Showcases Leadership in Social Sciences and Humanities Research
A national meeting of members of the governing council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) will be held at York University from June 17-18 to discuss the future of social sciences and humanities research and training in Canada.
To mark the occasion, the University has organized a knowledge expo, showcasing the pioneering work of leading York professors funded by SSHRC and studying key social, economic and cultural issues.
"Social sciences and humanities research informs all aspects of life, from understanding the causes of poverty to helping build more competitive industries," said Stan Shapson, York vice-president research & innovation and a member of the SSHRC governing council. "It provides a foundation for better social policies and can improve our quality of life. This meeting is an important opportunity for York to showcase our pioneering research to decision-makers and to take a national leadership role in the future of SSHRC."
SSHRC’s Strategic Research Clusters Design Grants program represents the first concrete step in the plan to transform SSHRC from a granting council to a much more comprehensive knowledge council. Strategic Research Cluster Grants are designed to promote research interaction and mobilize knowledge through the “clustering” of research efforts across the academic disciplines. Research focuses on critical intellectual, social and cultural issues.
York University’s emphasis on interdisciplinary and collaborative research puts seven of the university’s most distinguished professors in the front rank of those who are participating in this innovative program.
Featured Projects at York’s Knowledge Expo
Engin Isin: Citizenship
Engin Isin is Professor of Social Science in York’s Faculty of Arts and holds a Canada Research Chair in Citizenship Studies. His core research concerns the relationship between cities and citizenship, advancing the thesis th
at citizenship is not only an abstract legal status, but also a social practice that unfolds primarily in the city.
Isin’s research cluster, Recasting the Social in Citizenship, will shape the international agenda on Citizenship Studies, thereby also influencing the debates over Canadian citizenship. “Through research projects, public forums, literacy and outreach programs, workshops, conferences and publications, the network envisioned will develop the capacity of Canadian scholarship for theoretical and practical innovation in the field,” says Isin. “Without an interdisciplinary approach, complex citizenship issues like immigration, same-sex marriage and health care access, among others, will not be fully understood.”
Colin Coates: History and the Environment
Colin Coates is Professor of Canadian Studies in York’s Glendon College and holds a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Cultural Landscapes. Coates is particularly interested in using the insights of post-colonial theory, feminist and gender studies, and socio-cultural and environmental history to understand how Canadians created the cultural landscapes in which they lived.
Coates’s research cluster, the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE), is an interdisciplinary group that has already mobilized a core constituency of historians, geographers and other environmental scholars, and will soon reach out to natural scientists and policy makers
“Ecology’s first law is that everything is connected to everything else, and history is no exception.” Coates says. “Understanding Canada’s contemporary environmental challenges demand a clear understanding of the past. Unless environmental matters are studied in their historical context, there can be no measure of relative change.”
Ron Owston: Learning through Games
Ron Owston is Professor of Education and Director of the Institute for Research in Learning Technologies and co-director of the Technology Enhanced Learning Institute at York University. Owston works to encourage the formation of links with faculty members across the university and with schools, government, and industry to provide collaborative, multidisciplinary approaches to research problems and issues. The IRLT concerns itself with the pedagogical uses of technology at all levels, in other words, how technology is used to teach.
Owston’s research cluster, entitled Simulation and Gaming Environments (SAGE) for Learning, will involve experts from such diverse areas as education, cognitive psychology, computer science, digital media and evaluation methodologies. “Understanding learning through games and simulations is important because Canadians face major questions about how our approach to technology-supported education should evolve,” said Owston. “The sharing of knowledge of how these technologies are transforming education will profoundly affect the lifelong learning of Canadians.”
Bernie Lightman: Science, Philosophy and History
Bernie Lightman is Professor of Humanities in the Faculty of Arts at York University and editor of ISIS, 
the world’s pre-eminent journal on the history of science. His expertise on popular science in the 19th century and what is called Science and Technology Studies or the History and Philosophy of Science (STS/HPS) has led him to join a group of leading scholars with broad interests in STS/HPS who have spent years in collaborative endeavours with interdisciplinary themes. The result is the Clustering Science and Technology research project.
“The world is increasingly shaped by science and technology – a fact that requires serious reflection, understanding and planning,” says Lightman. “Our STS/HPS project will investigate the character and development of science and technology and their philosophical, cultural, intellectual and social dimensions. The cluster will bring these themes into a more coordinated interaction allowing communication and problem solving across the disciplines within Canada and internationally.”
Wesley Cragg: Business Ethics
Wesley Cragg is the George R. Gardiner Professor of Business Ethics at York’s Schulich School of Business and is cross-appointed to the Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts. His work in the field of Environmental and Business Ethics is internationally renowned. Cragg’s cluster will operate under the title of Creating Canadian Leadership in Business Ethics Research.
“Building sound ethical values into the economy, business strategy and management has moved to the centre of the public agenda globally,” says Cragg. “The York-led efforts to create a collaborative Business Ethics Research Network will raise the visibility of Canadian research and leadership in this increasingly important field.”
It is expected that the new network will help coordinate research initiatives, disseminate research findings more effectively, encourage ethical business practices and highlight the importance of linking economic development and social well-being.
Ellen Bialystok: Language Acquisition
Ellen Bialystok is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York’s Faculty of Arts and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Bialystok’s strategic research cluster, Language Acquisition in a Multicultural Bilingual Society, will draw over 80 Canadian researchers and graduate students into partnership with international language research centres and researchers. This coordination of language research efforts will help increase Canada’s profile on the international stage in this important field of study.
“The dialogue LAMBS is designed to facilitate will help us to understand, for instance, what interventions are effective for students with language impairment,” said Bialystok. “What are the fundamental problems for individuals who have difficulty in acquiring a first or second language? How can we best meet the educational and linguistic needs Canada’s diverse social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds?”
Bialystok concludes, “Canada, as a multilingual country, is a natural and unique laboratory for language research that will promote the goal of a language-competent citizenry, serving as a model for the world.”
Susan McGrath: The Refugee Experience
Susan McGrath is Professor of Social Work in York’s Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional 
Studies and Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York. She leads the SSHRC Refugee Research Cluster, which will partner researchers, practitioners, advocacy groups and policy makers in an exploration of the complex issues surrounding all levels of the refugee experience.
“Building on already established networks, this project will examine our perceptions and misconceptions of refugees and work towards the development of best practices for refugee protection, resettlement and representation,” says McGrath. “We want to change the way people think about refugees and improve public policy in respect of refugee protection and humanitarian aid.”
In addition, three other major national and international research projects led by York researchers and funded by SSHRC will be profiled. They are:
- Noreen Pupo: Restructuring Work & Labour in the New Economy (Faculty of Arts, Centre for Research on Work and Society)
- Leah Vosko: Community-University Research Alliance on Contingent Work (School of Social Sciences, in the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies)
- Haideh Moghissi: Diaspora, Islam and Gender (School of Women’s Studies and the School of Social Sciences, in the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies )
This is only the third time the council has met outside of Ottawa in its 25-year history and the first time in Ontario.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 180,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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For more information, please contact:
| Nancy White | |
| Director, Media Relations | |
| York University | |
| 416-736-5603 | |
| whiten@yorku.ca |
