New research reaps rewards

Three Faculty of Arts and Science students recently earned honours highlighting their unique research.

Isabelle Burrows (PhD candidate, Cultural Studies) earned the Professor Frank Pearce Essay Prize from FAS, Chris Hemer (PhD candidate, Cultural Studies) earned the 2026 United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada Loyalist (UELAC) Scholarship, Mariel (c̓ʕ̓n̓ c̓ʕ̓an̓) Belanger (PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies) earned the Community Award from the BC Achievement Foundation

The Professor Frank Pearce Essay Prize was established in September 2016 by the Steve and Sally Stavro Family Foundation, in honour of Professor Emeritus Dr. Frank Pearce. The prize will be awarded to one Masters or PhD level student who submits the best essay on the topic of radical critical theory and social justice.

Isabelle’s paper focuses on the recent Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition, in partnership with Cartier jewelry. Using Eunsong Kim's theory of the aestheticization of property, she combines art historical research, visual analysis, labour history, and anti-colonial critique to demonstrate the ongoing erasure and exploitation of imperial histories in contemporary museums.

“The paper is the result of ongoing research on the relationship between aesthetics, history, and labour, and I'm excited to continue following these threads. The attacks on opportunities for graduate student workers, along with cuts to provincial student loans in Ontario, mean that graduate students are under increased pressure to produce only the kind of research which shows immediate results in the financial market. Awards go a long way in contributing to my self-funded studies and making my ongoing research and graduate career viable. I appreciate all the scholarships, grants, and awards which have kept me afloat since I began my academic career eight years ago.”

The UELAC Loyalist Scholarship is available to Masters and PhD students who are undertaking a program in relevant research. This topic should further an understanding of the Loyalists – colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War and appreciation of their subsequent influence on Canada, or other places these political refugees settled.

Chris’ research critically examines his ancestral connections to the United Empire Loyalists and their role in settler colonial processes and Canadian identity formation.

“As a scholar and musician, my research combines songwriting and historical methods, drawing from critical settler family history and research-creation methodologies, to investigate how historical memory is constructed and circulated in settler families and how that shapes ideology, influences behaviour across generations, and sustains the dispossession of Indigenous lands.”

He adds that this award provides meaningful financial support and encouragement as he progresses in his studies and professional development.

The Community Award from the BC Achievement Foundation recognizes outstanding British Columbians whose leadership, generosity and dedication strengthen communities across the province. Mariel, from the Okanagan Indian Band / Syilx Nation, research focus includes Indigenous gaming, digital cultures, futurisms and epistemologies.