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Professors John Saul and Paul Lovejoy to receive lifetime achievement awards from CAAS

fmaquito — Thu, 05 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

For two 91��ɫ professors, receiving an award for Lifetime Achievement in African Studies from the (CAAS) represents a major acknowledgement of decades of work in African liberation, research and teaching.

91��ɫ Professor Emeritus John S. Saul and 91��ɫ Distinguished Research Professor in African history and Canada Research Chair Paul Lovejoy will be presented with the awards during the opening reception of the conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies – Africa Here; Africa There – at 91��ɫ May 5 to 7.

As 91��ɫ history Professor José C. Curto, co-organizer of the conference along with sociology Professor Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, says, “They’ve spent a lifetime fighting, in one way or another, for Africa. You can’t get any better than them.”

Right: John S. Saul

President of the CAAS Dennis Cordell wrote that Saul’s research achievements, along with his “deep and long-standing commitment to the struggle for equity, equality and human rights in Africa” are legion. He also pointed to Lovejoy’s “wonderful abilities to teach and mentor” students and younger colleagues.

Left: Paul Lovejoy

Lovejoy says the award is significant to him “because of the recognition of my contribution to understanding the history of people of African descent especially so since this is the UN International Year for People of African Descent and my personal commitment to exposing the crime of the ‘slave route’ and seeking reconciliation that can only be based on truth about the past.”

In addition to receiving lifetime achievement awards, both Saul and Lovejoy will launch books in conjunction with the conference Saturday, May 7, at Accents on Eglinton Bookstore, 1790 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto. Saul’s Liberation Lite: The Roots of Recolonization in Southern Africa (Three Essay Collective) will launch beginning at 6:30pm, followed by The Harriet Tubman Institute Series of which Lovejoy is the general series editor at 7pm. There are 10 books in the Tubman series, including Slavery, Islam and Diaspora; Africa, Brazil and the Construction of Trans Atlantic Black Identities; and Africa and the Americas: Interconnections During the Slave Trade.

Liberation Lite is comprised of five essays. “The theme I’m emphasizing is that of liberation as a multiplex concept,” says Saul. His definition of liberation would include race, nation, class and gender, but also a democratically empowered voice. "Others in Africa and elsewhere have come to define liberation only in terms of the narrow construct of national independence."

Saul says liberation has to be multidimensional to be a useful concept. “We expected the liberation struggle would yield more than that,” more than simply national liberation, but also class, race and gender freedom. It is not simply an emphasis that "we white lefties had dreamt up and taken over to Africa. We learned it there. We learned it there from Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO's first president, for example.” As it stands, “liberation has been pretty light and those who are concerned have to figure out how to deepen and enrich it,” he says. He also takes a critical stance towards global capitalism and corporate imperialism, and what he calls the "re-colonizing" of Africa by a new "empire of capital". In consequence, the concluding essay looks at why socialism still has significant resonance and merit in southern Africa and beyond.

Saul has published some 19 books, including Revolutionary Traveller: Freeze Frames from a Life (Arbeiter Ring, 2009) (see YFile, Jan. 13, 2010), Development after Globalization: Theory and Practice for the Embattled South in a New Imperial Age (Fernwood Publishing, 2006) and Decolonization and Empire: Contesting the Rhetoric and Reality of Resubordination in Southern Africa and Beyond (Fernwood Publishing, 2008).

He is hard at work on three more books. He says the lifetime achievement award may well be an acknowledgement of his body of work, but he is also accepting it “on behalf of all those who have worked diligently in support of South African-related struggles over the years, as well as against Canada's own complicity – that is, our government and corporations too often being on the wrong side of such struggles there.” In 2004, Saul was elected fellow of the .

Last year, Lovejoy received the Distinguished Africanist Research Excellence Award from the University of Texas at Austin for his dedication, lifetime of service and contributions to the discipline. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, and has dedicated his career to researching and teaching African history.

For more information, visit the website.

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

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Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's 91��ɫ Circle event

fmaquito — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

From the ‘burbs to birds and from social justice to Olympic poetry, the next installment of the 91��ɫ Circle’s popular Lecture & Lunch series returns on Saturday, April 30. It promises plenty of new ideas for inquiring minds.

As with previous 91��ɫ Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University’s leading thinkers. For full details, download a PDF of the 91��ɫ Circle schedule.

In her lecture, “The Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds”, 91��ɫ Professor Bridget Stutchbury (left), Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, will explain why some birds readily divorce their partners, why females sneak out to have sex with neighbouring males and why some mothers sometimes desert their babies. Based on her book (2010), this lecture promises to raise the blinds on the secret lives of birds.

On a more serious note, Stutchbury will examine whether bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s, Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is author of the book (2007) – a finalist for a Governor General’s Literary Award.

"The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade" is the intriguing title of the presentation by 91��ɫ history Professor Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and director of the . In his lecture, Lovejoy will explore the pivotal role of Gustavus Vassa, better known by his African name, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1742-1797), in advancing the abolition of the British slave trade. Many scholars consider William Wilberforce (c. 1759-1833) and Thomas Clarkson (c. 1760-1846) to be the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was the seminal influence in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

Lovejoy is a member of the executive committee of the UNESCO “Slave Route” Project, co-edits African Economic History and Studies in the History of the African Diaspora – Documents (SHADD), and is research professor and associate fellow of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91��ɫ Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund’s first poet-in-residence during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games. In her lecture, which is aptly titled, "My Gold Medal Experience: Olympic Poetry", Uppal will describe how she celebrated with the Canadian athletes and their families by writing poetry about winter sports, the games, and the personalities and performances that captured a nation’s imagination.

How she designed and then “trained” for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she’s undertaken to bridge the sometimes separate worlds of sport and art, will all be addressed. In addition, Uppal will read a short selection of the some of the 50 poems written at the games and recently collected in the book Winter Sport: Poems (2010).

"A World of Suburbs? Finding the Heart of the Urban Century in the Periphery" with 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91��ɫ Circle members insights into urbanization. The 21st century has been heralded as an urban century. Indeed, urbanization is now the most tangible shared experience of humanity. Keil will explore what is behind the story of the "urban revolution". He will uncover an important and perhaps astonishing truth: Most urban dwellers now live in the periphery. From the squatter settlements of the Global South to the wealthy gated communities of North America, from the tower block peripheries of Europe or Canada to the newly sprawling cities of Asia, a common theme emerges: where cities grow, they grow at the margins.

Keil is the director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ and professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil’s current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance. He is the co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and a co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action.

This free series includes two events annually – in the spring and fall each year – and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91��ɫ Circle and their guests, each of whom are offered a complimentary lunch sourced from 91��ɫ Region as part of the day.

The 91��ɫ Circle receives generous support from 91��ɫ's Alumni Office (program partner) and the Toronto Community News and Metroland Media Group 91��ɫ Region (print media sponsors).

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

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PhD student organizes benefit concert and conference on modern-day slavery

fmaquito — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Most people think of slavery as a thing of the past. But that’s a misconception, says 91��ɫ PhD history candidate of the newly formed (AAMS). Human trafficking alone is a $32 billion annual industry today and, at any given time, there are up to 27 million slaves around the world – the majority of which are women and children.

The AAMS, a new not-for-profit organization with a mission to end slavery through research, education and partnerships with other organizations, will celebrate its launch at 91��ɫ with two events. The first is a benefit concert and anti-slavery art auction, Party for Freedom, on Friday, Jan. 28, in the Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre, from 7 to 10pm. The second is the Slavery in the 21st Century conference on Saturday, Jan. 29, from 9 to 5:30pm, in the Founders Assembly Hall, 152 Founders College, Keele campus.

“Modern-day slavery is arguably the most underpublicized human rights crisis of our time,” says Sapoznik (MA ’08). Twenty-seven million “is equivalent to the entire population of Canada in the early 1990s. There are reported cases of slavery in every country in the world today with two exceptions: Iceland and Greenland. Public awareness of modern slavery also is low, enabling traffickers to lure thousands of victims into forced labour situations. Canada, for instance, is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking.”

AAMS has strong ties to 91��ɫ. Many of its executive members are 91��ɫ graduate history students, and Paul Lovejoy, director of the , is one of the board members.

The freedom concert will feature motivational speaker Roger Cram of Hiram College as the emcee; anti-slavery activist, TED Speaker and AAMS board member , president and co-founder of ; survivor Natasha Falle; Glendene Grant, the mother of missing human trafficking victim Jessie Foster; actress, singer and songwriter Kate Todd; guitar player and Janelle Belgrave of Peace Concept; ; an anti-slavery art auction; the Fashion Studio 7 filming crew; and more.

AAMS’s inaugural conference, Slavery in the 21st Century, will examine a variety of issues affecting slavery today. It will feature Sapoznik; Paul Lovejoy, director of 91��ɫ’s Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples; and University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Martin Klein. Bales will open the conference, followed by four panel discussions. The complete schedule is .

Canadian NGOs Freeing Slaves
Moderator: Roger Cram, Hiram College
Speakers: Jamie McIntosh of , Lisa Cheong of , Julia Smith-Brake of and Adam Churchman of .

Canadian Front-line Activists, Survivors, Filmmakers and Fair Trade Advocates
Moderators: Jeff Gunn and Mekhala Gunaratne of Alliance Against Modern Slavery
Speakers: Christina Cudahy of Abuse of Migrant Workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program; University of British Columbia student Brittany Luby (MA ’08), founder of Indigenous 91��ɫ, who will show the five-minute video Trafficking of First Nations Women; Glendene Grant, the mother of missing human trafficking victim Jessie Foster; Azra Rashid, a filmmaker and writer who is currently developing a documentary on forced marriages in Canada; and Michael Sacco of ChocoSol.

Forced Labour, Forced Sex and Forced Marriage – Legal Responses and Law Enforcement Against Modern Slavery in Canada
Moderator: 91��ɫ Professor Annie Bunting of the Law & Society Program
Speakers: Marty Van Doren, the RCMP’s human trafficking awareness coordinator in Ontario; Heather Richardson of Peel Regional Police; University of British Columbia law Professor , founder of the non-governmental organization fighting human trafficking and the child sex trade , and author of Invisible Chains: Canada’s Underground World of Human Trafficking (Viking Canada, 2010), has a video message; and Deepa Mattoo, a community legal worker at the .

Government Responses to Modern Slavery
Moderator: 91��ɫ West Councillor Anthony Perruzza with assistance from Valerie Hébert of AAMS
Speakers: Conservative MP Joy Smith, Manitoba, and Peggy Nash, president of the federal New Democratic Party, with a video message from MP Glen Pearson.

To register for the conference or buy tickets to the concert, visit the website.

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

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SSHRC-funded international workshop examines forced marriages in conflict stituations

fmaquito — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ law & society Professor (LLB '88) and The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples are hosting an international workshop on forced marriage in conflict situations today and tomorrow in Room 305 91��ɫ Lanes on the Keele campus.

Left: Annie Bunting

Bringing together historians of slavery and women's human rights scholars, this workshop will explore the phenomenon of forced marriage and enslavement from comparative and historical perspectives.

During conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda, women were kidnapped, raped and forced into "marriages" with combatants. recently found such gender violations to constitute a new crime against humanity of forced marriage as opposed to sexual slavery.

Workshop speakers will explore the merits of prosecuting those responsible for forced marriage under the heading of Sexual Slavery, Forced Marriage or Enslavement? They will also explore the historical antecedents of servile marriage and enslavement of women.

A keynote presenter at the workshop is , chair of the Women's Forum in Sierra Leone, a national umbrella organization of women's groups in the region. M'Carthy has been working with the for the past three years and will speak about the experiences of female victims in the Sierra Leone war. Other presenters will discuss comparable practices in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC.

Speaking at the workshop are:

, president of Free the Slaves
Gaëlle Breton-LeGoff, a lecturer at the University of Quebec in Montreal
91��ɫ law & society Professor
, a senior researcher in children, armed conflict and human rights at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University
91��ɫ Distinguished Research Professor Paul Lovejoy, director of The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples and
Rosaline M’Carthy, President, Women's Forum of Sierra Leone
, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA), Harvard Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School Professor
University of Hull Professor Joel Quirk,
, RCUK Fellow in International Slavery at the University of Liverpool
, 91��ɫ PhD candidate in history, The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples
Jody Sarich, DePaul University, Free the Slaves

This workshop is the first of two conferences supported by a grant. In February 2011, Bunting will host a larger international conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Today's workshop is supported by numerous areas at 91��ɫ, including the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime & Security, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), and The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples.

For more information, visit The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples website or contact Kathy Mirzaei, interim graduate program assistant, Department of Sociology, LA&PS.

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

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Tubman Centre's workshop to discuss 35,000-record Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

fmaquito — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Tracing the various routes of slavery is the goal of , which has records of over 35,000 voyages and is the topic of an upcoming workshop hosted by 91��ɫ’s Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples and the African Economic History journal.

“Documenting where people came from in Africa during the era of transatlantic slavery is essential in terms of understanding the background of African peoples and the impact of slavery on their descendants,” says Paul Lovejoy, 91��ɫ Distinguished Research Professor in African history and director of the Harriet Tubman Institute.

“This workshop analyzes the latest tools in charting the movement of ships that carried enslaved Africans to the Americas. We want to discuss in particular the impact of this forced demographic migration on the different parts of Africa."

Right: Map from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Voyages Databas detailing some of the slave trade routes

The one-day Slave Voyage Database and African Economic History workshop will take place Monday, May 3, starting at 8:30am in the Founders Senior Common Room, 305 Founders College, Keele campus. A reception will follow at 6:15pm.

Speakers will discuss and debate the relevance of the database to an understanding of African economic history. Lovejoy, a member of the Advisory Board for the database, will deliver the opening address, “Memories of the Formation of a Collaboratory on the Migration of African Peoples”. Later in the morning, he’ll discuss “What Happened to the Upper Guinea Coast in the Voyage Database?”

Trent University history Professor Ivana Elbl will talk about “The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database and the Sixteenth-Century Portuguese Slave Trade”, while history Professor Jelmer Vos of Old Dominion University will present “The Growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Windward Coast of Africa”.

Left: Paul Lovejoy

Topics in the afternoon will range from “Transatlantic Slave Trade from Bight of Biafra to Brazil, 1750-1850” and “The Supply of Slaves from Luanda, 1768-1806: Records of Anselmo da Fonseca Coutinho” to "Re-examining the Slave Trade on the West Central African Coast: Looking Behind the Numbers", “The Juan Francisco Cascales Shipping Registries: Methodological Problems with the African Names Database” and “Extending the Database of African Names: New Evidence from Sierra Leone”.

The proceedings will be published as a special issue of African Economic History, which is co-edited by Lovejoy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and , and 91��ɫ history Professor José Curto.

For more information about the workshop, download this PDF or visit the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples Web site. For more information about the database, visit Web site.

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

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91��ɫ Prof. Paul Lovejoy receives Distinguished Africanist Award

fmaquito — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ Distinguished Research Professor in African history Paul Lovejoy, director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, was chosen over 10 other nominees to receive this year's Distinguished Africanist Research Excellence Award from the University of Texas at Austin for his dedication, lifetime of service and contributions to the discipline.

Lovejoy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, has dedicated his career to researching and teaching African history. He is currently working on several projects, including ongoing research on the African abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, and he is just starting a new project, titled "Breaking the Chains: Presenting a New Narrative of Canada's Role in the Underground Railroad".

Left: Paul Lovejoy accepts the Distinguished Africanist Award in Texas from Ed Dorn, former dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin

"Being recognized in this fashion came as a complete surprise to me, hence what this has meant to me is very personal," says Lovejoy. "As I listened to the statement of my achievements, I felt very humble and appreciative of everything that 91��ɫ has allowed me to pursue, every dream of collaboration and every attempt to increase the accessibility of knowledge so that people can learn their own histories."

In August, Lovejoy will return to Sierra Leone, where he is principal investigator on a British Library grant under their Endangered Archives Program. He also plans to finish what he calls a long-overdue book this summer, Testimonies of Enslavement: Stories of Slavery in Central Africa. In addition, as director of the Harriet Tubman Institute, he is involved in the organization of various conferences and workshops, about eight over the coming year.

"The award is important because it recognizes what we are doing at the Tubman Institute and it shows that Canada is not peripheral to the history of Africans in diaspora."

He has authored, co-authored or edited 36 books, including , and . In 1994, his co-authored book received the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize from the Canadian Historical Association.

He is series editor for the Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora with an initial 20 volumes set for publication by the end of 2010. In some of his recent publications, he has reopened debate on the role of slavery and the slave trade in Africa. Although trained as an economic historian, Lovejoy has argued forcefully that slavery and the slave trade were unlike any other institution or trade. Slaves, he argues, were "people" active in the shaping of their world and not "things" as commonly expressed in many slave studies.

He is a leading scholar who pioneered the study of the history and dynamics of the African diaspora from an African perspective. Through his research, he traces the history of migration from Africa into diaspora, following individual enslaved Africans to their destinations in the Americas. Lovejoy collaborates with an international network of researchers in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Brazil, Latin America, Africa and Europe, creating digitized historical data for his research.

His contributions and investment in African studies are reflected in his dedication to scholarship, administrative leadership, mentoring and interdisciplinary innovation.

Lovejoy is a research professor at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery & Emancipation at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom and a member of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project in Paris. He received a President's Research Award of Merit from 91��ɫ last year (see YFile, Nov. 5, 2009). In 1994 and 1995, he received the Canada Council for the Arts Killam Senior Research Fellowship.

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

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91��ɫ leads all Canadian universities in SSHRC’s largest awards

fmaquito — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ researchers awarded two of SSHRC’s largest grants to study long-term residential healthcare and global suburbanism

Two teams led by 91��ɫ University researchers have received $5 million in research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Their multinational research teams, involving multiple universities and community partners in a large-scale collaboration, have each received $2.5 million to examine long-term residential healthcare and global suburbanization.

The funding is part of ’s $10-million investment in critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance through the (MCRI) program, the largest award competition SSHRC currently runs.

The program contributes to the deeper understanding of people and society while providing graduate students with research training opportunities. Royal Galipeau, MP for Ottawa–Orléans, made the announcement in Ottawa this morning on behalf of Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology.

Pat Armstrong, professor of sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and an executive member of both the 91��ɫ Institute for Health Research and the Graduate Program in Health Policy & Equity, will lead a study to identify promising practices for understanding and organizing long-term residential healthcare.

Right: Pat Armstrong

Although many of Canada’s most vulnerable citizens live in long-term residential care, it is often characterized as a last resort rather than as a positive option where both providers and residents can thrive. Armstrong’s project seeks to learn from and with other countries to understand the approaches, structures, accountability practices, and ownership arrangements that create conditions prompting respectful and dignified treatment for both residents and caregivers.

Twenty-five researchers, eight partnering institutions, and 17 universities in six countries will work across disciplines to capture and share data and best practices. Armstrong is Chair in Health Services and Nursing Research, co-funded by the (CHSRF) and the (CIHR).

Roger Keil, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ, and director of the , is working with 44 researchers at 29 universities, and 16 partners in 12 countries to better understand the challenges suburbanization poses in a globalizing world.

Right: Roger Keil

Based on the experience of Canadian suburbanization, but ranging from North America’s wealthy gated communities to Europe’s high-rise-dominated suburbs, the exploding outskirts of Indian and Chinese cities to the slums and squatter settlements of Africa and Latin America, this project is the first to systematically take stock of worldwide suburban developments while analyzing their governance models, land use, infrastructure and suburban everyday life. The project also includes collaboration with the on documentaries about life in suburban high rises.

Of the four $2.5-million grants awarded, 91��ɫ was the only institution with two successful projects, building on its strong track record in leading large, interdisciplinary collaborative research projects. Prior to today’s announcement, 91��ɫ researchers held nine major SSHRC collaborative grants worth a total of $13.6 million in research funding.

“As the only institution to win multiple awards in this category, 91��ɫ’s researchers have clearly demonstrated their national and international excellence and leadership in large-scale, SSHRC research projects,” says Stan Shapson, vice-president research and innovation. “Leading major research initiatives allows us to address key social issues facing our society. As global populations expand and age, suburban research and new approaches to long-term residential healthcare are increasingly important to the well-being of Canadians and nations around the world. These projects provide unique opportunities for Pat, Roger, and their research collaborators to conduct groundbreaking research with significant impact on real-world issues.”

“These grants highlight the excellence of our country’s talented researchers and recognize the importance of fostering international collaboration to keep Canada at the forefront of research, development and innovation in the 21st century,” said Chad Gaffield, president of SSHRC.

91��ɫ's other major SSHRC-funded interdisciplinary collaborative research projects

“Assets Coming Together for Youth: Linking Research, Policy and Action for Positive Youth Development”, led by social work Professor Uzo Anucha in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) is developing a comprehensive youth strategy that will outline how marginalized urban communities like Toronto’s Jane-Finch neighbourhood can use their community assets to support positive youth development.
The , led by Professor Emeritus Wesley Cragg in the Schulich School of Business, is mobilizing the University’s business expertise by bringing University researchers together in dialogue with leaders and researchers in business, government and the volunteer sector.
The , led by Professor Stephen Gaetz in the Faculty of Education enhances the impact of research on homelessness and the housing crisis by increasing collaboration and discussion among researchers, policy-makers and community workers.
The , led by LA&PS social work Professor Susan McGrath, studies refugee and forced migration issues to find solutions to the plight of refugees worldwide.
“Monitoring the Human Rights of People with Disabilities in Canada”, led by health policy & management Professor Marcia Rioux in the Faculty of Health, monitors and records human rights violations to put together an accurate picture of the daily lives of Canadians with disabilities.
The Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative, led by geography Professor Philip Kelly in LA&PS, assists community organizations whose mandate includes the better integration of immigrants into Toronto's labour force by providing these organizations with free access to statistical data and analysis on various aspects of immigrant labour market integration.
“Slavery, Memory, Citizenship”, led by Distinguished Research Professor Paul Lovejoy, includes a team of more than 50 Canadian and international scholars who are researching the global migrations of African peoples under conditions of slavery and how the resulting racism arising from the exploitation of African peoples has shaped modern societies.
“The University as a Civic Change Agent: Community-Based Knowledge Mobilization”, led by David Phipps, director of the Office of Research Services, is developing a community-focused input model for that seeks first to identify community knowledge needs and then focus university research expertise to help fill that need by creating a self-sustaining cycle of knowledge production and its uptake for policy, practice and community capacity building.
“Work in a Warming World”, led by social science Professor Carla Lipsig-Mummé in LA&PS, studies the challenge presents to Canadian employment and workplaces by examining seven Canadian employment sectors to seek policy, training, employment and workplace solutions to effectively assist Canada’s transition to a low-emission economy.

For complete competition results, visit .

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with photos courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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U50: Recipient of President’s Research Excellence Award named

fmaquito — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

John Tsotsos, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering, has been named the winner of the 91��ɫ President’s Research Excellence Award.

The award, introduced during 91��ɫ’s 50th year, recognizes outstanding research achievement and significant contributions to advance the University’s international reputation for research excellence. Distinguished Research Professors Ellen Bialystok of the Faculty of Health and Paul Lovejoy of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies will each receive the Research Award of Merit.

Left: 91��ɫ Professor John Tsotsos at work on his PlayBOT Project – an intelligent, visually guided wheelchair intended for physically disabled children. Researchers in the ICAST network are working on several intelligent wheelchair projects across Canada.

Tsotsos is well known as a pioneer in vision science research. “His great accomplishment for the University was advancing the development of the Centre for Vision Research,” said Amir Asif, chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, and Tsotsos’ nominator. “Under his directorship, the centre blossomed into a world-leading research centre in the area of vision research, and is clearly one of 91��ɫ’s most important research centres.”

A Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision and Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science, Tsotsos has received numerous accolades and awards. He has published more than 300 papers in prestigious journals over the last three decades. As a scientist, Tsotsos’ work is recognized for its innovative development of computational models of visual attention. He was the first to prove the Selective Tuning (ST) theory, modelling visual attention, in 1990. Integrating the fields of visual psychology, computer vision, robotics and visual neuroscience, he is also known for the development of PlayBOT, a visually guided robot to assist physically disabled children in play.

Tsotsos’ ability to bring together a diverse group of people is reflected in his leadership role in forming ICAST, the Intelligent Computational Assistive Science & Technology Research & Development Network. The theme of collaboration as an integral part of his research emerges in the many letters of support accompanying his nomination, from his colleagues across Canada. 91��ɫ computer science & engineering Professor Nick Cercone said that not only is John Tsotsos’ “academic achievement and leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision without peer in Canada,” but that the “AI community owes John a debt of gratitude for his tireless promotion of the discipline worldwide.”

91��ɫ psychology Professor Ellen Bialystok (right), recipient of the Research Merit Award, is a Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology and a leading global researcher in bilingualism and its affects on the aging brain. Bialystok’s six books and over 100 papers in scientific journals extend her research beyond themes and geographical boundaries. “She has investigated bilingualism and literacy from a number of angles and across a number of languages and language learners,” said her nominator, Professor Martha Crago of Dalhousie University.

91��ɫ history Professor Paul Lovejoy (left), a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, is also a recipient of the Research Merit Award. As director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, Lovejoy is a leading scholar who has pioneered the study of the history and dynamics of the African diaspora from an African perspective. Through his research, he traces the history of migration from Africa into diaspora, following individual enslaved Africans to their destinations in the Americas. Lovejoy collaborates with an international network of researchers in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Brazil, Latin America, Africa and Europe, creating digitized historical data for his unique research. Lovejoy has “revolutionized his field through the innovative use of technology,” according to his nominator, 91��ɫ political science Professor Robert Drummond. "Lovejoy is an internationally active public intellectual in regard to issues of contemporary slavery and reparations.”

Adding his congratulatory message, Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ vice-president research & innovation, said: “The nominations and letters that poured in supporting these distinguished researchers overwhelmingly spoke about the excellent work of Professors Tsotsos, Bialystok and Lovejoy as thought leaders and innovators in their fields. Each of the nominees for the award presented a strong record of sustained research achievement and many contributions towards enriching 91��ɫ’s research reputation.”

“I want to congratulate the winners of these awards and thank them for advancing 91��ɫ’s reputation,” said 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “Their ingenuity and contribution to invention and innovation are a testament to 91��ɫ’s research excellence.”

A ceremony to honour the recipients of the President’s Research Excellence Award and Research Awards of Merit will be held Nov. 24 as part of celebrations marking 91��ɫ’s inaugural Research Month.

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

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