Combatting Disinformation and Voting for Social Determinants of Health

Join the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health and BUSSW Votes for the first conversation in our From Ballots to Better Health virtual series, Combatting Disinformation and Voting for Social Determinants of Health. In this engaging discussion, Dr. Timothy Clancy, Assistant Research Scientist at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland; and Vanessa Navarro (MSW’24), Democracy Fellow, Campus Voter Project at BUSSW and Vot-ER Fellow will share how social workers can leverage their understanding of systemic injustices to vote discerningly and advocate for policies that uphold social work values, especially in an age of rampant disinformation.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will be able to describe how voting is a political and social determinant of health.
  • Participants will be able to identify three things they can do to become a discerning and informed voter.
  • Participants will be able to identify the differences between misinformation and disinformation.
  • Participants will be able to identify steps they will take to engage in elections and help others to vote.

Program:

7:00 pm: Opening remarks and introduction by Diane Crowley, Fall River Campus Director, BU School of Social Work

7:05 pm: Vanessa Navarro (MSW’24) presents

7:25 pm: Remarks and introduction by Dr. Tami Gouveia, Director and Paul Farmer Professor of Practice, Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health

7:30 pm: Dr. Timothy Clancy presents

7:50 pm: Q&A with Vanessa Navarro, Dr. Timothy Clancy, Diane Crowley, and audience

8:10 pm: Closing remarks by Diane Crowley and Dr. Tami Gouveia

Content Level: Intermediate

Continuing Education Credit Information:

The target audience of this lecture and discussion is LICSW, LCSW, LSW, LSWA,  and other health care professionals. Empowering Social Work Practices: Voting to Improve Social Determinants of Health and Combating Disinformation is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program to be offered by the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health as an individual course. Individual courses, not providers, are approved at the course level. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. ACE course approval period: 3/28/2024 – 3/28/2026. Social workers completing this course receive 1.25 continuing education credit.

1.25 national continuing education credits (free) are available to social workers licensed in the United States after the completion of a brief post-event quiz. The event will provide intermediate-level content and must be attended live to receive CE credits. If you would like to receive credits, please provide your license number during registration. The post-event quiz will be sent out at the end of the event. Applicants will need to earn a score of 70% or higher to receive the CE certificate, which will be sent via email. Questions? Please contact ciswh@bu.edu.

Featured Speakers:

Vanessa Navarro


Vanessa Navarro (she/her) graduated with her BSW from Saint Leo University in May 2023. She is completing her MSW at Boston University with an anticipated graduation date of August 2024. Ms. Navarro was involved with The Campus Voter Project as a Democracy Fellow. Vanessa brings a passion for civic engagement to her practicum at Vot-ER, a non-profit organization that helps integrate civic engagement into healthcare. These channels provide her with relevant leadership opportunities and up-to-date policy and advocacy information regarding voting initiatives. Ms. Navarro is interested in expanding civic engagement in communities and ensuring that voting rights are protected for all citizens. Prior to joining BUSSW, Ms. Navarro completed her Associate of Science (AS) in Counseling and Human Services at Hillsborough Community College in May 2021. While completing her AS, Ms. Navarro volunteered with Hillsborough County’s Head Start Program, Tampa Housing Authority, and Tampa Crossroads BeWell Center. Through these internships, she gained real-world experience and furthered her knowledge of the social work field. Ms. Navarro is a member of the Phi Alpha National Honor Society. Additionally, she is a member of the National Association of Social Work (NASW) and was elected the BSW Representative for the Florida Chapter for the 2022-2023 term.

Timothy Clancy

Timothy Clancy (he/him) is an Assistant Research Scientist at START, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. Dr. Clancy specializes in studying wicked mess problems, including violence and instability, as complex systems. For over 30 years Timothy has helped stakeholders in all manner of organizations understand their wicked mess problems and work towards resolving them. This included prior work at IBM where he was the Chief Methodologist of Lean, Six Sigma, and Agile supporting Fortune 50, government, and military clients to navigate their own wicked messes in strategy, business models, and enterprise transformation. Timothy completed his MSc in Simulation Science & Insurgency Dynamics and then a PhD in the System Dynamics of the Lifecycle of Violence and Instability of Non-State actors, both at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Current research topics include understanding violent radicalization as a system, the terror contagion hypothesis for public mass killings, and advancing methods for modeling social complexity through computer simulations integrated with AI. Timothy is the founder of Dialectic Simulations Consulting, LLC. He is also a writer and video commentator, providing systems thinking and analysis on complex current events through his blog and YouTube channel, InfoMullet. Timothy also volunteers his time and research efforts to help a range of community-based groups, often consisting of volunteers and hobbyists, understand and confront harassment, toxicity, and sexual assault as a system of interactions rather than isolated incidents.

Accessibility

Boston University strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming and academic offerings. Your experience in this event is important to us. If you have a disability or believe you may require accommodation for another reason, please contact the event organizer at ciswh@bu.edu to discuss your needs.

We invite attendees to keep video cameras on as they are able. We kindly ask that you consider the comfort of other attendees when determining the appropriateness of items that may be in view. We will be recording and sharing this video on social media and our website. If you would like to refrain from having your name or video shown, please keep your camera off and remove your name.

Instructions on accessing this webinar will be sent to you via email from alumni@bu.edu once registration is complete. Please check your junk/spam folder for the confirmation. If content from the webinar is available after the event, it will be sent to you directly from the event host at BU School of Social Work. If you have any questions or cannot find the confirmation email in your inbox, please contact alumni@bu.edu. 

Non-Partisanship Statement

The From Ballots to Better Health virtual series is dedicated to fostering dialogue, sharing knowledge, and promoting civic engagement. We would like to remind all participants that this event is founded on principles of non-partisanship and inclusivity.

Our mission is to create a safe and respectful learning environment where individuals from various backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives can come together to discuss, learn, and engage without bias or political partisanship. We believe that by transcending political polarization, we can find common ground and advance our collective understanding and progress.

We kindly ask all speakers, participants, and affiliates to refrain from promoting, endorsing, or disparaging any political party, candidate, or partisan political agenda, and treat all participants with respect, regardless of differing opinions, and engage in constructive and courteous discourse.

By participating in this event, you agree to uphold these principles and contribute to an environment that encourages open, unbiased, and respectful exchange of ideas.

Thank you for your commitment to maintaining the non-partisan spirit of From Ballots to Better Health. We look forward to a productive and enlightening conversation.

The webinar will be conducted using the online Zoom webinar platform. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, staff and the public.