CSDE Affiliates Jody O. Early (Nursing and Health Studies) and Carmen Gonzalez (Communications) in partnership with colleagues Janessa Graves (School of Medicine) and Julia Simoes (Communication) recently published a research brief, “Advancing Community-Based Mental Health Promotion: An Evaluation of a Bilingual Lay Mental Health Navigator Program“, in the peer reviewed journal, Health Promotion Practice. Early, Gonzalez, and co-authors presents evaluation results of Mental Health Matters of Washington’s Peer Mental Health Navigator (PMHN) program, which provides six-weeks of bilingual training to lay community members who go on to provide peer mental health support, education, and resource navigation Researchers used a non-controlled pre- and post-design with a 12-month follow up survey across seven cohorts of Spanish and English-speaking peer navigators (n = 141) over three years. Results demonstrated significant improvements across outcome measures, with the largest effect sizes observed in self-efficacy (d=0.70-0.96). Qualitative analysis revealed high program satisfaction, with participants particularly valuing comprehensive resources, skilled facilitation, and culturally responsive content. Twelve-month follow-up indicated sustained engagement and skill application. The findings support increased investment in community-driven, culturally and linguistically attune mental health promotion strategies that go beyond clinical interventions.
*New* Principal Research Scientist – Wikimedia Foundation (03/08/26)
Arnold Ventures RFP for Building Evidence: Support for QEDs to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies (LOIs due 03/06/26)
Arnold Ventures RFP for Strengthening Evidence: Support for RCTs to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies (LOIs due 03/06/26)
Rodriguez Edits Special Issue on Social Work Science and Advanced Computational Methods
CSDE External Affiliate Maria Y. Rodriguez (University at Buffalo) served as co-editor for a special issue of Research on Social Work Practice on “Social Work Science and Advanced Computational Methods.” Rodriguez and co-editor, Jo Ann Lee, argue that advanced computational methods can help us work toward solving complex social issues. The included manuscripts leverage cutting edge methods like agent-based modeling, network science, and LLMs, all within specific practice-contexts, with the aim of offering actionable solutions to pressing practice problems. The manuscripts also suggest that advanced computational methods require social work insight and ethics to work best for humans. Dr. Rodriguez is actively recruiting doctoral students for her lab: her research page has more details.
Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present (03/06/26)
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About the Conference Join us at this one-day symposium where scholars and activists will gather to engage in conversations about anticolonial struggles of the past and the present. How might we forge diasporic imaginaries and solidarity movements to contest the colonial world order toward collective liberation? The symposium will include a keynote address by Adam Hanieh of the University of Exeter (UK), who has been selected to deliver a Walker-Ames public lecture. He is a leading scholar of Middle East politics and political economy who is framing and exploring the most urgent issue of our current moment. His talk on petroleum and capitalism, including the migrant workers behind the industry, will stress the inextricable links between global capitalism, colonial rule, and solidarity movements. More information and schedule here: Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present Conference | Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies – UW College of Arts and Sciences Registration Information Registration for the conference includes a continental breakfast and a boxed lunch. A donation is suggested, but not required. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Registration is now open, RSVP here. |
*New* Having It All: Corinne Low (03/03/26)
*New* IUSSP Webinar Series: Toward a Demography of Crisis and Resilience (03/03/26)
IUSSP is hosting a webinar, Toward a Demography of Crisis and Resilience, on March 3 at 13:00–14:30 UTC. Register in advance
Crises and shocks are reshaping population dynamics worldwide — from climate disruption and forced displacement to conflict, pandemics, and economic upheaval. What do these shocks mean for fertility, family life, migration, and health? And how can demographers support policy and crisis response when data is incomplete, delayed, or unreliable? This webinar brings the IUSSP plenary session Crises, Shocks and Resilient Populations, first held at IPC2025 in Brisbane last July, to a wider audience. Because the subject deserves broader discussion beyond the conference room, we are opening the conversation to all those who were unable to attend in person.
Join us for a lively roundtable exploring both short-term emergencies and longer-term demographic consequences — and what resilience really means in demographic terms.
Panelists & topics:
- Roman Hoffmann (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis – IIASA) — The Climate Crisis
- Orsola Torrisi (McGill University) — Wars and Conflicts
- Natalie Nitsche (Australian National University) — Pandemics and Health Crises
- Cassio Turra (Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) — Economic and Political Shocks & Inequalities
- Arnstein Aassve (Bocconi University)— Resilient Populations
Moderator: Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi (Vienna Institute of Demography)
Q&A Moderator: Nico van Nimwegen (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute – NIDI)
CSSS Seminar: Kush Varshney on “Individual and Collective Human Agency in the Face of ‘AI’” (03/04/26)
Please join us for our next speaker in the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences Seminar Series. Wednesday March 4th at 12:30pm, Kush Varshney, Research Scientist, IBM will give a seminar titled:
Individual and Collective Human Agency in the Face of ‘AI’
This seminar will be offered as a hybrid session. Below please find the abstract and information about joining in-person or on Zoom.
As AI systems increasingly shape our personal, professional, and societal lives, the question is not only what machines can do, but who controls the values and outcomes they produce. This talk examines both individual agency — the capacity to think, judge, and act — and collective agency, where communities define norms, resist imposed standards, and guide AI deployment. Drawing on research in trustworthy AI, decolonial alignment, and human–AI collaboration, I will explore technical and governance approaches that preserve human autonomy, including transparency tools, scoped alignment methods, and collaborative task structures. I will introduce AI platform cooperatives as a counterweight to tech‑company dominance, fostering community ownership, shared governance, and technological self-determination. Ultimately, AI should be a tool that empowers humans, singly and together.
LOCATION: 409 Savery Hall or Zoom Link & Meeting ID: 916 1200 4486
Questions?
csss@uw.edu
https://csss.uw.edu/