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Yahya El-Lahib

Positions

Associate Professor

Faculty of Social Work, Calgary Campus

PhD/MSW Thesis Coordinator

Faculty of Social Work

Contact information

Email

yellahib@ucalgary.ca

Phone number

Office : +1 (403) 220-8926

Location

Office : MacKimmie TowerMT 436

Background

Educational Background

Bachelor of Social Work (with Distinction) Ryerson University, 2011

B.S.W. Social Work, Ryerson University, 2011

Doctor of Philosophy Social Work, McMaster University, 2015

Master's of Social Work (with Honours) Ryerson University, 2012

M.S.W. Social Work, Ryerson University, 2012

Biography

Yahya El-Lahib came to the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary after finishing his PhD at the School of Social Work, McMaster University.  As a long time disability activist, Yahya’s research, practice and policy background has centred on working on disability issues at all levels of intervention, from frontline work with individuals and families, to community practice, policy development, and research on a variety of issues including education, employment, poverty, political and civic engagement, as well as the impacts of war. Throughout this involvement, Yahya has been closely affiliated with the disability movement in Lebanon working from a grassroots social justice approach which has allowed him to bring to his current community involvement, teaching and research in Canada a critical transnational dimension to social work.  

Research

Areas of Research

International
Immigrant
Refugee
Ethno-Cultural
and Racialized Groups
Activities

Yahya’s research interest centers on knowledge production and legitimization.  Specifically, in his SSHRC CGS funded (2012-2015) doctoral research, Yahya examined the intersection of disability, immigration and social work.  His research specifically questioned colonial North/South power dynamics and relations and interrogated the assumed universality of knowledge and practice models produced in the global North.  Yahya’s research aims to question dominant discourses that construct people with disabilities and shape their immigration and settlement experiences.  He seeks to bridge between theories and practice models developed within Global North and South to respond to the knowledge gaps and limitations that manifest themselves through transnational issues at the intersection of disability, immigration and social work.  As an outcome of his doctoral research, Yahya is in the process of developing a community research partnership to enhance practice and equip social workers and settlement workers to better engage with immigrants and newcomers with disabilities.  In addition, as part of an across-province research team (Alberta, British Colombia and Ontario), Yahya is currently working on the development of a research project that examines the construction of diasporic professional identity in relation to transnational social work theory and practice.  Using arts-informed methodologies, this research project aims to inform social work theory, practice and education.  

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
MDCH 70059 LEC 01 01 Community Hlth Directed Study 2020
SOWK 371 SEC 01 S01 Social Work and Diversity 2020
SOWK 371 SEC 03 S03 Social Work and Diversity 2020
SOWK 743 SEC 01 S01 Values, Ethics & Prof Beliefs 2020
SOWK 79985 SEC 05 S05 Special Topics Seminar 2021

Publications