Dear SJRI Members:
As the new Director of the SJRI, a belated welcome to the new academic year! I am writing to update you about recent and upcoming initiatives. More details to follow.
Coming this Fall:
SJRI Partnership Grant? An educational workshop
We are initiating a long-term planning process toward a 2017 SJRI-sponsored SSHRC Partnership Grant application with multiple sub-projects involving several SJRI researchers. As a first step in this process, we are planning an intensive educational in mid-November that will involve presentations by PIs on Partnership Grants from other universities that will help fire our imaginations about what is possible at Brock. Smaller projects and funding applications will be essential building blocks. If you’re interested in learning about Partnership Grants for yourself and or in helping us think through implications and possibilities for the SJRI, we hope you will attend.
Art, Archives and Affinities: Social justice Across Disciplines
This exciting multi-media public event will showcase a wide diversity of approaches to social justice scholarship, prominently including work underway at Brock among SJRI affiliates. It will be held downtown in late Fall in a venue conducive to socializing over food and drink :).
SJRI Brown Bag series
We are looking for 2-3 research talks being presented on campus by SJRI affiliates this fall which we could co-sponsor and promote. We are seeking to create spaces for intellectual exchange across disciplines on social justice scholarship, especially among our members. If you’re giving such a talk, and want to be on our roster, send details to Maria Callaghan (mcallaghan@brocku.ca).
SJRI Grants Program
We will shortly open our Fall competition for Seed Grants ($7000) and Local Engagement Grants ($2000). The deadline is: November 17. We are seeking three SJRI affiliates from a range of disciplinary positions to sit on the Adjudication Committee for one year. This normally involves one day of work for each of two rounds of competition. Please contact Maria Callaghan (mcallaghan@brocku.ca).
Interested in organizing a thematic symposium?
Watch for our call for Notices of Interest coming imminently. We are interested in mounting a transdisciplinary symposium for Fall 2015 around an intellectually-significant problematic relevant to social justice, and tied to a special issue of the journal Studies in Social Justice. There will be significant funding, knowledge mobilization know-how, and some organizational assistance available. We are seeking imaginative proposals from a strong organizing committee!
And there’ll be more coming in the Winter!
Introducing: Maria Callaghan
Maria is SJRI’s new Administrative Co-ordinator. She comes to us with extensive experience in administrative leadership in academic contexts including co-ordinating a research centre and managing large-scale and multi-stakeholder research projects. We are delighted to welcome her! She is normally in the office Monday-Wednesday (WC 251, ext. 6622). Among other responsibilities, Maria will manage all aspects of the SJRI grants program. You will be hearing from her shortly.
And remember: Rachel Hirsch
Rachel Hirsch, SJRI Projects Facilitator, is available to work with you on your research proposals and grant applications (Ext. 6624; rhirsch@brocku.ca). Contact her ASAP if you want to apply to the SJRI Grants Programs this Fall. She works at arms-length from the adjudication process. Consulting with her will increase your chances of success. Rachel is also our communications and knowledge mobilization expert. Watch for her monthly e-bulletins for publishing and funding opportunities. We now have a full staff complement—yay!
Congratulations to SJRI Spring 2014 Grant recipients!
Nancy Taber (Education) with Shahrzad Mojab (OISE) for “Memoir Pedagogy: Gender Narratives of Violence and Survival” and Larry Savage (Labour Studies) and Tami Friedman (History) for “Niagara Labour History Project.” We look forward to great outcomes.
Thanks to Mary, Elizabeth and Hijin.
We extend our sincere thanks to Mary Breunig (Recreation and Leisure), Elizabeth Sauer (English) and Hijin Park (Sociology) for their service on the SJRI’s Grants Adjudication Committee last year and their patience as we worked the kinks out of the program in the first year.
Other Initiatives:
Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice
The SJRI sponsored a proposal for a CRC in indigenous Environmental Justice to be housed in the Faculty of Social Sciences, which is now being adjudicated at the university level. Thanks to Margot Francis (Women and Gender Studies) and Rachel Hirsch (SJRI Projects Facilitator) for stellar work (in late August!) on our behalf. The proposal is available to members upon request (mcallaghan@brocku.ca).
Studies in Social Justice journal
The SJRI is now home to the transdisciplinary on-line, open access journal Studies in Social Justice under the editorial leadership of David Butz (Geography). The first two issues will focus on the relation of scholarship to activism. Please see the Call for Papers for further information about how to submit proposals. Abstracts are due Oct 7, 2014.
SJRI’s strategic plan
The Faculty Steering Committee has developed a short-, medium and long-term plan that orients all SJRI activity around a core mission of producing world-class, transdisciplinary social justice scholarship. In addition to scholarly knowledge production, we are attending to SJRI’s longterm organizational stability and financial viability; meaningful engagement of SJRI’s members; mentoring of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows; and building appropriate and enduring community partnerships. The menu of activities above flows from this planning process. We look forward to reporting on this at our AGM in the Spring.
SJRI and Program Review
Big thanks to all of you who sent your CVs and Annual Reports. We put together a fabulous submission to the Senate Program Review Committee holding us in good stead for reporting to the University on the first year of our operations. We will be asking for your CVs and Annual Reports each year hereon and we deeply appreciate your cooperation and good cheer as we address these reporting requirements. Warm appreciation to Rachel Hirsch (SJRI Projects Facilitator) and Mary Montgomery (TES) for the skill and dedication they brought to this arduous task through the summer. The document is available to SJRI members upon request (mcallaghan@brocku.ca).
I look forward to seeing you all in connection with one or another of the above initiatives.
All the best for a happy and productive semester,
Janet Conway
Canada Research Chair in Social Justice &
Director, Social Justice Research Institute
Department of Sociology
Brock University
