Call for Presentation Proposals

IASWG 2018 South Africa Symposium

Bridging the Divide: Group Work for Social Justice

As the members of the IASWG organization celebrate their 40th International Symposium in South Africa, it is our view that our 2018 symposium theme of “Bridging the Divide: Group Work for Social Justice” is an appropriate and relevant theme in our current global environment. At the core of social group work is the need to bridge the divide to develop mutual aid to foster a socially just society where all members have the same opportunities to attain material goods, income and wealth. The valuing of diverse perspectives and experiences is a heartfelt call to understanding the meaning of Ubuntu in South Africa and all of Africa. Ubuntu is about humaneness, and it embraces values of respect, solidarity, community development, social responsibility, justice, and equality. That said, bridging the divide, in our view, suggests more than just an appreciation of diversity. It is a real recognition of being part of humanity. Bridging the divide for social justice is about people living and working in a globalized society brought together with a common group purpose.


The International Association for Social Work with Groups invites group work students, practitioners, researchers, faculty, administrators, community workers and activists, and group workers from various professional disciplines to submit presentations proposals. Proposals are welcomed in all areas of group work, especially related to group work practice in a variety of settings, multicultural practice, group work in developing countries or underserved communities, community development, activist group work practice, group work research and training. ​​ Proposals may be submitted in English, French, Spanish or German, and sessions at symposium may be conducted in these languages as well.


  • Presentations are 30-minutes; comprised of didactic learning interactive discussion, or skill building with an experiential component.
  • Posters are visual representations of research, practice, or training initiatives and are displayed at designated times during the Symposium.

For more information, please visit www.iaswg.org or email symposium@iaswg.org. All presenters must be or become active/current members of IASWG and register for the symposium.




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Questions about Submitting Your Presentation

Once you have submitted the title of your presentation you will automatically receive an email that includes a password-protected hyperlink. If you must interrupt the submission process before finishing it you can resume at any time by clicking on the hyperlink in that email.

You can view and modify your submissions up until the submission deadline. (All deadlines are enforced at 11:59 PM Eastern USA time). After the deadline you can still view your abstract. Just find the confirming email mentioned above (from aaswgreg@confex.com) which will contain a direct link to your submission. If you remember the abstract ID# and password, please enter those codes to the right. If you can't find that email and don't remember the ID# of an abstract that you wish to modify, contact Technical Support