Valerie Borum

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Director, School of Social Work Professor Faculty of Community Services School of Social Work Toronto, Ontario valerie.borum@torontomu.ca Office: (416) 979-5000 ext. 544580

Bio/Research

Dr. Valerie Borum (she/her/hers) joined Toronto Metropolitan University as the new TMU School of Social Work Director in January 2020. She has experience as both a BSSW Program Director and an MSW Program Director. As a social work practitioner, she directed two programs, supervising social work...

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Bio/Research

Dr. Valerie Borum (she/her/hers) joined Toronto Metropolitan University as the new TMU School of Social Work Director in January 2020. She has experience as both a BSSW Program Director and an MSW Program Director. As a social work practitioner, she directed two programs, supervising social work and human service professionals serving persons with intersecting identities (e.g., disability, race/ethnicity, gender, deafness, etc.).

Dr. Borum’s research and scholarship focus on the role of ethno-culture as a protective and promotive factor in health, mental health, and disabilities, with attention to populations of African descent. She studies the intersection of disabilities, deafness, and ethno-culture, with attention to Black/African American and Afro-Latinx/Black Hispanic families with deaf and hard-of-hearing children. She also studies the intersection of ‘whiteness’ and anti-Blackness/anti-Black racism. She incorporates Womanist and Afrocentric research, scholarship, and education (pedagogy).

Dr. Borum completed her post-doctoral studies (e.g., focus on suicide and ethno-culture) at the University of Rochester, School of Medicine, Rochester, NY. Dr. Borum received her Ph.D. in Social Work from Howard University's School of Social Work and her MSW from Gallaudet University. She received the Ester Ottley Fellowship, a one-year internship for one female student who most exemplifies qualities of leadership and humanity while at Howard University. While studying at Gallaudet University for her Master’s in Social Work, all her instruction was in American Sign Language (ASL). She received her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Biology and Philosophy from Mundelein Women’s College at Loyola University, Chicago, IL.

Dr. Borum is currently conducting research focusing on advocacy and families of colour as a research collaborator/consultant with Laurent Clerc National Deaf Educational Research Center at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Borum continues to seek external funding for her research, scholarship, and creative activities.

Dr. Borum was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois in the USA.


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