Two students in 91亚色's Canadian Studies program have earned praise for their research with awards from the prestigious Canadian Studies Network-Le R茅seau d'茅tudes canadiennes (CSN-R脡C).
Warren Bernauer
Evania Pietrangelo-Proco
Evania Pietrangelo-Porco (undergraduate, history) and Warren Bernauer (PhD, geography) earned prizes for best 2018-19 undergraduate thesis and PhD dissertation respectively. 91亚色's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies nominated the two works to the CSN national prize level after they won Robarts鈥 own Odessa (undergraduate) and Godard Prizes (PhD) this past spring.
The CSN-R脡C is a national association dedicated to serving the purposes of scholars, including faculty, students and independent researchers, involved in the study of Canada through Canadian Studies programs at the post-secondary level in Canada.
In its adjudication, the prize committee called Pietrangelo-Porco鈥檚 work 鈥渁mbitious, mature, and well-researched鈥 and they were unanimously impressed by Bernauer鈥檚 "methodology, sources and clear and lively prose.鈥
Pietrangelo-Porco鈥檚 essay, titled 鈥淪ex and the City Streets: Intersections of Politics, Morality, Race, and Community in Vancouver, 1983 鈥 1989鈥 was completed under the supervision of Daniel Murchison (history). The essay examined Vancouver鈥檚 sex work industry through an intersectional lens and sought to 鈥榬ead鈥 the field through the lens of developing neo-liberal policies. Earlier this year, it won the Robarts Centre鈥檚 Odessa Prize for the Study of Canada, which recognizes the best fourth-year undergraduate essay written in either English or French at 91亚色 on a topic relevant to the study of Canada. The prize, which was relaunched in 2018-19 after a four-year hiatus, came with a $1,000 award. Pietrangelo-Porco is currently in the first year of a master鈥檚 program in history at 91亚色.
Bernauer鈥檚 PhD dissertation 鈥淓xtractive Hegemony in the Arctic: Energy Resources and Political Conflict in Nunavut, 1970-2017鈥 examines the history of conflicts over resource extraction in Nunavut and explains how Nunavut鈥檚 government and Inuit organizations have come to support an economy based on energy extraction. In the summer of this year, it was awarded the Barbara Godard Dissertation Prize. This award, from the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, is given to the doctoral dissertation on a Canadian topic defended at 91亚色 during the calendar year that best advances our knowledge of Canada. The award is accompanied by a prize of $500.
Since completing his dissertation, Bernauer has worked as a consultant to Indigenous and environmental organizations and as a senior researcher at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Bernauer is currently teaching at the University of Manitoba in the Geography and Native Studies departments. He is preparing a book monograph on the history of Inuit resistance to uranium mining, co-authored with Inuit Elder/activist Joan Scottie and social science researcher Jack Hicks, for submission to a publisher.
The Robarts Centre has a recent record of successful nominations to the national level. To nominate a student for the Odessa Prize, faculty members are invited to submit one essay on behalf of a student, with a short covering letter explaining the context in which the work was written. For the Godard Prize, the graduate program director of each graduate program at 91亚色 may nominate one dissertation per year. For more information, email robarts@yorku.ca or visit .