UNews - Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Dr. Claudia Malacrida appointed to SSHRC governing council

caroline.zentner — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 23:51:28 +0000

Dr. Claudia Malacrida, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge associate vice-president (research), joins 14 other diverse Canadians in being appointed to the governing council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s science minister, announced the appointments to SSHRC, the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and research training in the humanities and social sciences, in Ottawa this week.

“I welcome the returning and newly appointed council members to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council,” says Duncan. “This impressive list of diverse candidates will help the council further its support for the social scientists and scholars who are pushing the boundaries of knowledge and helping us better understand the world around us.”

“I’m honoured and excited to take on this new responsibility,” says Malacrida, who has been appointed to a three-year term. “As a social scientist with a long career in the West, I’m pleased to be included and to bring the perspectives of my colleagues to the national level.”

SSHRC plays an important role in Canada’s research and scientific landscape and is committed to fostering greater equity, diversity and inclusion in research. SSHRC invests more than $350 million every year, supporting more than 8,000 graduate students and nearly 14,000 researchers. The governing council meets regularly to set policy and program priorities and allocate budgets.

Malacrida, a professor of sociology, joined the U of L in 2002. Her work investigates questions of power and how difference is constructed, both historically and in the present. Her research interests include eugenics, relational challenges faced by disabled women, and issues of power and medicalization in childbirth practices.

“SSHRC funding is critical to sustaining research that responds directly to community needs and the improved quality of life of Canadians,” says Malacrida. “As someone who has been supported by SSHRC grants throughout my career, I appreciate how these funds support developing talent from undergraduate and graduate students right through to senior investigators working on global issues.”

5 Questions with Dr. Paul Vasey

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 22:22:42 +0000

Dr. Paul Vasey is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. He conducts cross-species and cross-cultural research to answer the question: If reproduction is the engine that drives evolution, why engage in non-conceptive sex? For the past decade he has done research on the development and evolution of female homosexual behavior in free-ranging Japanese monkeys at various sites in Japan. He also studies the development and evolution of male same-sex sexual attraction in humans at field sites in Samoa, Japan and Canada. Since 2003, he has worked in Samoa with members of the fa’afafine community – biological males who live “in the manner of a woman.”

Vasey currently holds both a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant in addition to various grants from private funding agencies.

Dr. Paul Vasey of the Department of Psychology.

What first piqued your interest in your research discipline?

As a kid, I was always interested in nature documentaries. I remember when I was 13 or 14 watching one documentary on the evolution of iguanas and tortoises on the Galapagos Islands and it fascinated me. So, from a very early age, I was interested in understanding the world from an evolutionary perspective. I’m also gay, and same-sex sexuality doesn’t make a lot of sense, at least at first glance, from an evolutionary perspective. This led me to search for literature on the evolution of homosexuality. What I found was a lot of speculation but virtually no data. It seemed that everyone had an opinion on the topic, but no one wanted to do the work of hypothesis testing.

So, for my doctoral research I studied female homosexual behavior in Japanese monkeys and after graduating from the Université de Montréal, I expanded this line of research by conducting fieldwork in Japan, which continues to this day with my Post-Doctoral Fellows, Drs. Jean-Baptiste Leca and Nöelle Gunst.

How is your research applicable in “the real world?”

There is an enormous amount of public debate about the nature of sexual and gender diversity. Is it “natural”? Is it “normal”? Should it be socially tolerated? Should members of sexual and gender minorities have human rights that are equal to those of the heterosexual majority?

So often these discussions occur in an information vacuum that is driven by personal politics and morals but divorced from any actual evidence. I go out into the real world and collect data about many of the issues that are being debated publically. In doing so, my research generates information about phenomenon related to sexual and gender diversity and furnishes a basis upon which an evidence-based understanding of these topics can be situated.

What is the greatest honour you have received in your career?

The greatest honour I have received in my career is having internationally renowned sex researchers, whose work I hold in the highest esteem, state that they consider my body of work to be of exceptional quality and importance. I’m talking about people like J. Michael Bailey, Anne Lawrence, Alice Dreger, and Alan Dixson, among others. I don’t think there is any greater honour than having the researchers you hold in such high esteem indicate that they consider your work a significant contribution to the field.

How important are students to your research endeavours?

I’d say most students in my lab have been foundational to my research efforts. The lab could never be as productive as it is were it not for the fact that I work with an extraordinary team of undergraduate students, graduate students and Post-Doctoral Fellows. Some of my former students have gone on to become medical doctors, take up post-doctoral fellowships at hospitals, pursue further graduate work in clinical psychology programs or undertake further research at places like Cambridge ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. It’s been a privilege to work with all of them.

If you had unlimited funds, which areas of research would you invest?

I would like to build a Kinsey-style Sexuality Research Institute in Canada – one that does not downplay the importance of biology in human sexuality, yet at the same time does not ignore the importance of culture. Part of my goal in building such a research institute would be to help create jobs for young sex researchers in Canada.

It has been said that Canada packs a punch far above its weight internationally in terms of the number of renowned sex researchers who make this country their home. Moreover, Canada has a political and social climate that is far more amenable to sex research than most other countries. Further, Canada has the funding systems in place to support such research and it has been demonstrated time and time again that sex research attracts large amounts of funding from multiple agencies when it is done properly.

For a look at the entire catalog of 5 Questions With . . . features, check out the Office of Research Services website at www.uleth.ca/research/research_profiles. If you’d like to be featured, contact Penny Pickles at pickpj@uleth.ca.

Doolittle appointed teaching and learning research coordinator for national project

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:05:57 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professor Lisa Doolittle will be the Teaching and Learning Research Coordinator for the Art for Social Change (ASC) project, a five-year national research program that will examine the effectiveness of using the arts as a means of community engagement and to encourage positive social change.

Lisa Doolittle says that art for social change is the application of arts-based processes to address issues of social concern and to encourage social innovation.

Doolittle, a professor of theatre in the Faculty of Fine Arts, will oversee the implementation, data-collection, analysis and reporting on the Teaching and Learning component of the project.

With $2.5 million dollars in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) through its Partnership Program, Art for Social Change: A Research Partnership in Teaching, Evaluation and Capacity-Building, the research project is considered the first large-scale, systemic project of its kind in Canada.

“To be involved in this is an amazing opportunity for myself, my colleagues, research assistants and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, as well as community service organizations, and artists,” says Doolittle.

“We will have the opportunity to bring in at least two master’s students and one PhD candidate to assist with the research and because of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s emphasis on liberal education, and a commitment to community engagement in its strategic plan, we are in an ideal position to develop a hub for ASC Teaching and Learning.”

A total of 20 individual collaborators from six partnering universities, along with multiple community agencies and arts organizations are taking part in the five-year research program.

Art for social change is the application of arts-based processes to address issues of social concern and to encourage social innovation.

The current partnership is based on a long-standing relationship, formalized in 2007, when Judith Marcuse Projects (JMP), an arts organization with over 30 years of ASC experience, entered into a unique agreement with Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ (SFU) to create the International Centre of Art for Social Change.

That partnership has now been extended to include students and community members from across the country, creating a breadth of data on ASC practice never before realized.

“We’ve known for years that the arts are an effective form of initiating change. There are countless examples throughout the country where arts programs are used as a way to connect and engage communities but there has been very little evaluation of why and how these programs are effective,” says Doolittle.

“With this project we want to first evaluate these successes and develop best practices for the implementation of art for social change programs, we want to build national capacity between educational institutions, community-based artists and arts organizations and non-arts organizations in the development and delivery of ASC and finally, we want to create and provide a range of accessible online resources for those working in ASC as well as others interested in learning about the field.”

Doolittle will oversee the research and the eventual implementation of new teaching and learning practices, with considerable campus support by Dr. Cynthia Chambers, Dr. Erika Hasebe-Ludt and Ramona Big Head of the Faculty of Education, Dr. Jean Harrowing of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Rachel Crowder who teaches at the U of L for the Faculty of Social Work, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, and the on-campus Teaching Centre. U of L alumna (BFA, MEd) Candace Lewko contributes an additional perspective from the context of her position as curriculum consultant, Educational Enhancement Team, The Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation at Lethbridge College.

“It’s vitally important that once we do the research and collect the data, that we ensure this project is sustainable by properly teaching a new generation of educators, artists and community members about how to best administer ASC programs,” says Doolittle. “Only then will we see an ongoing benefit from this research and these programs.”

Adams bringing the past to life

trevor.kenney — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:35:34 +0000

Dr. Carly Adams (Kinesiology) is a professor and historian who researches a variety of topics, including the history of women's sport. Her work has led her to creating books aimed at a non-academic audience and it is through these works where she connects the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ with the broader community. She also works very closely with her students, many of which have assisted her on research projects.

Adams joined the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education in July 2007. Adams' research interests include 20th century Canadian sport, gender, regional and local history, oral history, and women's sport goverance. She is particularly drawn to research methods that allow her to talk to people about their sport and leisure experiences of the past and ask them how they make sense of and remember their experiences within the context of their lives and the world around them.

Adams' current research projects explore Lethbridge's Sporting Heritage from 1860-present (with Dr. Robert Kossuth) and the history of women's hockey in Alberta during the 1920s and 1930s.

Most recently, Adams has received funding through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Sport Participation Research Initiative to explore issues of community revistalization and rural survival in Southern Alberta through a case study of the Warner Hockey School in Warner, Alta. This project will look at the social determinants that led to the establishment of the school, its purposes, both imagined and actual, and the underlying role that high performance sport might play in rural community survival.

"I have always loved history and learning about the past," says Adams. "During my undergraduate degree in human kinetics and sport management at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Windsor in Ontario, several influential professors piqued my interest in social history, oral history and the relevance of sport, leisure and recreation to our understanding of the past. However, I was also surprised by how few sport historians wrote about and researched gender and more specifically women's sport/recreation experiences."

"As soon as I completed my first oral history interview, I knew how important memory and voice were going to be to how I wanted to "do" history."

Flexibility keys success

trevor.kenney — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:12:36 +0000

When it comes to choosing graduate students, education professor Dr. Thelma Gunn looks for smart, enthusiastic people willing to take the lead on their learning experiences.

Gunn's expectations are high, but she understands work and family demands on students. Sometimes life happens, and that's why flexibility in both the program and the supervisor is essential.

"In education, many people taking master's degrees are teachers. They need to work and they want to work – that's what they do: they're teachers," Gunn says.

A number of students in the program hold down jobs throughout the province and Canada. For example, Gunn's student, Krysta Wosnack, is completing the second year of her master's degree while working in St. Albert. Wosnack is the epitome of an independent learner, and one of four graduate students in the Faculty to earn the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Co-supervised by Gunn and Calgary-based resiliency expert Dr. Wayne Hammond, the Master of Education in Counselling student will spend the next year interviewing adolescents in foster care and residential treatment programs. Her thesis will explore better ways of fostering resiliency in these at-risk young people. Wosnack will ask the kids, as well as their caregivers, what they need to be happy.

"I think a lot of the time we only look at care workers and we don't get the youth perspective," says Wosnack.

The U of L's Master of Education program is offered both online and in an on-site stream, but even on-site students are allowed to complete their thesis year elsewhere. Fortunately, technology – like e-mail and video-conferencing – makes this possible.

"We have to be more flexible, but flexibility is inherent in all the technologies
we currently use," Gunn says.

Federal budget offers opportunities to U of L

trevor.kenney — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:34:46 +0000

Rarely does a federal budget garner the public's attention like the one recently delivered by Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

Particular attention was paid to this budget not only because of the current slowdown in the Canadian economy, but because the government's fate rested on whether it would be able to convince the Liberal Party of Canada to support its passage.

It was also an important budget for the post-secondary sector with a number of
announcements that affect universities and colleges. First, $2 billion was promised to improve infrastructure at Canada's post-secondary institutions. It was stated 70 per cent of that amount is to be spent at universities, with preference given to those that can improve the quality of research and development at their institution.

Other budget announcements that may provide opportunities for the U of L include:

• $150 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation to increase the funding available for meritorious projects in the 2009 Leading Edge and New Initiatives Funds Competition.

• An additional $200 million over three years to support aboriginal skills development and training. This funding will enhance the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership initiative and create a new fund.

• A two-year fund of $60 million to support infrastructure- related costs for local and community cultural and heritage institutions such as local theatres, small museums and libraries.

• $305 million over the next two years to ensure that further steps are taken toward these goals: to strengthen current programs (Non-Insured Health Benefits and primary care services), improve health outcomes for First Nations and Inuit individuals, and move toward greater integration with provincial and territorial health systems.

• $500 million over two years to support construction of new community recreational facilities and upgrades to existing facilities across Canada. Eligible facilities include recreational facilities owned by municipalities, First Nations, counties, community organizations and other not-for-profit entities.

• $250 million over two years under a Treasury Board-managed process to undertake an accelerated investment program to address deferred maintenance at federal laboratories.

• While these investments in post-secondary and research sectors are welcomed; there was one statement in the budget that has created some concern amongst a number of institutions.

The budget states, "the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada are streamlining operations and aligning programs with the objectives of the Government's Science and Technology Strategy and national research priorities."

The speech went on to say that the savings were being used to support other areas of importance in the post-secondary sector. Considering the U of L has traditionally been very successful in the tri-council competitions, especially for a smaller university, cutting funding in this area raises some concerns.

U of L senior administration will soon be in Ottawa to meet with various Ministers and senior departmental staff. The goal of these meetings are two-fold.

Firstly, they intend to educate members of the federal government about the contribution this institution is making on behalf of Canadians through research and teaching initiatives.

Secondly, they will follow-up on the various opportunities presented to us above.

While it will be interesting to see how the federal government decides to spend its infrastructure money and whether there is equity among the different regions of the country, the U of L will make its case as to why investing in our university is wise.

The future of Canadian history

trevor.kenney — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:08:56 +0000

Are we becoming a historically illiterate nation or are we already there? What teaching strategies would pique the interest of today's techno-generation?

These are a few of the types of questions U of L education professor Dr. Amy von Heyking and her colleagues from The History Education Network/Histoire et Education en Reseau (THEN/HiER) are investigating.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) recently awarded the collaborative network $2.1 million to study ways in which teaching Canadian history in the K-12 setting can be made more relevant.

"Children are not being given the opportunity to think http://www.uleth.ca/newsstand/fiat/sites/all/themes/zen/fiat/images/spac... says von Heyking. "Clarifying the skills that historians use – collecting data, interpreting primary documents, assessing evidence, exploring the perspectives of people in the past – all are valuable in helping us improve the curriculum in the K-12 education system."

Through research, von Heyking and THEN/HiER intend to promote historical consciousness, heighten understanding of collective heritage and improve communication between teachers and historians.

Their collaboration extends to various public institutions and the education system – they dialogue with historians, educators, graduate students, heritage agencies and others from across the diverse field of Canadian history.

THEN/HiER works on an international level with history networks based in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. In this region, von Heyking will partner with teachers in classroom settings and work directly with education programmers at local museums and heritage sites, such as Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.

"The goal of THEN/HiER is to encourage history education research that is informed by practice, and practice that is informed by research. We will continue to try and find ways to help teachers and public institutions to work together to build links," says von Heyking.

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