Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Connection Grant
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and training in the humanities and social sciences. The SSHRC Connection Grant emerges from the Connection program, which has the goal of realizing the potential of social sciences and humanities research for intellectual, cultural, social and economic influence, and benefit and impact on and beyond the campus, by supporting specific activities and tools that facilitate the flow and exchange of research knowledge. The SSHRC Connection Grants are designed to support events and outreach activities geared towards short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives through events that represent opportunities for knowledge exchange.
The “Ododo Wa” exhibit and related projects have been designed to support this goal of knowledge exchange and mobilization. The project has resulted in a traveling exhibit, community dialogues events, and the companion “Ododo Wa Community Dialogues” Scalar project. Community Dialogues have been a fundamental part of the knowledge mobilization sought in this project, as they provide the opportunity for facilitated community, education, and artistic events with survivors in several locations outside the larger cities. The purpose of the dialogues has been to provide a space for survivors to speak directly to policy-makers, NGO and justice-sector workers, and their broader communities. The SSHRC Connection Grant has contributed in supporting these dialogues, as well as the development of the Scalar platform, especially after the shift into the digital arena pushed forth by the COVID-19 pandemic. CSiW Graduate Assistants and Research Assistant have been working alongside the content created through these dialogues, media portrayals, and other existing material to create the Scalar Platform.
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) Research Event Fund
The LA&PS Research Event Fund is a fund awarded to LA&PS-based graduate students and/or post-doctoral fellows who plan to organize a scholarly conference or workshop at York University. The fund supports events that engage LA&PS community members in fruitful exchanges with other members of the York community, scholars and students from outside of York, or individuals and organizations that form part of the University’s neighbouring communities. This fund is intended to serve research-related events held at York.
Through the Summer of 2020, the CSiW Scalar team worked on conceptualizing this series of workshops on open access platforms and on developing the application for this grant. Along with the team’s submission for the grant, a letter of support and collaboration from YUL’s Digital Librarians, St. Onge and Joseph, was included to further strengthen the application. In Fall 2020, CSiW received the Research Event Fund to support this series of workshops.
