After hours of writing, Canan Altinkas stood from her seat, approached jury members at the front of the examination room, and handed in her six-page English assessment. It was 2010 and she had applied for an assistant professorship, so was required to complete the university’s in-house language test to qualify. As an academic in Turkey, she had excelled previously at a mandatory state-issued proficiency test, so she was confident she would do well. She walked immediately back to her desk, quickly gathered her belongings, and headed toward the exit. Passing by the examiners’ table, her chest tightened when she glimpsed a hand scrawling on her test in red ink: failed.

“Fifteen seconds,” says Dr. Altinkas, a Turkish artist and scholar who, together with her family, left her home country for Canada to escape sustained institutional and state persecution. “Six pages of written answers evaluated in 15 seconds; the time it took me to walk back to my desk and collect my jacket. This wasn’t the first time I was actively blocked from career advancement and it wouldn’t be the last, but with every instance my frustrations grew, and my opportunities diminished.”

In the years after, Dr. Altinkas and her husband Evren Altinkas – an academic as well – faced increased harassment in their workplaces. The couple had been active in protesting the conservative Turkish government, resulting in backlash from university administrators. Dr. Altinkas faced increasing exclusion, arbitrary administrative warnings, and social media monitoring and harassment. She and Evren were eventually forced to resign their positions.

“I continued to apply to new positions but received responses citing the ‘impossibility’ of my recruitment due to social, cultural, and political reasons,” she says.

In 2018, she and her family left Turkey and settled in Guelph, Ont. Her husband had been supported by the Scholars at Risk (SAR) network – of which Queen’s is a member – so he was able to join the faculty and return to his profession. Until now, she has struggled to find work due to restrictions on temporary residents of Canada.

Artist Protection Fund

As an artist and a scholar, Dr. Altinkas describes painting as a form of storytelling that captures the struggles of an artist who seeks artistic and academic freedom. Throughout her career, Dr. Altinkas has faced economic challenges that prevented her from pursuing her career as an artist. Instead of giving up, she has always looked for innovative and creative solutions to the production of art pieces.  She used whatever means available, including paper and stain (instead canvas and paint) to tell stories through her paintings. These challenges dramatically affected her style, allowing her to develop new skills and techniques.

Dr. Altinkas eventually discovered and applied to the Artist Protection Fund (APF) – an initiative of the Institute of International Education (IIE) that provides fellowship grants to threatened artists and places them with host institutions in safe countries.

Her application was successful and she was awarded an APF fellowship in September 2020, joining Queen’s University’s Fine Art (Visual Art) Program and Agnes Etherington Arts Centre as an Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellow in residence.

Queen’s decision to join the SAR network is based on the university’s commitment to support academic freedom. It was reflective of the initiatives already undertaken by different academic units and associations on campus, including at the Faculty of Health Science through the Medical Students Association.

Since joining the network in late 2018, Queen’s has formed a pan-university committee, and hosted guest lectures. With the support of the Artist Protection Fund and a generous donation from alumni, Queen’s is thrilled to host its first Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence.

“The hosting of Dr. Altinkas is reflective of Queen’s desire to contribute to the common good,” says Fahim Quadir, Dean and Vice-Provost of Graduate Studies and the chair of Queen’s Scholars at Risk Committee. “We are welcoming Dr. Altinkas at a time when the world is witnessing frequent attacks on scholars, writers, and artists. Queen’s is grateful to APF and our donor for their generous support for welcoming a scholar and artist at risk to our campus.”

Dr. Altinkas’ presence at Queen’s will help build an awareness about the importance of protecting artistic and academic freedom and stimulate dialogue and discussion about creating a safe space for threatened artists and scholars to freely share their ideas. As articulated in Principal Deane’s report on the Conversation, the activities of SAR Queen’s will bolster Queen’s image as a globally engaged university.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Altinkas as our first Scholar at Risk at Queen’s,” says Patrick Deane, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the university. “This program is so important for supporting academic scholarship across the globe. It exemplifies the power of intellectual pursuits even when facing great adversity and the impact higher education institutions can have when we support and collaborate with another.”

In her new role as an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence, Dr. Altinkas will have the freedom to expand her artistic practice, and gain opportunities to meet fellow artists and grow her network in Canada.

“Art, for me, is not just a job, it is a lifestyle,” she says, “so, I am deeply grateful to APF and Queen’s University for this opportunity. But, more than that, this is not only about me or my career, it is about helping my family build a new life. This is a dream come true.”

The Queen’s community will have an opportunity to hear from Canan Altinkas during her time at Queen’s. Upcoming events details will be posted on the Queen’s Scholar at Risk website, Facebook Page and Twitter page.

As the world grapples with the uncertainties surrounding a global pandemic, we seek to understand more about the virus, its spread, and social and economic impacts. We also search for strategies for how we, as individuals and communities, can cope and be resilient in these challenging times.

However, as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, so does exposure to a virulent combination of misinformation, disinformation, and amateur analysis. In this time of crisis, fact-based and research-informed commentary is necessary, highlighting the critical contribution that researchers and academics can make to informing the conversation

Since the coronavirus pandemic became an increasingly global concern in January, Queen’s researchers across disciplines have been active in offering commentary and analysis on COVID-19-related issues –  from understanding symptoms and spread of the virus to the impact the pandemic is having on Canadian oil prices and the global economy.

“At Queen’s, we have a wealth of leading research expertise that can be applied to how we understand the coronavirus and evaluate impacts of the crisis economically, socially, and politically,” says Michael Fraser, Vice-Principal (University Relations). “Key to our research promotion strategy and integral to our media relations approach during this time is to help our researchers share their expertise through the national and international media.”

Mobilizing research: Confronting COVID-19

As part of the Confronting COVID-19 series in the Gazette, as well as in an effort to build prominence for our researchers as media experts, the university’s Integrated Communications team is working daily across our research community to develop COVID-19-related stories.

The team also shares with media a growing list of Queen’s experts who are ready to comment on COVID-19 related issues.  Many of these experts have been featured at the local, national and international level, reaching millions through traditional and social platforms.

Highlights in the last few weeks include: Sharry Aiken (Law) commenting in the National Post on how Immigration slowdown could add to the economy's woes as coronavirus pressures mount, Duncan Hunter (Public Health Sciences) reflecting in the Globe and Mail on how Canadian governments have employed an earlier and more coordinated response to COVID-19 compared to the U.S., and Anne Ellis (Medicine) speaking to CTV News about why having asthma under control helps people  handle COVID-19.

Leading The Conversation

Queen’s researchers are also taking advantage of the university’s relationship with The Conversation, to provide expert commentary on the crisis. This news platform, which has 10 international editions, including Canada, sources content from the academic research community and delivers it directly to the public and media through Creative Commons Licensing. The Conversation is currently seeing unprecedented engagement with their sites and content.

As a founding member of The Conversation Canada, the Queen’s research community has embraced the platform as a unique tool for sharing their research expertise and engaging with the media, producing more than 225 articles with 3.5 million reads over the last two years.

Recently, Roberta Lamb (Education and Music) and Robbie MacKay (Dan School of Drama and Music) provided an analysis of how music played and shared during isolation demonstrates how the arts connect us and builds community.  In his 7 tips we can learn from hockey, Stephen Archer (Medicine) outlined how lessons learned from Canada’s favourite game can offer wisdom during the pandemic.

PhD candidate Korey Pasch (Political Studies) looked at how coronavirus is fueling mistrust, fear, and racism, similar to experiences with other diseases, such as Ebola and SARS viruses. The Canada Research Chair in Economy and Environment, Kyla Tienhaara (School of Environmental Studies) provided commentary on the need for governments to consider a full green stimulus to combating the ecological crisis that is pending.

Call-to-action for researchers

“Canadians and global citizens are looking for answers and advice that is fact-based and that they can trust,” says Kimberly Woodhouse, Interim Vice-Principal (Research). “This is where the Queen’s research community can take a leadership role. Across disciplines, we have research expertise that can be mobilized and applied.”

The University Relations team is looking for research experts who can help us to understand the virus, its spread and its variable impacts. If you are interested in becoming a media expert or in writing for The Conversation Canada, please contact Melinda Knox, Associate Director, Research Profile and Initiatives at knoxm@queensu.ca or Anne Craig, Media Relations Officer, at anne.craig@queensu.ca.