Kathy Hogarth

Introductions are important to me, and I like to start my introduction with my name. I am Dr. Kathy Hogarth. Currently, I serve as Associate Vice President, Global Strategy and previously as Dean and a Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. I am Black. This may seem like an insignificant or unnecessary identification; however, this fact of my identity seems to hold so much importance in this society and in academic institutions. I have always been Black, but that fact never mattered as much until I entered white space. Then, my Blackness seemed to matter more than any other aspect of my identity. So much so that early in my academic career, I had a student “remind” me that I was Black. So much so, even in this position as Dean, colleagues remind me that I can be smart as a Black woman. So, I say to you I am Black – unapologetically Black! I am an immigrant. I was born and raised in the Caribbean and came to Canada over two decades ago.

Wilfrid Laurier University is not only my workplace; I also studied here. In 2004, I received my second master’s degree in psychology; in 2012, I received my PhD in social from Wilfrid Laurier University. My research then focused on understanding the lived experiences of immigrants in Canada.

Since my graduate work, I have taken a brief stint (2011-2012) at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario as a Lecturer on a Limited Term Appointment and then a lengthier stay (2012-2021) at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo as an Assistant and then Associate Professor in the School of Social Work. Just before rejoining Laurier, I served as the Special Advisor on Anti-racism and Inclusivity to the Office of the Vice President of Research and International at the University of Waterloo and the Anti-racism Advisor to the University of Waterloo’s Faculty Association.

My personal passions and struggles inform my professional engagements to a large degree. For instance, my years of work at the national level with the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work Educators International Affairs Committee as well as the Caucus on Race and Ethnicity are wrapped up in my personal experiences as a twice migrant woman and my need to address issues of race and culture in my personal world and extending that to the world beyond me.

My struggles also inform my research. Borrowing from the words of Beryl Gilroy, I research to assert my sullied identity. Research for me is therapy and nourishment. I research and write in the name of resistance. In the tradition of Black women who write to come to terms with their trauma, or alternatively, to understand the nature of their elemental oppression, I wrote myself and put the record straight. But racism research, the kind that I engage in understanding lived experiences, is a heavy burden to carry, and it certainly takes its toll. And so, I’ve had to ask myself, in light of the findings of my exploration, what am I going to do? How do I change the current reality? How do I disrupt the discourse? This has led to a parallel line of research on building community capacity. One of the underlying goals of this work, which aligns perfectly with my personal and professional goals, is to transform our community and make it more inclusive and safe where all its members thrive.

My personal experiences as a black and immigrant woman were the drivers in the early development of my research agenda and continue to inform the kind of research in which I become engaged. Much of my research, service, and teaching is on critical race, racism, and equity in Canadian and international contexts. I have extensive experience in the work of equity, diversity, and inclusion. I am particularly interested in organizational and societal transformation that leads to more equitable and just worlds that challenge systems of oppression.

Biography / Academic Background

Selected Publications

In the Media

Community Service

Education

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