SSHRC Funds Innovative Grad Research
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) recently announced $2.5 million to 64 Carleton University graduate students to help fund their innovative research.
Some of the recipients include:
Jennifer Boland
PhD in Communication ($105,000 over three years)
Boland will use her SSHRC funding to examine our current fascination with reality-television portrayals of what she calls the “extraordinary everyday” – mundane behaviours performed in extreme or unorthodox ways. Her project will explore a range of research questions about intersections of reality television, family, consumption, taste and audience response.
“Currently, I am most interested in how domestic consumption behaviours are connected to class and morality in the popular programs Keeping up with the Kardashians and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” says Boland. ” In the news media and blogosphere, these two programs, and the families which they portray, are often points of contention and controversy. Thus, for my research, audience reception studies will be just as important as an analysis of the content of such programs.
The PhD student completed her MA in Communication at Carleton under the supervision of Prof. Sheryl Hamilton. “Sheryl Hamilton has helped me in so many, many ways. She is a generous and patient mentor who does not hesitate to ask difficult questions. The challenges which she has given me have been invaluable, and I look forward to working with her throughout my PhD.”
She also appreciates the support she has received from her program. “We are small enough to know each other well, and to forge strong connections, yet large enough to ensure a diversity of background, research interests, and mentorship styles. There are so many brilliant and inspiring people in my department—both faculty and students! We also have incredible administrative staff who are always willing to help, consistently go above and beyond, and are always great to chat with, too.”
Robin MacEwan
Master of Social Work ($17,500 over one year)
MacEwan is using her SSHRC funds to support her research into the efficacy of the group home model for youth in the care of the state.
“My project will focus on the social support system group home youth have while they are in the care of the state, and then compare their social support system when they exit the care of the state -when they age out,” says MacEwan.
She became interested in the project through her work as a Children and Youth Case Manager at Howe Sound Rehabilitation Services Society – an agency that provides housing and community-based support to children at risk and children with special needs in Vancouver and the lower mainland of B.C.
“The kids I’ve worked with are my inspiration,” shares MacEwan. “I believe that this research is necessary in order to improve the lives of children in foster care in Canada. I hope to contribute to recommendations on how children in the foster system can best be supported when they are no longer in state care.”
MacEwan says she would like to thank Social Work Professor Dr. Behnam Behnia, “who read my proposal countless times and offered criticisms and suggestions to make the project feasible.”
Kory Smith
MA in Sociology ($17,500 over one year)
Smith will be using his SSHRC scholarship to examine the experiences of ‘non-traditional’ students in post-secondary institutions. He hopes his final thesis results will make a significant contribution to the growing academic literature in this area.
Smith says he would like to thank Dr. Jacqueline Kennelly from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology for her mentorship and support over the last two years . “Not only is she a brilliant scholar, she is also an inspiring mentor and advisor who consistently took time out of her busy schedule to help me with the application process,” says Smith. “I am very grateful for her generosity, guidance, and continuous support and I am extremely excited to work with her over the next two years.”
Smith says he chose to do his MA with the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Carleton “because of its outstanding faculty members and its reputation as one of the most rigorous programs in the country. I am especially looking forward to the smaller seminar classes, where I will be able to work directly with professors and fellow graduate students.”
Recent Awards
Recently, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canda (NSERC) awarded $1.6 million to Carleton Graduate students. And the Canadian Institutes of Health Research awarded $70,000 to Carleton grad student Robyn McQuaid for her research on depression.