TORONTO, May 25, 2006 --  Final preparations are in full gear as York University gets ready to greet nearly 8,000 delegates to the largest multi-disciplinary gathering of scholars in North America. The eight-day event gets underway on May 27.

Organized by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS), the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences brings together some of  the world’s most influential voices from more than 70 disciplines and scholarly associations.

 “York is very proud to be hosting Congress this year.  This is the country’s largest and most important academic gathering,” says President and Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden. “It brings together thousands of top scholars who not only influence academic life but contribute significantly to public policy and national and international dialogue across a full range of disciplines.”

The university has evolved since it last hosted Congress in 1969 – at the time a small patch of buildings in a farmer’s field.

“We are delighted to be at York this year,” says Donald Fisher, President of the CFHSS.  “It is a fitting place to host the 75^th Congress. As one of the largest humanities and social science universities in Canada in terms of teaching and research, it seems a perfect match for this celebration.”

John Lennox, York Professor of English and Academic Convener for Congress 2006 points out that, “The Congress theme this year – The City: A Festival of Knowledge – is ideal for York, which has become a pre-eminently urban university. Congress will enable York to showcase both its academic strength and its artistic talent.”

Thousands of papers will be presented for the first time at Congress 2006. The following is a small sample:

• Youth (Dis)Engagement in Politics
• The Republican War on Science: A Just War or Unholy Crusade?
• As a double-outsider: the experience of being an Asian youth gang member in Canada
• What Real Pros Do: Hockey 2004-5 Lockout
• Much Odder Than People Realize: The Theology of C.S. Lewis
• Canadian Political Blogs: Online Soapboxes or Forum for Democratic Dialogue?
• Post Walkerton: The Implications for Public Health
• The City as Target: Diaspora and Transnational Migration
• Gender and Literacy Learning: Cross-cultural perspectives on the “Boy Problem”
• Translating Across the Multilingual City: Montreal as a City of the Americas
• Cell in the City: Is Cellular Phone Use Eroding the Distinction Between Private and Public Space
• The Futures of Yiddish Education and Culture in Canada
• Revival: Celebrating Black Canadian Literature
• The Science of Ballistic: Mathematics Serving the Dark Side

EVENTS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Certain sessions and events at the conference will be open to the general public, with a $10 Community Participant Day Pass.  “Our goal is to provide the greater Toronto community with opportunities to take in the wealth of information and ideas that will be shared at Congress 2006,” says Paul Ledwell, Executive Director, CFHSS.  A complete list of events open to the public is available at www.fedcan.ca/congress2006 

Examples include:

• David Suzuki, award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster
• Nicole Brossard, poet, novelist and essayist, who has published more than 30 books, won the Governor General’s award twice for her poetry, and received Quebec’s highest literary award, the Athanase David Prize. She recently won a $50,000 Molson Prize for the Arts.
• David Butler-Jones, Canada's first Chief Public Health Officer.
• Eden Robinson, a Haisla author from B.C.
• Bernard Shapiro, Ethics Commissioner for the Government of Canada.
• Elisabeth Lloyd, Professor of Biology, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Affiliated Faculty Scholar at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, and Adjunct Faculty at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior. She is the author of The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution.
• Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
• Suketu Mehta, a fiction writer and journalist. His first book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, won the Kiriyama Prize, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.
• Anosh Irani, born in Bombay and moved to Vancouver in 1998. He is the author of the acclaimed novel The Cripple and His Talismans and of the play, The Matka King.

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About the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS)
The Federation is a non-profit charitable organization that represents the interests of more than 30,000 researchers in 68 scholarly associations and 72 universities and colleges across Canada. The Federation champions the interests of the social sciences and the humanities and promotes teaching, research, and scholarship and a better understanding of the importance of such work for Canada and the world.

About York University

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 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 23 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 media information, please contact:

Caitlin Kealey, Communications Assistant, CFHSS (416) 736-5212

Janice Walls, Media Relations, York, (416) 736-2100, ext. 22101, wallsj@yorku.ca