The  initiative was created to strengthen interdisciplinary research in areas of strategic importance to the University. The program will provide funding to selected research clusters to support globally leading research excellence that will offer world-class training opportunities for high-calibre personnel. It is also intended to serve as a catalyst to secure future large-scale follow-on funding, through federal, provincial or other external research funding programs, including the Canada Excellence Research Chairs, the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation stream. In doing so, this new initiative will scale the development of research teams and clusters to position the University as a key node in national and international networks in strategic areas of interest. It will also enable impactful contributions towards the University鈥檚 Strategic Research Plan, the University Academic Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Eligibility

For the purpose of this initiative, an interdisciplinary project is defined as one that crosses the mandate of at least two of the three federal research funding councils (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) and includes members from at least two Faculties, while a cluster must include a team of at least five researchers, one of whom must be an early career researcher.

Early career researchers are defined as individuals who, as of 2021, have five years or less experience since their first academic appointment, with the exception of career interruptions (e.g. maternity or parental leave, extended sick leave, clinical training and family care) that occurred after their appointment. For all leaves, except professional leaves (such as training-related, sabbatical and administrative-related leaves), the five-year window is extended by twice the time interruption taken.

Research themes

The program will provide funding for a limited number of projects across select thematic areas, including: artificial intelligence and society; digital cultures and fintech; disaster and health emergency; global health; and many more.

To learn more about the specific themes and details to submit a proposal, including the adjudication and reporting process, view the PDF of the call for submissions at .

Key dates and contact information

• The deadline to submit a notice of intent is June 7 by 4:30 p.m.
• Full proposals (by invitation only) are due July 30 by 4:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Mark Roseman, director, Strategic & Institutional Research Initiatives (SIRI), Office of Research Services, at roseman@yorku.ca.

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Karen Bridget Murray

Canada鈥檚 first prime minister, John A. Macdonald and, to a lesser extent, Duncan Campbell Scott, deputy superintendent of Indian Affairs (1913-32), have become highly contentious figures in recent debates about Canada鈥檚 residential school history. In this context, an article by Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professor Karen Bridget Murray is particularly timely. In this paper, she successfully challenges some of the received knowledge about residential schools and draws this discussion into the present day.

Published by Cambridge University Press鈥� Canadian Journal of Political Science (2017), Murray鈥檚 paper, 鈥淭he Violence Within: Canadian Modern Statehood and the Pan-territorial Ideal,鈥� illustrates how the design and pursuit of a residential school system involved settler-colonial political efforts 鈥� including with violence 鈥� to secure recognition of Canada as a modern state.

In fact, Murray explained, 鈥淐anada envisioned, forged and secured [the] residential school system 鈥� with an express understanding that 鈥業ndian鈥� education could be used as a vector of violence to control Indigenous Peoples and their lands.鈥�

Murray undertook this research with funding from 91亚色 and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Writing the article was a focus of her time as the Killam Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies at Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts (2016).

Murray asks new questions about residential school history

Murray鈥檚 work greatly adds to existing literature because it raises key questions about the residential school system that have never been considered to date, such as:

• What was the significance of the 鈥減an-territorial鈥� 鈥� that is, the geographically 鈥渘ational鈥� 鈥� character of the residential school system?
• What was the context for the pursuit of a territorially universal ideal for the residential school system?
• What was the relationship between Canada鈥檚 quest for independence from Britain and the second wave of residential school system expansion?

Drawing upon a vast range of documents, Murray makes three, interconnected arguments:

Argument 1:聽 The potential for state-sanctioned violence was etched into Macdonald鈥檚 National Policy

The possibility for residential schools to be harnessed as milieus of violence against Indigenous Peoples was embedded in the residential school system鈥檚 objectives.

This was clear in how Macdonald鈥檚 1878 National Policy intersected with the ideal and pursuit of creating a universal residential school system.

This violent logic persisted at least into the 1930s, which saw the Dominion of Canada use Indigenous children at schools as political pawns to exert control over Indigenous Peoples and their lands.

Argument 2: The residential school system was linked to Canada鈥檚 hope of being recognized as a modern state on the world stage

The residential school system鈥檚 second wave of development, after World War I, was set within a context where Canada hoped to gain constitutional independence from Britain. This, at a time when modern statehood was being defined on the world stage as governing a national territory over a homogeneous people by consent. In this, Indigenous Peoples鈥� resistance to encroachments on their territories disrupted Canada鈥檚 claims to modern statehood. Murray argues that conventional accounts of Canada鈥檚 constitutional history have downplayed or ignored this long-standing resistance of Indigenous Peoples and how the residential school system figured in this history.

Argument 3: The schools were mechanisms used in efforts to crush Indigenous Peoples鈥� resistance

Paying specific attention to the establishment of the eastern-most school, the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia, Murray argues that the residential school system was harnessed as a field of coercion through which Canada sought to lay claim to Mi鈥檏maw lands. This, at a time when intense Indigenous Peoples鈥� resistance challenged an image of Canada as governing a homogeneous people by consent.

Murray proves that Canadian officials were complicit in violence

Murray brings to light how the highest offices of authority were not only aware of violence running through the residential school system, but also willfully allowed this violence to persist.

鈥淎uthorities up to the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office were complicit in unspeakable cruelties against children 鈥� turning blind eyes, denying facts, burying evidence, silencing whistleblowers, withholding medical treatment and refusing justice,鈥� Murray said.

While in academic circles there has been a great deal of attention paid to Duncan Campbell Scott, Murray shows how Scott鈥檚 successor, Harold McGill (hand-picked by the 11th prime minister, R. B. Bennett) was also a key figure in Canada鈥檚 troubled past.

McGill expressed overtly racist views towards Indigenous Peoples, whom he referred to as 鈥渋ndigent, immoral,鈥� 鈥渁rrogant parasites,鈥� an 鈥渋dle, worthless lot 鈥� educated, medicated and nourished at the people鈥檚 expense.鈥� He, like Bennett, sanctioned actions that denied protection to children while refusing care to allay long-term effects of neglect and abuse.

Canada must confront this violent history as part of its discussions about the meaning and practice of 鈥渞econciliation鈥�

Murray argues that state-sanctioned violence against Indigenous Peoples needs to be given paramount attention in debates over the meaning and practice of reconciliation. She writes that Canada鈥檚 violence towards Indigenous Peoples in the past 鈥渆ndures in the present because it is internal to the Canadian modern state. This is the quintessential 鈥楥anadian problem,鈥� 鈥� she concludes. 鈥淧eople have and do benefit from this violence. Failing to reckon with it, they remain complicit in it: the violence within.鈥�

To read the article, visit the . To learn more about Murray, visit her .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91亚色, follow us at , watch the and see the .

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91亚色, muellerm@yorku.ca

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Bachelor of health studies program students Alexandra Veres (left)听补苍诲 Seungree Nam both conducted research for (TAP) at Southlake Regional Health Centre under the mentorship of 91亚色 Professor Liane Ginsburg of the Faculty of Health鈥檚 School of Health Policy & Management. Veres explored the theme of hope in several of the patient education programs offered by TAP, while Nam鈥檚 project looked at whether or not the Hospital Anxiety聽& Depression Scale (HADS) was a valid outcome measurement tool in TAP鈥檚 outpatient fibromyalgia education program.

Both students were awarded research grants as part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research鈥檚 (CIHR) mobility, musculoskeletal health and arthritis undergraduate summer studentship. The funding was designed to provide undergraduate and health professional students with opportunities to undertake research projects with established health researchers in an environment that provides strong mentorship.

Seungree Nam

The third student, Julia Salzmann, also of the bachelor of health studies program, conducted an extensive data collection and analysis on the effects of聽the use and integration of Internet communication/e-health technologies (ICTs) as a growing resource for addressing First Nations鈥� mental health. She received a research grant from the (NAMHR), which is funded by the through the CIHR. Salzmann requested to work under the direction of Professor Naomi Adelson, associate dean, research in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, who is a collaborator on NAMHR and whose own research has focused on e-health technologies and the Internet as a health resource.

Julia Salzmann

What Nam found after helping to administer the HADS questionnaire to patients on the first and last day of the Fibromyalgia Education Program, entering all the data, conducting a statistical analysis, as well as a literature review, was that it was a relevant and appropriate tool to measure the program鈥檚 effectiveness in helping manage patient anxiety and depression.

HADS was developed to identify the possibility of anxiety and depression in patients involved in hospital clinics outside of the mental health department. Patients were also given a fibromyalgia impact questionnaire and a fibromyalgia history form.

鈥淲e did find a significant and meaningful outcome from the three surveys,鈥� Nam says.

Left: The graph Seungree Nam prepared for his research

According to the data, patients had a 10 to 13 per cent lower score for depression following the program. Their level of survey reported anxiety, however, remained the same, but when the patients were verbally asked during the program鈥檚 last session about their anxiety, they said they felt it had improved. Nam believes the discrepancy had to do with two or three questions on the post-survey which the patients found confusing.

Nam鈥檚 poster abstracts for the research were accepted at two different conferences: the Canadian Association of Ambulatory Care conference (held in September) and the in the United States in November. He is currently in the process of writing up his research.

As part of Veres鈥� research, she worked with four groups in TAP 鈥� inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and fibromyalgia. 鈥淲e were building on a 2009 pilot study done by TAP that explored the theme of hope in the inflammatory arthritis patient education program,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat study found that the patients not only wanted the program, they wanted it to be delivered with an element of hope. They wanted to come out of it with hope.鈥�

What TAP wanted to know, says Veres, was whether this theme of hope carried through all four of the programs in TAP and what the patient learning needs were. After collecting and qualitatively analyzing the data, what the research found was that 鈥渢he theme of hope permeated through all four programs,鈥� she says. Up until now, hope was not a popular theme in patient education programs. Veres says she thinks the findings will make 鈥渁 big difference in how these patient education programs will be run in the future.鈥�

The information could lead to better patient adherence to treatment plans and improved quality of life, as well as reduced disability.

Veres abstract was accepted at the Canadian Association of Ambulatory Care conference recently and she hopes her forthcoming article will be published in a scholarly journal.

As there is little or no other research looking into the theme of hope in education programs from a patient鈥檚 perspective, Veres believes the research could be quite significant for the patient education community.

Salzmann wishes to pursue further research in Aboriginal health policy. So having the chance to look at e-health in a First Nations context was exciting to her.

This research looked at the importance of incorporating the First Nations鈥� holistic, traditional and cultural approach to healing, wellness and mental health services using ICTs. 鈥淕enerally speaking, Aboriginal peoples have a much more holistic approach to health,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey incorporate the individual, the community and the environment, and look at all realms of health, including the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual parts of a person.鈥�

This research explored the use and integration of ICTs in addressing Aboriginal mental health as a growing resource. 鈥淩esearch has shown that tele-health is a great tool, but we must consider who will finance this initiative, will it be sustainable and will it contribute to the overall health of the community? It鈥檚 a very politicized issue,鈥� says Salzmann.

In researching the issues involved, Salzmann completed an extensive national literature review on ICTs. 鈥淭ele-health is a huge hot button topic now,鈥� she says. 鈥淭o be equitable in health in the long term, Aboriginal health has to be on the agenda.鈥� What it comes down to is that the Aboriginal people鈥檚 own ways of seeing health, as well as their culture, has to be included in any ICT initiatives.

Salzmann鈥檚 will be presenting her work at the at Queen鈥檚 University later this month. She also hopes to have her forthcoming article on the research published in a scholarly journal and she is hoping to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in public policy or public administration in the future.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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There is one Vivienne Poy Asian Research Award available worth $1,500. It will be given to a graduate student who is enrolled at 91亚色 and is a graduate associate of YCAR. Priority will be given to students who apply to do research in fulfilment of the fieldwork requirement of the Graduate Diploma in Asian Studies (GDAS). The award is open to local and international students who have a grade point average of at least B+ and can demonstrate how fieldwork in Asia will contribute to the completion of their program and to an understanding of Asia. Financial need will also be considered.

The criteria for selection will include the importance of fieldwork for the graduate student's program, the academic merit of the research proposal, the fit with YCAR's research mandate and active participation in YCAR, including enrollment in the GDAS. Academic merit will include the clarity of the proposal, the聽potential contribution of proposed research to Asian studies and Asian communities, and the feasibility of the research.

There are up to聽two YCAR Language Awards available to local and international graduate students enrolled at 91亚色 and registered for the GDAS with a grade point average of at least B+.聽Each award聽will provide up to $1,500 to reimburse costs directly related to language study. Receipts will be required before related language training expenses are reimbursed. The awards are open to students with demonstrated need to learn a specific Asian language to appreciate and better understand the context and perspectives relating to their area of research study.

One Albert C.W. Chan Foundation Fellowship worth $1,000 is available. Established by the Albert C.W. Chan Foundation, the fellowship encourages and assists graduate students to carry out field research in East and/or Southeast Asia. Applicants must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons, be Ontario residents and demonstrate financial need.

For more information, to obtain the application forms and for details on what to include in the application, visit the YCAR website or e-mail ycar@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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A 91亚色 study, published recently in the journal , used fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to track brain activity when study participants looked at an image of a facial expression with a word superimposed on it. Study participants processed the words faster than the facial expressions. However, when the word did not match the image 鈥� for example, when the word 鈥渟ad鈥� was superimposed on an image of someone smiling 鈭� participants reacted less quickly to a request to read the word.

鈥淭he emotion in the word doesn鈥檛 match the emotion in the facial expression, which creates a conflict,鈥� said psychology Professor Joseph DeSouza in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health. 鈥淥ur study showed 鈭� for the first time 鈭� an increase in signal from the left inferior frontal cortex when the study participant was confronted by this conflict between the word and the image and asked to respond to directions that went against their automatic instincts.鈥�

Previous research on the prefrontal cortex has found this region to be implicated in higher order cognitive functions, including long-term planning, response suppression and response selection. This experiment, conducted by graduate student Shima Ovaysikia under DeSouza鈥檚 supervision, allowed researchers to study inhibitory mechanisms for much more complex stimuli than have been studied in the past.

The inferior frontal cortex is located near the front left temple. People who have problems with inhibition, including stroke or schizophrenia patients, may have damage to this inferior frontal cortex zone, says DeSouza. As a result, when they see something that is inconsistent 鈥� such as the image of a smiling face with the word 鈥渟ad鈥� across it 鈥� they would be expected to take more time to react, because the part of their brains needed to process it has been damaged or destroyed.

The research, conducted by 91亚色鈥檚 with the use of fMRI technology at Queen鈥檚 University, was partially funded by the Faculty of Health at 91亚色, the and the program. Future fMRI research at 91亚色 will be conducted in a state-of-the-art neuroimaging laboratory at 91亚色鈥檚 new Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which opened in September.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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The other area of high risk for pregnancy is youth from Aboriginal communities in northern Ontario.

鈥淎s we read and summarized and synthesized research literature, and talked to youth workers, we realized there were these specific groups,鈥� says Connolly, director of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution. 鈥淲ith that kind of feedback our research becomes focused and we can shift the lens to these three groups, for instance.鈥�

That is the value of knowledge mobilization 鈥撀爐he ability to see the gaps in the research and to more accurately zoom in where there is a need.

Right: Jennifer Connolly

The initial goal of Connolly鈥檚 KMb project, 鈥淭een Pregnancy and Teen Mothers: Meeting the Needs in 91亚色 Region鈥�, was to examine the prevalence of pregnant teens and teen mothers in 91亚色 Region and聽how their mental health needs were being met, 听补苍诲 it identify聽service gaps. The project also reviewed聽those girls receiving protective service intervention from 91亚色 Region Children鈥檚 Aid Society to evaluate their risk for pregnancy and initiated community-based opportunities for feedback and knowledge exchange. In addition, the project was designed to help determine how research on risk and resilience can inform clinical care, maximize positive outcomes and point the way for areas of further research.

鈥淚t led us to recognize that teen pregnancy was in the low to moderate range in Canada; about three to four per cent of live births are to women 19 and younger," says Connolly, a psychology professor in the Faculty of Health.聽It used to be higher. In the United States, it鈥檚 up around 18 per cent and in Italy it鈥檚 down around one per cent. "Teen pregnancy has certainly dropped in Canada, but when we look at the data, it ignores the fact that there are huge disparities in that information. In some communities the risk of teen pregnancy and motherhood is much higher.鈥�

For teen girls in the three highest risk categories, the rate of pregnancy soars to 30 to 50 per cent, and the teen pregnancy and motherhood outcomes in these groups聽are not good.

The research team 鈥撀燙onnolly, 91亚色 Professor Hala Tamim of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in the Faculty of Health, psychology Professor Yvonne Bohr also of the Faculty of Health, Sandra Cunning of Kinark Child & Family Services and聽Bonita Majonis of 91亚色 Region Children鈥檚 Aid Society 鈥� realized the value of getting the results from research and knowledge synthesization out to community members聽who could make use of them.

One such community would be the youth workers and service agencies that work directly with these teens. This summer, Connolly, along with colleagues and students, will post plain language research summaries on 11 different topics聽using the聽Orion 03 platform, thanks to a Canadian Institutes of Health Research supplement grant. This is part of a research mobilization project headed by David Phipps, director of the Office of Research Services, to get clear, concise summaries of research out to communities.

For Connolly鈥檚 research, youth workers from Kinark Child & Family Services and the 91亚色 Region Children鈥檚 Aid Society will comment on the summaries and bring forth any questions.

The topics that will be tackled for the summaries will include homelessness and teen pregnancy and mothers; the risk and resilience of teen mothers; the risk and resilience of the mothers of teen mothers; teen pregnancy and teen motherhood in Canada; and the availability of services for teen mothers in 91亚色 Region.

It will allow Connolly and Phipps to take a closer look at how synthesized research can help those using the information in the community. It鈥檚 a way to evaluate how well knowledge mobilization works, Conolly聽says. She is hoping the project will point to specific areas where more research is needed. 鈥淭he kind of questions we will ask in future research will be shaped by the real world.鈥�

More information about聽Connolly's research is available on the .

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色's聽Hennick Centre for Business聽& Law has given its inaugural Collaborative Research Grants Program award to an interdisciplinary team of professors studying transnational business grievance.

The $5,000 research grant was awarded to Professors Burkard Eberlein and Alan Richardson of the Schulich School of Business and Professor Stepan Wood of Osgoode Hall Law School for their proposal, "The Dynamics of Interaction in Transnational Business Governance Regimes".

The winning team will use the funds to convene a multidisciplinary workshop in Toronto this fall to explore the interaction among transnational business governance initiatives such as civil society codes of conduct, industry self-regulatory standards, transgovernmental networks of officials and complex multi-stakeholder governance institutions.

In addition to the multidisciplinary workshop, the is launching a colloquia series in 2010-2011 for business and law scholars to present works-in-progress and receive feedback from scholars and graduate students from other disciplines. All applicants from the centre's 2010 Collaborative Research Grants Program will be invited to participate in the series.

For more information on the centre and its Collaborative Research Grants Program, contact Professor Archana Sridhar, associate director of the Hennick Centre for Business聽& Law, at ext. 55490.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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