Submit your #RoleofHSS vaccine research story: Does your research touch on issues related to the COVID-19 vaccine creation and/or deployment but from a social sciences perspective? We want to hear from you! Submit your research story. Stories will be considered for additional coverage via our blog or media pitching program.

Canadian researchers examine the effects of COVID-19 within the disability community: Everyone has stories about how their life has been altered due to COVID-19 and related containment measures, but it is also clear that the direst effects of dealing with the pandemic have not been distributed equally. Researchers across the country are working with community partners to better understand the impacts of the pandemic on people with disabilities. Read this new article from our #RoleofHSS series. 

More in the Role of HSS in the fight against COVID-19: Did you enjoy last's month article on misinformation and COVID-19? Read about how personal beliefs affect how information about the virus is received in our latest post by Jaigris Hodson and the team at Royal Roads University.

Virtual Panel with ACUP: Publishing a scholarly book is a critical career achievement for scholars in the humanities and social sciences, and is often required for tenure and promotion. On February 12, come and hear from acquiring editors and marketing specialists from some of Canada’s top scholarly presses, who will offer their valuable advice for getting your book published and into bookstores, libraries and classrooms. Learn more and register.

Congress registration is OPEN! Sign up now to benefit from the early bird rate. Read more. 

Sheila Watt-Cloutier to speak at Big Thinking at Congress; We are excited to reveal that the Nobel Prize nominee and influential Indigenous advocate will present a talk entitled Everything is connected: Environment, economy, foreign policy, sustainability, human rights and leadership in the 21st century. Read more. 

University of Alberta releases their first Congress 2021 video: Meet Michael O'Driscoll, the Congress 2021 Academic Convener, and Florence Glanfield, the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Programming & Research at the University of Alberta. Plus: learn about the logo's symbolism and see what else is in store for Congress 2021. Watch the video!

Share your research story with the entire Congress community: The Federation is currently taking submissions for the Congress 2021 blog on topics related to the 2021 theme of "Northern Relations", as well as the 2020 theme of "Bridging Divides: Confronting Colonialism and Anti-Black Racism." Email Lily Polowin if you want to contribute. 

There’s a fund for that: Are you interested in bringing an international speaker to your association’s conference this year? Collaborating with another scholarly association to co-host a session? Or are you a graduate student interested in presenting at Congress? There’s a fund for that! Visit the Congress website to learn more, and take note: for some funds, the deadline is January 29. 

Reframing Indigenous Stories in Joy: Jesse Wente: Jesse Wente wants to broaden the way we think about reconciliation by framing stories about Indigenous people in joy. Wente — an Anishinaabe writer and broadcaster, and chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts — emphasized the importance of joy in a lecture he gave online in November 2020. Read more.

Dr. Ted Hewitt reappointed as President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada: Dr. Hewitt is a respected leader not only in his field but also among the granting councils and the science and research community. He has been serving as President of SSHRC since March 2015 and simultaneously served as the inaugural chair of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee from 2017 to 2019. Read more.

UBCO Launches Arts Apprenticeship Program: With many university graduates ready to hit the labour market running, UBC Okanagan is aiming to make that first job an especially meaningful one through the creation of an apprenticeship initiative together with local businesses and organizations. Read more.

YTC, UAlberta partner to offer Indigenous-industry relations program: A new partnership between Yellowhead Tribal College (YTC) and the University of Alberta is a step toward reconciliation, the schools say. Read more.

McGill student starts initiative to bring food, supplies to homeless people camped out near campus: Sophie Hart, a fourth-year student at McGill University, lives in the neighbourhood of Milton Park, close to the school's downtown campus. This year, she's noticed more people than ever camped outside, sleeping on benches and scrambling for food and necessities. Read more. 

Multidisciplinary perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic: From January 16 to April 10, the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is presenting a series of free videoconferences to the public on the social, economic, political and cultural impacts of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Learn more (French only).

Webinar — Courageous Conversations speaker series: coloniality and racial (in)justice in the university: This panel examines how the politics of race and settler colonialism are presently negotiated by, and within, Canadian universities. The decades of privatization and deregulation in the late twentieth century initiated a far-reaching transformation of the public sector, including institutions of post-secondary education. Register now.

Transforming knowledge into action at Bishop’s: A graduate certificate program under Bishop’s department of psychology teaches its students about the field of knowledge mobilization (KMb), a burgeoning field that aims to “maximize the value of academic research by moving it into practice in the non-academic world,” says Dr. Suzanne Hood, an associate professor in Bishop’s psychology department. Read more.

Twenty-three researchers from the Francophonie provide insight on self-regulated learning: French publisher L’Harmattan recently released Prendre en charge son apprentissage : l’apprentissage autorégulé à la lumière des contexts — a book co-edited by Sylvie Cartier, professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Education. Find out more (French only).

Equitable admissions for Black applicants at McMaster: “The Black BHSc Association is very strongly in favour” as it “will afford Black applicants the opportunity to identify themselves as Black, and have their application reviewed by a panel of Black educators, alumni, and students, to minimize the impact of subconscious biases that may disadvantage Black applicants.” Read more.

The Jacalyn Duffin Health and Humanities Conference: The Jacalyn Duffin Health and Humanities Conference aims to create a space where learners and educators of all disciplines can discuss the intersections of health, medicine, and the arts and humanities. The conference will take place on January 23 and explore how our perceptions of our bodies’ sensations are created and shaped by the world around us, influencing our interactions with others and the environment. Read more.

Linda Cardinal named one of the most influential figures in the Canadian Francophonie: Linda Cardinal is a professor and holder of the Research Chair in Canadian Francophonie and Public Policies at the University of Ottawa. She is also a researcher with the Institut du Savoir Montfort and associate professor at the Université de l’Ontario français. Learn more (French only).

Anna Peppard discusses Pop Culture Studies and her book Supersex: Sexuality, fantasy, and the superhero: Dr. Anna Peppard is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellow in the department of Communication, Popular Culture, and Film at Brock University. Read more.

Carleton sociology course teaching students how to confront racism and sexism: When we see discrimination happening, we have a responsibility to stop it. But how? Silence may be complicity, but anger often does not achieve the desired result. In Carleton University’s Sociology class, Addressing Race, Gender and Sexuality: Through the Arts, students are learning how to effectively advocate against anti-Black racism, sexism and anti-2SLGBTQ discrimination. Read more.

Indigenous Storyteller-in-Residence program introduced at USask’s University Library: The first position of its kind at the University of Saskatchewan and unique in the province, the Indigenous Storyteller-in-Residence program at the University Library is slated to begin as a six-week pilot on January 4, 2021. Read more.

A torrent of digital content: When TV5 launched the TV5 Monde Plus streaming project in August 2019, the goal was to promote French-language content around the world through public television. A year after the application was rolled out, the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) announced a partnership with TV5 to jump on this golden opportunity. Find out more (French only).

More mountainous content: For anyone who read our blog on International Mountain Day and who is itching for more mountainous content, check out the U of A Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies’ Reading Mountains 2020, and online festival celebrating International Mountain Day. The Wirth Institute also has a number of other interesting online offerings such as podcasts, digital art presentations, lectures, concerts, and more. Check it out!