Professor Dia Da Costa.

Five Queen’s professors and almost 100 students have been awarded Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants, scholarships and fellowships.

“This funding announcement reflects Queen’s significant engagement in leading-edge research in the social sciences and humanities and our commitment to the training of graduate students and new scholars. Queen’s is a world-class research intensive university and I am delighted that the investment in our researchers continues to advance our reputation and contributions to society,” says Steven Liss (VP Research).

Sociology and Global Development Studies professor Dia Da Costa has been awarded $32,770 to try to understand the value of cultural work (specifically, theatre) in India.

“I am glad that what I believe deserves analysis – theatre – as a space of global political economy has received this form of legitimacy,” says Professor Da Costa. “Given the realities of outsourced work, economic crises, and the increasingly bleak prospects for arts funding the world over, studying theatre as work can tell us whether and how theatre is reconstructing dominant ideas about what makes labour productive, about labour rights, and social justice in a time of globalization.”

Yolande Chan from the School of Business was awarded $20,000 to help organize the Rural Creative Economy: From Theory to Practice. The event explores revitalizing rural communities through creative economic activities such as art, advertising, design, film, publishing, education, R&D, software and media.

Political studies professor Margaret Little (who received $19,300 to help organize the Kingston Poverty Conference 2010 taking place in October) says she is pleased that SSHRC has recognized the innovative and important nature of this conference.

Professor Yolande Chan.

“This conference is really a student initiative. I am deeply impressed with the way the graduate students from a variety of disciplines – sociology, history, English – all are coming together to create a conference about poverty,” says Professor Little.

Other professors receiving funding are Jennifer Hosek (German), who was awarded $25,000 for her peer-to-peer computer-assisted language learning initiative and Pamela Dickey Young (School of Religion) who received $19,000 for sexual diversity and religious diversity.

SSHRC is the federal agency that promotes and supports university-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences.