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(Wolfville,
NS) - Acadia University today received $466,608 in grants
and scholarships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC). The national announcement was made today
by Marc Renaud, president of SSHRC.
Four faculty members
received $379,108 in SSHRC Standard Grants, and five students were
awarded $87,500 in SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarships.
“Acadia’s faculty and
students make a significant contribution to Canada’s research and
innovation agenda,” said Dr. Gail Dinter-Gottlieb, President and
Vice-Chancellor of Acadia University. “We are proud of our
reputation for top-quality research in the social sciences and
humanities, a field that examines the issues affecting our daily
lives and our quality of life.”
Receiving SSHRC
Standard Grants are: Dr. Janice Best, Languages and Literatures
Department, $76,752 over three years; Dr. Susan Franceschet,
Political Science Department, $61,616 over three years; Dr. Anne
Quéma, English Department, $41,398 over three years; and Dr. Ann
Vibert, School of Education, $199,342 over three years. (Click here for
detailed backgrounder.)
SSHRC Canada Graduate
Scholarships of $17,500 for one year were awarded to: Kate Collins;
Laura Foss; Amanda Coxhead; and Derek MacDonald all of Psychology,
and Patrick LeGay of Political Science. (Click here for
detailed backgrounder.)
“Congratulations to
the Acadia faculty and students on this research funding award. This
investment supports an enormous variety of research that truly
demonstrates the wealth of creativity, innovation and expertise at
Acadia University,” said the Honourable Scott Brison, Kings-Hants MP
and Minister of Public Works & Government Services Canada.
“Canadians from all walks of life will draw on the knowledge
developed as a result of this research funded at Acadia.”
The Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is an arm's-length
federal agency that promotes and supports university-based research
and training in the social sciences and humanities. SSHRC-funded
research fuels innovative thinking about real life issues, including
the economy, education, health care, the environment, immigration,
globalization, language, ethics, peace, security, human rights, law,
poverty, mass communication, politics, literature, addiction, pop
culture, sexuality, religion, Aboriginal rights, the past, our
future.
Acadia University, in
Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has long been recognized as one of Canada’s
premier undergraduate institutions. With its nationally and
internationally recognized research initiatives, small class sizes
and technology-rich teaching and learning environment, Acadia offers
students an experience that includes academic achievement combined
with personal growth and development. For more information about
Acadia, visit our website at
www.acadiau.ca.
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Backgrounder-
SSHRC Standard Grants
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Dr. Janice Best, Languages and Literatures
3 year grant totaling $76,752
“Rebuilding Paris after 1870: Public Space, History and Forgetting”
Since the Revolution of 1789, successive regimes in France have
attempted to use public space to control the meaning given to
historical events. Street names and monuments surround citizens with
symbols designed to remind them of the glorious past, and create a
collective identity uncritical of its origins. However, the
narrative structures generated by these public symbols have some
significant gaps. One such gap surrounds the period known as the
Paris Commune, which lasted from March 18 to May 28, 1871, and
followed France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. Dr. Best will
analyze the process by which the government of France’s Third
Republic used monuments in the public spaces of Paris to control the
meaning given to the events of the Commune and eradicate all
vestiges of the social ideas it represented. She will also examine
the ways in which painters, sculptors, and writers resisted these
attempts to forget history.
Dr. Susan
Franceschet, Political Science
3 year grant totaling $61,616
“Gendered Mandates? The Impact of Women in Politics in Latin
America”
As part of the process of deepening democracy in Latin America, more
and more countries are adopting strategies to promote gender balance
in decision-making bodies. Dr. Franceschet’s project investigates
the extent to which having more women in politics will make a
difference. Her goal is to analyze the perceptions and actions of
women legislators in three Latin American countries -Argentina,
Chile, and Mexico- to determine how women’s representation occurs
and whether there are contextual factors that make female
legislators more or less likely to act as advocates for women.
Dr. Anne Quéma, English Department
3 year grant totaling $41,398
“Family Discourse in English Family Law and Contemporary Gothic
Fiction”
This project focuses on the role of the family in contemporary
English society. Instead of regarding the family as a unit separate
from the rest of society, Dr. Quéma will analyze the family as part
of a general culture that still betrays patriarchal beliefs and
practices. In order to demonstrate the persistence of these beliefs,
Dr. Quéma will compare Gothic literary representations of the family
with English family law, a field that codifies the culture of the
family. Comparing literature and law enables Dr. Quéma to show that
the family is a site where social, economic, and political forms of
power are acted out.
Dr. Ann Vibert, School of Education
3 year grant totaling $199,342
“Pedagogies at Risk: Just Schooling and Accountability Discourses”
Dr. Vibert’s research involves a three year study, located in Nova
Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia, of public school teachers,
principals and system administrators who are attempting to carry out
social justice work in schools in the context of a growing
accountability culture in public school systems. Extensive past
research indicates that policies spawned by the accountability
movement in education – policies like an increased focus on
standardized testing and a more narrowly defined curriculum –
mitigate against the kinds of school practices that are most
supportive of some of our most vulnerable students. Dr. Vibert’s
research project documents public school educators’ experiences in
attempting social justice work in current contexts, describing
supports for and obstacles to the work, and providing
recommendations to policy-makers for better support for students ‘at
risk’.
SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarships
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$17,500 for 1 year
Kate Collins, Psychology
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Laura Foss, Psychology
Pasadena, Newfoundland
Amanda Coxhead, Psychology
Kentville, Nova Scotia
Derek MacDonald, Psychology
Sydney River, Nova Scotia
Patrick LeGay, Political Science
Halifax, Nova Scotia
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