a group of protestors, featuring a man holding a sign that says, 'hate is a virus.'
Webinar event date: 
Oct 10, 2023 2:00 pm EDT
Webinar Presenters: 
Dr. Ghayda Hassan

Founder and Director of the Canadian Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence; Full Professor of Clinical Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal

Dr. Ghayda Hassan is a clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at UQÀM. She has a number of research, clinical, and community-based national and international affiliations. She is the director of the Canada Practitioners Network for the Prevention of Radicalization and Extremist Violence (CPN-PREV). She also is a UNESCO co-chair on Prevention of Violence Radicalization, as well as a researcher and clinical consultant at the SHERPA-RAPS team and the CIUSSS-CODIM. She is a researcher, clinician, as well as a policy consultant in matters of interventions in the context of violence (radicalization, family violence, and war).

 

Dr. Cécile Rousseau, MD

Full Professor of Social and Cultural Psychiatry, McGill University; Scientific Director of SHERPA, the Research Institute of the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal/The Polarization Clinic

Dr. Cécile Rousseau, MD, is professor at McGill University Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry and holds a Canada Research Chair in the prevention of violent radicalization. She is also the Scientific Director of SHERPA, the Research Institute of CIUSSS West-Central Montreal/The Polarization Clinic. She has worked extensively with immigrant and refugee communities, developing specific school based interventions and leading policy oriented research. Presently her research focuses on intervention and prevention programs to address social polarization and violent radicalization.

 

Dr. Michael King

Director of Research, Evolve, Organization for the Prevention of Violence, Edmonton

Dr. Michael King is Director of Research at the Organization for the Prevention of Violence (OPV). He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto as well as a sessional lecturer at the University of Calgary. He held several positions in the field of counterterrorism within the Government of Canada; most recently as Senior Research Advisor at the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence. He completed his PhD in social psychology from McGill University, where he researched how individuals legitimize the use of terrorism.

Description

Canada is not immune to hate and violent extremism. Historical forms have targeted vulnerable groups and racialized communities, inflamed divisions, and threatened safety and social cohesion more broadly. With changes to Canada’s social and cultural context – including the advent of social media and global political, economic and public health pressures – hate and violent extremism are taking new forms as well. Today, a convergence of drivers and vulnerabilities can propel some people, groups and networks toward violent extremism, including acts of targeted violence motivated by complex combinations of grievances. This first session in a four-part webinar series aims to provide a foundation about current trends of hate and violent extremism in the Canadian context, including a focus on broader systemic, societal, and regional dynamics.

This webinar is part of a series called, Preventing and Countering Radicalization to Violence in Canada: A Webinar Series with Frontline Practitioners on Evidence-Based Approaches, Multi-Agency Collaboration, and the Role of Social Work. This webinar series is brought to you in partnership with the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.