Therese Jennissen, professor of Social Work, willl develop a new graduate-level course on comparative social policy, to be offered in January, 2012.

Her new graduate course, Comparative Social Policy: Canada and the European Union, introduces a comparative approach to social policy by focusing first on particular initiatives in Canada and then comparing them to similar policies in selected countries of the European Union.

While people aren’t always aware that the study of social policy is important for social workers, it is one of the main streams of the MSW program at Carleton. “Social workers are at the interface of the policy and the grass roots community, that is, the people who rely on the policies,” says Jennissen. “For example, we see, firsthand, the devastating effects that cutbacks to social programs and services have on those who rely on these services.”

“Social workers have important insights into social issues,” Jennissen explains. “These insights can be central for innovating, designing, and implementing social programs and services that are responsive to the changing needs of the beneficiaries of the policies.”

These insights become particularly important in the context of today’s global economic instability. According to Jennissen, there is much to be learned by comparing Canada’s approach to social policy with that of other countries.

“Several countries in the European Union historically have had innovative, well-developed social policy infrastructures and it is important to examine how and what they are doing in current conditions,” says Jennissen. “Comparing and contrasting what is occurring in countries that are similar to ours is an important educational exercise.”

While the course will select specific policies from a broad menu of social policy issues as they relate to social work (long-term care for seniors, pensions, child care, health and mental health, youth programs, unemployment, immigration, poverty, post secondary education, among others) the course is not limited to, nor will it appeal only to, social work students. The course will also be of interest to students of European studies, political science, sociology, public administration, law, and Canadian studies. The course will be offered in January, 2012.

Those interested in learning more about the course are invited to contact Professor Jennissen at therese_jennissen@carleton.ca.

A film premiere this week has special meaning for Graham Shonfield. He’s the guy who made the movie.

Graham’s a second-year student in the Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management (B.PAPM.) program. But his film, Life on the Reserve, is about a world very different from Carleton. It’s about Gull Bay First Nation Reserve, 175 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. Residents are the stars of the film, talking about the problems of the Anishinaabe community, but also their hopes.

Last summer, Graham volunteered there, working in the band office, and also in the school, helping with workshops and sports. He learned to fish, found out about hunting deer and moose, and participated in a pow-wow.

It was a 29-year-old mother of three who inspired the film, however. “She was the most amazing, smart, opinionated woman,” he says, “and I thought she’s the type of person who would change the community.” She overcame her tough background to become the reserve’s economic development officer and build a better life for her kids. “I was inspired by her journey,” Graham says.

Admitting he knew little about reserve life, Graham says he wanted to show friends what it’s like. “I didn’t expect people to be so smart, caring, funny – or the reserve itself to be so beautiful.” He showed a rough cut of the film to the Gull Bay residents this fall. Several said he’d captured the reserve well.

It was in Grade 10 at a Toronto high school for the arts when he was talking back to his parents and teachers – “my typical juvenile delinquent stage,” he jokes – that he developed his social awareness, His dad decided he should see a different side of life, so sent Graham to Kenya to help build schools.

“It was an awakening experience,” he recalls, “my first time thinking about people other than myself.” He spent the next year fundraising so he could go to Ecuador on a similar volunteer project. In Grade 12 he set up a club that raised money to build a well in Sierra Leone.

When it came time to decide on his next move, he says, the B.PAPM. sounded like the right degree. “I was political and opinionated, and felt I could use my opinions for policy action and change.”

It’s not that Graham is always serious. He’s a Lady Gaga fan, plays Ultimate Frisbee, has curled for seven years, is “obsessed” with films, and is even into amateur modeling as a contestant in Carleton’s Next Top Model.

But he says his Gull Bay experience has led to a “crazy dream” about life after Carleton. He wants to start a non-profit organization to take other youth on cultural exchanges to reserves across Canada. “There’s no organization that does this,” he says, noting that students willing to pay to volunteer abroad should be able to find equally rich experiences at home.

Life on the Reserve will be screened at the Mayfair Theatre on Wednesday, March 9, at 6:15 p.m. Graham has already been invited to screen it at Ryerson University and in Vancouver. “If there’s a good response this week,” he adds, “it might even inspire me to do a film tour this summer.”

If Martha Chertkow finds time to sleep, it’s not clear when.

The fourth-year student in Carleton’s Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management (B.PAPM.) program has tackled everything from Parliament Hill to Darfur with equal gusto. And she’s made sure to spare enough time for sports, music and contributions to student life in Kroeger College, where her degree program is housed. Her academics haven’t suffered either: she was named a finalist this year in one of the world’s most prestigious academic awards, the Rhodes Scholarship.

As Elaine Rouleau, the Kroeger College administrator, puts it: “Martha seems to be able to pack 30 hours into every day. I have no doubt she will end up exactly where she wants to be.”

But Martha shrugs off such amazement this way: “You just have to be motivated about what you do.”

Her activity level is nothing new. In high school, she volunteered with NGOs in Botswana, Guatemala and Costa Rica; helped establish the McGill chapter of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur; and raised funds for such charities as CARE and the Kalahari Peoples Fund.

It all fueled her passion for social justice. But, she says, “As I kept reading articles and reports, I realized that if I wanted to make a difference in public policy, I’d have to get involved in politics. That’s why I came to Carleton.”
And she did get involved. She volunteered for Glen Pearson, the Liberal critic for international development in Parliament. That led to a part-time job as his research assistant. She served as a special assistant to a second MP, and landed one summer in the constituency office of a third.

She says, “It was energizing to study politics at Carleton and then get the tangible and practical perspective on the ground, and put the two together.”

On campus she’s Vice-President of Policy and Academic for the Kroeger College student society, where last year she wrangled professors, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and four Kroeger students to compete in a trivia night, dubbed “Are You Smarter than a Kroeger Kid?” Top spot was shared by May and Patrick Salonius, then a first-year Kroeger student. Martha is organizing another session – a fun take on the college’s traditional policy discussions with Parliamentarians – for Feb. 1.

As if that’s not enough, she’s performed in “The Vagina Monologues” for the past four years, plays French horn in the Carleton Chamber Music Ensemble, is on intramural teams in soccer and basketball, and helps ease immigrants into Ottawa life as a youth host at the Catholic Immigration Centre.

She parlayed all that into an internship last summer with the International Labor Organization in Geneva. Despite folks who told her she didn’t stand a chance, she landed the position after sending resumes to 70 U.N. offices. “Being surrounded by all those interns with fascinating life stories from around the world was an incredible experience,” she says.

Martha hopes to work in post-conflict reconstruction and transitional justice when she graduates, but meanwhile says her wide-ranging passions will pay off: “I believe you need to have more than one specific understanding of the world,” she says. “Only then are you able to find a solution that truly appreciates the complexity of any issue at hand.”