Upcoming Events

Join us for the sixth annual Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research Workshop on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to learn about new research happening at York University that uses critical social science perspectives and methodologies to understand the global health enterprise. Researchers working in this vein tend to engage directly with global public health actors, structures, and systems, using transdisciplinary, participatory, experimental or experiential methods. The Workshop is intended to generate new insights, foster collaboration, and discover new opportunities in global health research.  

This year, Professor Kristina Baines (Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York) will be delivering the keynote presentation titled "Heritage in the Body: Sensory Investigations in Global Health Practice"

Following the keynote, we will hear from the 2024 seed grant recipients regarding the progress of their global health research projects funded by the Critical Perspectives in Global Health Seed Grant. The seed grant program supports critical global health research within the three themes at the Dahdaleh Institute (planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting).

Finally, York faculty and global health researchers will then have the opportunity to deliver Pitch Presentations: brief 5-minute presentations on any current or planned research project that takes a critical social science approach to global health. Register as a Pitch Presenter to receive valuable feedback on your proposal from expert researchers. Please complete the registration form to be a Pitch Presenter by Thursday, April 10 at 12:00 p.m., or to attend the event by Monday, April 21, by 11:59 p.m. 

Agenda

RSVP

Register below and join us on Tuesday, April 29 at 9 a.m.

Join us for an immersive two-day simulation of the World Health Assembly (WHA) from April 30 to May 1, where students, professionals, and global health enthusiasts come together to engage in high-level debates, draft resolutions, and tackle real-world health challenges. This event offers a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of global health policymakers, collaborate with peers from around the world, and develop critical leadership and diplomacy skills. The theme of this year's event is: Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: All for Health, Health for All.

This event is brought to you by the School of Global Health.

Seats are limited, so don't delay and secure your place today to be a part of this transformative event!

Do social network factors jointly protect or harm well-being in its various forms across societies? We propose an external-internal well-being continuum and introduce a theoretical framework to explore the interplay between two fundamental network factors: accessed status and tie strength. The framework includes theories or propositions on the main impacts of accessed status and tie strength on both external and internal well-being, their combined impact across these two dimensions of well-being, and how these impacts vary across societies. Our analysis of data from three societies—the U.S., urban China, and Taiwan—reveals that in Taiwan, a more egalitarian society, accessed status and weak ties, individually and jointly, are more likely to promote (rather than harm) external well-being. In contrast, accessed status and strong ties, individually and jointly, are more likely to protect (rather than harm) internal well-being.

Speaker Profile

Lijun Song is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Social Networks and Inequalities Lab (SNAIL) at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on how societies produce and reproduce inequalities, with core interests in social networks and health. Currently, she is developing social cost theory to explain the detrimental impact of social networks and is leading a high-priority R56 project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, to design the first nationally representative survey of older never-married adults, focusing on their social networks and health. She has received two publication awards from the American Sociological Association (ASA): one from the Section on Asia/Asian America and another from the Section on Sociology of Mental Health. Additionally, she has been elected to chair two ASA sections: Medical Sociology and Sociology of Mental Health.

Register below and join us on Tuesday, May 6, at 10:00 a.m. EST.

RSVP

York University's Faculty of Health is delighted to share that the documentary film "We Walk the Earth," has been selected for screening at this year's Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) Congress hosted at York University.  

This film was co-produced through the Grounded Project led by Dr. Mathieu Poirier and Julie Hard in partnership with Dr. Felipe Montoya and Ana Maria Martinez at the Las Nubes EcoCampus.

The screening will be presented as a joint initiative between FEUC and the International Development Studies Program in LAPS, highlighting Indigenous health and land reclamation struggles in Latin America. 

Dr. Miguel Gonzalez Perez and Dr. Ravi de Costa will also be screening the film "Patrol".

These films provide vital documentation of Indigenous struggles across Costa Rica. "We Walk the Earth" recounts the Bribri, Cabécar, Brunka and Bröran peoples' fight for land rights, self-governance, and autonomy, revealing how Indigenous stewardship offers alternative perspectives on our relationship with Earth. "Patrol" takes a more somber approach, examining the violent confrontations and devastating impact faced by unprotected Indigenous communities along the Nicaraguan border as they stand on the frontlines against environmental destruction.

The event will take place on May 16th at the Nat Taylor Cinema (Ross Building - North, Campus Walk N102).

Event Schedule:

• "We Walk the Earth" – 3:00pm to 5:00pm
• "Patrol" – 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Each screening will be followed by a panel discussion facilitated by Julie Hard exploring critical issues facing Indigenous peoples as environmental protectors. 

We are honored to welcome Gilbert Gonzales, one of the film directors and Indigenous leaders from Costa Rica, who will be joining our panel.

Despite meaningful progress in global tobacco control, significant gender differences in cigarette smoking persist globally. International survey data on cigarette smoking is routinely collected, but there is a notable gap in understanding how the average number of cigarettes smoked per day among current smokers differs between men and women. This co-sponsored seminar with the Global Strategy Lab will discuss the process of data collection, cleaning, and analysis, as well as the study's rationale and background, and will present key results and recommendations.

Speaker Profile

Tina Nanyangwe-Moyo is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Global Strategy Lab’s Global Legal Epidemiology research stream, where she generates scientific evidence to inform global health policies. Her primary research focuses on evaluating global tobacco control policies, particularly the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its impact on population health. Previously, her work centered on implementation science in maternal and adolescent health and HIV prevention and treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa, evaluating policy effectiveness and equitable access to services.

Mehedi Hasan Rasel is a Data Analyst at the Global Strategy Lab and contributes to the Global Legal Epidemiology research stream, with a current focus on tobacco control. His interests revolve around health economics and health policy to enhance population health and economic well-being through data-driven insights. He employs theories and statistical methods, along with econometric models, to dissect both aggregated data and disaggregated microdata to unravel complex issues in an accessible manner.

Register below and join us on Wednesday, May 28, at 1:00 p.m. ET

RSVP