Information om forskning och undervisning

I am Professor of Social Work in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Originally from Fresno, California, I am an Irish citizen who has lived in Finland for over 25 years. My research has evolved from multicultural social work and care in the field of HIV towards themes related to decolonization, abolitionist social work and the social memory of HIV/AIDS. I teach courses on critical and structural social work, and supervise master's theses and doctoral dissertations. 

Utbildning information

I received my Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, USA. I have also studied colonialism and literature of the Caribbean at Howard University, and English literature at University College Cardiff, UK. I completed a Master's of Social Science in International Relations at the University of Tampere. I received a Licentiate and Doctorate in Social Science (Social Work) at the University of Tampere.

Forskningsintressen

My research interests center on decolonization, structural social work, abolitionist perspectives on social work, as well as social memory. I have a forthcoming book, Decolonising Social Work Education: Memory, Haunting and Critical Hope in the Nordics written together with Michael Wallengren Lynch and Michael Yellow Bird (Routledge, 2025). I have edited a book entitled Decolonising Social Work in Finland: Racialisation and Practices of Care together with Leece Lee-Oliver and Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö published by Policy Press in 2024. I have also written  Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work (Routledge, 2020) with Michael Yellow Bird.

I have increasing turned to exploring abolitionist thought in social work. I have collaborated on a project that employed critical race analyses of the carceral state to explore how civic space and conceptions of community have been reconfigured through a case study in Fresno, California. 

I am also interested in LGBTQ+ issues in social work. I am currently collaborating on an oral history project about HIV in Fresno, California. I have also worked on a special issue about reproductive justice through an LGBTQ+ lens.

Finally, I have developed public scholarship on social work issues via a two-season podcast, Social Work Routes, available on all major platforms.