2022 53 mins

Marjaana Jauhola (she/they) is an ethnographer at the intersection of international politics, development, peace and conflict, and feminism. With life's historical and visual methods Marjaana focuses on global politics of post-conflict/disaster reconstruction and gendered and sexualized notions of piety, good life, and better futures. Currently at the University of Helsinki, but so

A conversation on feminist activism in universities

Apr 24 2022 49 mins

Jessica Schulz (she/they) is a passionate feminist scholar-activist from California’s Central Valley. With degrees from Fresno State and Iowa State Universities, Jessica aims to help institutions of higher education support student victims and survivors of interpersonal violence, and marginalized communities, through scholarship, action, and centering students. Jessica’s resear