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HPOD Events


Social Inclusion and the Human Right of Belonging

A lunchtime talk by Professor Kim Samuel

Feb 12, 2019
Photo of Kim Samuel

Professor Kim Samuel

Morgan Courtroom Austin Hall, 3rd Floor Harvard Law School

Boxed lunch will be served.

Professor Kim Samuel is a pioneer in the field of social connectedness and its significance to inclusive policy and program development on a global scale. She advocates for community-based approaches to economic and social development.

Her work focusing on social isolation as a critical experiential and measurable component of multi-dimensional poverty and other critical issues underscores the importance of social connectedness to human dignity and human rights struggles globally.  Kim is working with communities around the world, from First Nations in Canada to children and caregivers in south Africa, to develop culturally relevant models and programs to overcome isolation.

Kim is the Founder of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness (SCSC), a non-profit organization that works to catalyze innovative strategies to build connectedness within and between communities.

Kim is a Professor of Practice at the Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID) at McGill University. In 2016, Kim designed and delivered the first academic course in the emerging field of social connectedness and taught another cohort in 2017.

In 2014 and 2016 Kim convened the Global Symposium on Overcoming Isolation and Deepening Social Connectedness, bringing together over 100 thought leaders to collaborate and build pathways to belonging. The next Global Symposium will convene in October 2019. 

In 2017, she launched the Social Connectedness Fellowship program, which offers recent graduates the opportunity to carry out research related to social isolation and connectedness.

Kim is writing a forthcoming book on social isolation and belonging, in which she raises awareness about the role of social isolation in many of the world’s most pressing issues.  The book further explores how individuals, communities, governments and organizations can build for belonging in our society.