Award

13 FASS researchers awarded prestigious tri-agency appointments and grants

August 29, 2023

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) is pleased to share that 13 researchers from various departments across the Faculty have been awarded prestigious appointments and grants from the Canadian government. Congratulations to all of our recipients!

In all, FASS has four new and renewed Canada Research Chairs, one Partnership Development Grant recipient, and eight Insight Grant recipients. From mental health care to sustainability to Indigenous sovereignty and more, FASS researchers stand at the forefront of innovation and knowledge mobilization.

Canada Research Chairs

Four FASS researchers are among SFU's five new and renewed Canada Research Chairs (CRC). The CRC Program attracts and retains diverse world-class researchers to undertake academic research and training excellence in Canadian post-secondary institutions. Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in engineering and natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences.

Joanne Leow

English

Tier 2 CRC in Transnational and Decolonial Digital Humanities

Joanne Leow’s work critiques colonial conceptions of digital humanities projects by centering under-represented communities and their histories and stories in Canada and Asia. Combining artistic and digital humanities methodologies, her research focuses on rethinking how and for whom digital archives are created, and seeks to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are built into the ways in which digital data is classified, organized and disseminated. Her ongoing research uses digital tools to shape our understanding of contested (post)colonial spaces in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vancouver, and transnational Asian food stories and pathways. These projects will further include accessible and innovative multimedia art exhibits, creative writing publications, and performative talks.

Marlene Moretti

Psychology

Renewed Tier 1 CRC in Youth Clinical Psychological Science

Rates of mental health disorders in youth have steadily grown over the last decade, along with rapid increases in the use of emergency, inpatient, and outpatient services, which have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This drives the urgent need to understand what contributes to adolescent mental health risk and resilience, and how we can rapidly mobilize knowledge into action. Moretti is committed to addressing the significant gaps in availability and accessibility of mental health services through her international community research networks that promote research and practice collaborations between universities, government stakeholders, community leaders, and mental health service providers.

Theresa Pauly

Gerontology

Tier 2 CRC in Social Relationships, Health, and Aging

Social relationships are fundamental to health and well-being, and it is especially important as people age that they maintain the social connections that can contribute to health and resiliency. Theresa Pauly’s research hopes to promote healthy aging and inform policy change in three significant areas: social resources that support older adults’ health in everyday life; factors that contribute to or protect against the widespread issue of loneliness in old age; and social risks and resources for health in older adults who identify as belonging to minoritized groups. Ultimately, Pauly’s research will contribute new knowledge about the ways in which social relationships can influence health outcomes, thereby informing public health, policy, and community intervention efforts to promote healthy aging and, crucially, help to meet future healthcare demands.

Zoe Todd

Indigenous Studies

Tier 2 CRC in Indigenous Governance and Freshwater Fish Futures

Todd studies how Indigenous sovereignty and freshwater fish futures are co-created in Canada today, drawing on Indigenous knowledge, law, art, science, and philosophy to understand how humans and fish, together, shape one another’s futures. This unique mode of inquiry hopes to help foster the conditions for mutually flourishing human and fish futures in the face of catastrophic climate change and ongoing colonial and environmental injustices.

SSHRC Partnership Development Grant

SSHRC Partnership Development Grants provide support to new or existing partnerships for initiatives that advance research, provide research training, and/or knowledge mobilization in the social sciences and humanities.

Jie Yang

Sociology and Anthropology

Learning from Chinese classics: Indigenous psychology and psychological care for China and the World

SSHRC Insight Grants

Almost half of SFU's SSHRC Insight Grant recipients hailed from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), with eight researchers from various departments across FASS receiving the grant for their research projects.

Insight Grants aim to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies and the world. By supporting and fostering excellence in social sciences and humanities research, the program deepens, widens and increases our collective understanding of individuals and societies, as well as informing the search for solutions to societal challenges.

Andrew Wister

Gerontology

Social Connectedness and Resilience Among Marginalized Older Adults and Caregivers: Co-Produced Intersectoral Knowledge Implemented with Community Organizations