2016 Canadian Studies scholarship Winners Announced

Mia Bennet, Department of Geography

The federal government has touted the all-weather road’s benefits for Tuktoyaktuk’s residents, but with its recent issuance of offshore oil and gas leases, research is crucial to discern who will actually benefit from improved access to this corner of the Arctic: Tuktoyaktuk’s residents, footloose energy companies, or Canada as an “energy superpower” and “Arctic nation,” to quote Harper? To answer these questions, Mia will interview residents in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in winter. Mia will also drive on the ice road with a local to gain a sense of this uniquely Arctic mode of transportation that climate change threatens. As the Canadian government proposes replacing additional ice roads whose seasons have shortened due to rising temperatures with all-weather roads, this research presents a timely opportunity to gather local perspectives on a potentially transformative highway.

Nicole Gihuis, Department of History 

With the travel grant, Nicole will travel to the Acadian Center to consult its church holdings, especially the dataset on the Beaubassin and Grand-Pré parishes, to search for accounts of religious heterodoxy, ritual practices and the mutation of Catholic festivals through Micmac practices. The research center also contains a wide collection of material sources from prominent Acadian families. This grant would also allow me to visit the archaeological dig in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, where they are searching for Acadian settlements, such as the church and homes, from the seventeenth century. This new Canadian Heritage project will allow me to explore the material vestiges of exchange between Acadian and Micmac communities and the spatial layout of communities, which will provide an intimate view of domestic organization and daily life in Acadie which will be crucial for her research.

Calvin Ho, Department of Sociology

With the support of the Canadian Studies Graduate Student Award, Calvin will be spending two months in Ottawa to conduct interviews for his dissertation. His project compares the immigration pathways for international students in Canada and the US. Canada has specific immigration policies meant to encourage international students to stay in the country to work after they graduate. Though similar policies have been proposed in the US, they have not made it out of Congress. During his stay in Ottawa, Calvin will be speaking with lobbyists, policymakers, and other stakeholders to understand their role in shaping Canada's policies for attracting and retaining international graduates in the Canadian workforce.

Andrew Silva, Department of Psychology

Andrew’s research focuses on the neuroscience of visual motion perception. He has traveled to Ontario, Canada in order to collaborate with local researchers on a project that harnesses the power of machine learning algorithms to classify brain data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Andrew is also excited to be establish a collaborative research network between UCLA, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Western Ontario. He is creating protocols that allow for the mutual use of experimental resources and facilities that were not previously available to this network, increasing the efficiency of scientific discovery.

Maia Woolner, Department of History 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, scientists and philosophers on both sides of the Atlantic debated the concepts and methods through which the individual and society could be best understood. These diverse conversations were part of a larger conflict about the nature of science and philosophy, carried out in methodological controversies and the formation of new disciplines in universities across Europe and North America. Maia's research explores these methodological debates in philosophy and the human sciences through the life and work of the French philosopher, Henri Bergson (1859-1941) and his numerous international interlocutors. The Canadian Studies Graduate Student Award will support her research trip to visit the Bertrand Russell Archives at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

Published: Thursday, April 21, 2016