country Archives | Research & Innovation

Six 91��ɫ grad students conduct research in Sierra Leone

fmaquito — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Six graduate students from 91��ɫ’s Department of History are currently conducting archival research at the Sierra Leone Public Archives in Sierra Leone to help preserve endangered documents and repatriate historical material to the country.

Augustin D'Almeida

Master’s degree candidates Myles Ali, Chantelle Flowers and Shoshawnah Ross Lautenschlager, along with PhD candidates Katrina Keefer, Jeffrey Gunn and Augustin D’Almeida, are part of an archival research initiative under the direction of Paul Lovejoy, director of The Harriet Tubman Institute, and Professor Suzanne Schwarz of the University of Worcester. The students will be wrapping up their research in Sierra Leone in early May.

This digitization project is in collaboration with Professor Joe Alie, chair of the Department of History, Fourah Bay College, and Albert Moore, director of the Sierra Leone Public Archives, supported by a grant from the British Library Endangered Archives Program.

Katrina Keefer and Chantelle Flowers

In addition to their archival research, the six graduate students will also present at the Sierra Leone Past and Present 2012 Conference. In 2011, Sierra Leone celebrated 50 years as an independent country, and 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the end of the Sierra Leone civil war.

The aim of the conference is to explore the diversity of Sierra Leone's past and to place the modern history of Sierra Leone in historical perspective. It is geared towards assessing the current state of research and how that research can be disseminated within Sierra Leone and abroad.

Jeffrey Gunn

Ali will present his paper, “Explaining ‘Ill Treatment’ in the Sierra Leone Escaped Slave Registry, 1885-1894”, while Gunn will look at “Kru Agency in West Africa and British Guyana”.

Flowers will discuss the significance of “African Coffee and Slavery in the Upper Guinea Coast”, and Keefer will present her paper “Scarification and Identity in the Registers of Liberated Africans”.

Shoshawnah Ross Lautenschlager

Lautenschlager will talk about “The Removal of ‘Alien Children’ in the Colony of Sierra Leone 1865-1687”, and D’Almeida will discuss “The Anglo Portuguese Mixed Commission Court in Sierra Leone”.

Myles Ali

The conference is sponsored by the Sierra Leone Public Archives, Fourah Bay College, the Harriet Tubman Institute, the Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and the University of Worcester.

For more information, visit the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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International Education program set for those who want to teach abroad

fmaquito — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Do you want to increase your awareness about what to expect when teaching in another country? If so, why not join university students, pre-service teachers, teachers, principals and other educators who are interested in learning more about teaching abroad by enrolling in the Preparing to Teach Internationally Program.

Offered over five days this spring, Preparing to Teach Internationally is a professional development initiative offered by the International Education Office in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education.

Designed to help participants gain insight into education, as well as a better understanding of themselves as educators, the program provides the skills participants need to make informed decisions about what to expect when embarking on an international education role. At the end of the program, successful candidates will receive a professional development certificate from the Faculty of Education.

Preparing to Teach Internationally is open to all university students from 91��ɫ and beyond, along with educators who are considering teaching in an international setting, including teaching English as a second language. Some of the topics explored in the program are: international education systems and schools; issues and politics; skills and strategies required to teach in an international setting; and how to plan and prepare for the role.

Registrations are now being accepted for the spring session, offered April 28, May 5, 12, 26 and June 2, in five-hour classes on 91��ɫ’s Keele campus. The deadline for registration is March 31. Registrations can be submitted online by way of the website.

For more information, visit the website, or contact the International Education Office at 416-736-2100, ext. 20052, or by e-mail at international@edu.yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professors question assumptions in immigrant mental health research

fmaquito — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Migration is a complex phenomenon that can have important consequence on mental health, say two 91��ɫ professors who will talk about some of the assumptions made in conducting research on immigrant mental health at the upcoming Multicultural Mental Health Promotion.

Michaela Hynie (left), associate director of the 91��ɫ Institute for Health Research and a 91��ɫ psychology professor, and Yvonne Bohr, director of 91��ɫ’s LaMarsh Centre for Child & Youth Research and a psychology professor, will draw on their own research to discuss assumptions in immigrant mental health research.

Multicultural Mental Health Promotion will take place Wednesday, Feb. 15, from noon to 2pm, at 519 91��ɫ Research Tower, Keele campus.

Following opening remarks by Harvey Skinner, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health, and Nazilla Khanlou, co-director of the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network, Hynie and Bohr will conduct an interactive roundtable discussion. In addition, they will also make use of narrated- and video-based case studies to help frame the discussion.

Left: Yvonne Bohr

As part of the discussion they will explore how the phenomenon and experiences of migration can differ along a number of dimensions, and how these differences can impact the mental health of migrant families. Participants will be invited to join the discussion with their own experiences in research and practice regarding assumptions, their alternatives and how they shape the understanding of mental health among migrant populations.

Some of the assumptions Bohr and Hynie will examine include those about the geographic space inhabited by migrant families, the source and adaptiveness of coping strategies, and the causes of behaviour and well-being.

“For some families, their migration experience might better be described as transnational, with family members repeatedly spending extended periods of time in more than one country,” says Bohr.

Coping strategies, she says, need to be considered in context. That context includes time/era, geographic location, availability of structural supports and culture. Change in any of these dimensions can render a formerly adaptive strategy less adaptive.

As for adaptiveness, “we often assume that differences between migrant and non-migrant families in the receiving country are due to acculturation or the migration process, but we often do not compare migrant families to non-migrant families in the country of origin and so cannot be certain about causes,” says Hynie.

The event is sponsored by the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network.

To RSVP, contact owhchair@yorku.ca.

For more information, visit the Ontario Multicultural Health Applied Research Network website.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Panel explores impact of internment of Japanese Canadians

fmaquito — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Canada may be renowned for its tolerance, multiculturalism and respect, and pride itself on its Charter of Rights and Freedom, but during the Second World War this country forced citizens of Japanese and Italian heritage out of their homes and into internment camps. It was a dark moment in the nation's history.

On Wednesday, David Tsubouchi joins a panel discussion about the internment of Japanese and Italian Canadians in Canada during the Second World War.

Left: David Tsubouchi

The discussion kicks off this academic year’s Research Matters series, a monthly showcase of research in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

“Our first panel of the year provides us with some important reflections on Canadian internment, government redress policies and ways to move forward,” says Barbara Crow, LA&PS associate dean, research.

The two-hour panel starts at 2pm in 280N 91��ɫ Lanes.

Panelists will talk about their families’ experience, government redress, balancing state security and civil liberties, and the impact of the internment on 21st century Canada.

Tsubouchi (BA '72, LLB '75) is a member of 91��ɫ’s Board of Governors and a former Ontario cabinet minister. In his presentation, Bachan's Story, he will tell what happened to his mother. She was one of 22,000 Japanese Canadians – including women, children and older people – whose property was confiscated by the government and who were interned after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942.

Social science Professor Livy Visano will talk about otherness and refugee experience in The Refuge of Dislocation and the Conscience of Critique. Unlike immigrants, refugees are compelled by survival rather than choice. Displaced refugees face the horrendous shock of abandonment by one’s own country and people, and are haunted by rather than nostalgic about their past.

History Professor Roberto Perin will ask what Canada can learn from the Second World War internments. In his talk, Wartime Internment and Government Redress: Are We Learning from Past Mistakes?, he will look at the consequences of government policy toward “enemy aliens” – Japanese, Germans, Italians and communists – during the war, and ask: Was the right balance found between the imperatives of state security and the civil liberties of vulnerable individuals and groups? Given the War Measures Act and the war on terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001, achieving a balance between state security and civil liberties remains a current concern today.

The panel will be moderated by Merle Jacobs, chair of Equity Studies.

Research Matters is open to all. RSVP to rirons@yorku.ca or 416-736-2100 ext. 33584.

For upcoming talks in the series, visit the Research Matters webpage.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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