U of G Social Sciences, Humanities Research Gets $3.4 Million in Federal Support

Press Release

November 16, 2017

The University of Guelph has received more than $3.4 million from the federal government for social sciences and humanities research ranging from global LGBT and women’s reproductive rights, to rural communities, to market effects of carbon emissions, to Indigenous sovereignty and civil society.

The announcement was made Wednesday in Montreal by Kirsty Duncan, minister of science. The funding comes from programs administered by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

In total, SSHRC will invest more than $265 million to support 3,300 research projects across Canada.

At U of G, 16 projects were supported with Insight Grants and Insight Development Grants. The University also received more than $1.4 million in doctoral and post-doctoral scholarships.

Insight grants are intended to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world, and are available to emerging and established scholars. Insight Development grants foster smaller, early-stage research initiatives.

“This is a fantastic investment in University of Guelph research excellence and talent,” said Malcolm Campbell, vice-president (research).  “It speaks to the quality and reach of our social sciences and humanities researchers, whose work has the potential to improve life not only in Canada but around the world.”

Lloyd Longfield, MP for Guelph, added: “Canada is a global leader in developing a sustainable, civil society. Research projects like these ensure we are asking ourselves the right questions to develop solutions that respect both the people living here and the planet we live on.”

Political science professor Janine Clark received $115,345 to study lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, organizations, activism and decision-making in the Middle East and North Africa, where LGBT people are routinely harassed, arrested and murdered. Most states in the region have laws criminalizing homosexuality, punishable by imprisonment or even death.

The politics of global health initiatives is the topic of political scientist Candace Johnson’s $168,716 grant. She aims to better understand how global maternal health initiatives affect aid-receiving communities and local women, including their effects on women’s rights.

Prof. Ilias Tsiakas, Department of Economics and Finance, will use his $79,310 grant to study carbon emissions and global financial markets, including effects on investment portfolios of divestment from high-carbon emitting firms.

Other grant recipients are:

Insight Grants

• Ryan Gibson, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, $205,726, a national, multi-university project on philanthropy in rural Canada;
• Matthew Hayday, Department of History, $132,128, a political biography of former prime minister Joe Clark;
• Mike Hoy, Department of Economics and Finance, $65,880, benefits and costs of new safety and information technologies;
• Kris Inwood, Department of History and Department of Economics and Finance, $148,374, well-being and inequality in British settler societies;
• René Kirkegaard, Department of Economics and Finance, $68,600, criteria for success and multi-tasking;
• Ric Knowles, School of English and Theatre Studies, $105,603, international theatre festivals;
• David MacDonald, Department of Political Science, $347,548, complex sovereignties;
• Alex Maynard, Department of Economics and Finance, $94,000, financial and macroeconomic time series data;
• Deborah Powell, Department of Psychology, $135,125, job interviews and interview anxiety;
• Jennifer Silver, Department of Geography, $171,874, commercial fisheries; and
• Tamara Small, Department of Political Science, $66,005, digital campaigning in Canada.

Insight Development Grants went to:

• Jennifer Silver, Department of Geography, $38,340, commercial fisheries;
• Pascal Lupien, McLaughlin Library, $59,727, Indigenous civil society;
• Sharada Srinivasan, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, $58,880, elderly parent care in India; and
• Allyson Stevenson, Department of History, $20,140, Indigenous reproductive justice.

ILR5