Simon Black, a PhD student in York’s Department of Political Science, will receive a $15,000 scholarship for a year-long project, which will examine how labour law and employment standards are being shaped by organizations of low-wage workers, and how this process differs across regions.

The scholarship will allow him to spend the 2008-09 academic year at the City University of New York, under the supervision of esteemed political scientist Frances Fox Piven.

“I’m honored to receive a Fulbright,” Black says. “This award will allow me to do much-needed comparative research on urban labour markets in Canada and the U.S., and the low-wage workers who are organizing to mitigate the labour market insecurity they face.”

He believes it’s important to study the roots of poverty in both countries.

“In order to understand some of the problems we have in Toronto – which is starting to mirror the issues that larger, American cities have with gun violence and gangs – we need to understand poverty, and the conditions that create it,” Black says.

The Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program, established in 1990, encourages scholarship on issues of importance to both countries, building overall intellectual capacity and enhancing understanding between Canada and the United States. Through its bilateral academic exchanges, outstanding students, scholars and professionals strengthen Canada-U.S. relations by examining a wide range of subjects which are critical to the relationship between the two countries.

Operating in over 150 countries worldwide, the Fulbright program has earned a reputation as a premier international exchange. The Canada-U.S. program is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and the United States Department of State.

Simon Black holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council doctoral fellowship in political science. He writes a politics column for the hip-hop culture magazine, POUND, with the aim of making his research accessible to urban youth.

Media contact:
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097 / mehughes@yorku.ca

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 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 24 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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