Trent researchers to receive $782K in funding

Researchers in the faculties of social sciences and humanities at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., have been awarded $782,774 in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), one of three federal granting councils responsible for supporting research in the country.

Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef announced the funding Friday on behalf of Science Minister Kirsty Duncan. The funds are part of a $265-million investment for social sciences and humanities research.

“SSHRC’s investment showcases Trent’s continued commitment to liberal arts and social sciences disciplines with a specific increase in research capacity this year focused on aging and age-related research,” said Trent vice-president of research and innovation Dr. Neil Emery.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "SSHRC's investment showcases Trent's continued commitment to liberal arts and social sciences disciplines with a specific increase in research capacity this year focused on aging and age-related research," said Trent vice-president of research and innovation Dr. Neil Emery.

The funding is being awarded through scholarships, fellowships, and grants.

“Fundamental to our ability to innovate is a basic understanding of challenges and solutions,” Monsef said in a media release. “That is why funding for social sciences research is crucial to our local economy. This research is a key component in addressing the complex and ever-changing issues society faces today.”

Dr. Barbara Marshall, Sociology, and co-applicants Dr. Stephen Katz from Trent and Dr. Isabel Pedersen from UOIT, received an Insight Grant ($158,549 over four years) for their project, Digital culture and quantified aging. The research will examine age and age-related function with a focus on the ways that self-tracking technologies and digital apps are used to create new modes and styles of measuring, calculating, storing and sharing information about aging.

Dr. Suzanne Bailey, English Literature, received an Insight Grant ($72,427 over five years) for her Atelier 17, the art of the print, and Canadian modernism project. This project studies Canadian artists who travelled to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s to work with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17, a renowned, artistic workspace. Professor Bailey’s project will demonstrate the cultural contributions of Canadian modernist printmakers, and articulate intaglio printmaking techniques and their relevance and significance to Canadian print culture and modernism.

Dr. Elizabeth Nisbet, Psychology, received an Insight Development Grant ($64,254 over two years) for her project, Citizen science is in our nature: The effects of citizen science activities on nature relatedness, wellbeing, and environmental concern. “Citizen scientists” are members of the general public who monitor wildlife, plants, or environmental processes, and contribute data to ecological studies. This research program will be the first to assess whether the psychological benefits of nature are enhanced with citizen science engagement. The outcomes will be relevant to researchers from several academic disciplines and may offer new cost-effective strategies for stakeholders, including scientists, educators, policy makers urban planners, community groups, and members of the public seeking opportunities to reconnect adults and children with nature, and engage citizens on environmental issues.

Dr. Elizabeth Russell, Psychology, received an Insight Development Grant ($63,377 over two years) for her project, Developing rural insights for building sustainable age-friendly communities initiatives. In collaboration with Dr. Mark Skinner and the Trent Centre for Aging and Society, this proposed pilot project is an opportunity to strengthen the outcomes of public investment in age-friendly programming. An engaged, community-based approach incorporating knowledge mobilization will build rural insights, test an innovative method, and develop a theoretical framework for broadly understanding program sustainability. The project will address the gap in the literature and expand academic, community, and policy-level understanding of best practices for age-friendly sustainability.

Dr. Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez, History, received an Insight Grant ($58,571 over four years) for his research project, Reconstruction, Agrarian Reform and Model Villages in Franco’s Spain. This project focuses on national reconstruction, rural development and social engineering that took place in Francisco Franco’s Spain (1936-1975) that resulted in the creation of three hundred model villages, an example of fascist-inspired rural reconstruction. Professor Cazorla-Sanchez also plans to write a book with the provisional title, Franco’s Brave New World: Hunger, Agrarian Reform and Model Villages in Spain.

Dr. May Chazan, Gender & Women’s Studies, received an Insight Development Grant ($57,096 over two years) for her project, Aging, Activisms, and the Archive: Feminist Explorations across the Americas. This preliminary study will investigate older women’s efforts to generate, collect, and preserve records of their activisms. It will engage in four initial case studies from across the Americas to establish the foundation for a larger study: The Grandmothers Advocacy Network (GRAN) archives. These studies will bring attention to older women as social changers and as agents of the archive, establishing a participatory methodology for studying archival practices, fostering knowledge exchange among different activist groups and mentoring students.

Dr. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, International Development Studies, received an Insight subgrant ($11,400 over three years) as a co-applicant, alongside Dr. Sharada Srinivasan at University of Guelph, for their project, Becoming a young farmer: young people’s pathways into farming in five countries. As farmers are aging and farm prices are rising, the four-year global study will contribute to policy debates on sustainable food security, agricultural futures, (rural) youth employment, and the generational reproduction of farming communities. It will examine young people’s experiences with farming, the challenges they face and the impact of their practices on farming.