Brock researchers in humanities, social sciences, education, business and applied health sciences have received more than $900,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Grants were awarded in several categories, including 19 Standard Research Grants for 17 projects, which cover one, two and three-year research programs.

These projects cover a range of subjects, including:

• the work-life balance in an Aboriginal setting
• animal welfare activism in visual culture in the 19th century
• local sources of venture capital fundraising

English professor Adam Dickinson received funding from two separate SSHRC programs for his approach to poetry using scientific methodologies with environmental overtones.

Dickinson earned a Standard Research Grant of $13,568 for “Poetry as science, science as poetry: Pataphysics, biosemiotics and postmodern environments.” He was also granted $60,000 in the category of Research/Creation in the Fine Arts for a three-year research program entitled “Anatomic: Semiotic bodies, chemical environments.”

“In a world increasingly reliant on developing the knowledge economy, it is important to understand our relationship with our society, whether poetical or societal, not just in terms of scientific developments such as new medicines,” said Ian Brindle, outgoing Vice-President Research.

The 2011 SSHRC program results, totaling $121 million for 1,700 research projects across Canada, were announced in Ottawa by Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology).

BACKGROUND

Mark Julien

Grant highlights for Brock include:

Insight Development Grants

• Leah Knight, English Language and Literature, $18,887 for “What Anne Read: The Text Life of a Renaissance Woman”
• Mark Julien, Business, $36,707 for “Balancing work-family from an Aboriginal perspective”
• Heather Lawford, Psychology, $74,100 for “The role of identity, morality, and community involvement in early generativity among emerging adults”

Standard Research Grants

• Michael Busseri, Psychology, $21,427 for “Investigating the belief that life gets better and better over time: Sources and implications of upward subjective trajectories for life satisfaction”
• Keri Cronin, Visual Arts, $12,795 for “‘Do not refuse to look at these pictures’: Visual culture and 19th-century animal welfare activism”
• Adam Dickinson, English Language and Literature, $13,568 for “Poetry as science, science as poetry: Pataphysics, biosemiotics
  

  Julian Kitchen

  and postmodern environments”

• David Hayes, Applied Linguistics, $46,097 for “The role of school language education in the development of respect among ethnic communities in Sri Lanka and its impact on the development of the foundations for social harmony in the country”
• Julian Kitchen, Education, and co-applicant John Hodson, Education, $25,897 for “Learning and enacting Aboriginal pedagogy through Nishnawbe Aski teacher education”
• Dave Bouckenooghe, and co-applicant Dirk De Clercq, Business, $16,977 for “Unpacking the relationship between influence tactics and commitment to change: Contingency effects of cognitive style fit and perceived organizational context”
• Dirk De Clercq and co-applicant Lianxi Zhou, Business, $86,851 for “Learning advantages of newness in early internationalization: An investigation of underlying mechanisms and performance effects”


Lissa Paul

• Dominic Lim, Business, $84,000 for “Entrepreneurial cognitions and new venture growth”
• Sampsa Samila, Business, $63,013 for “Local sources of venture capital fundraising and economic growth”
• Larry Savage, Labour Studies/Political Science, $102,874 for “Faculty associations and the politics of accountability governance in Ontario universities”
• Lissa Paul, Education, $60,860 for “Eliza Fenwick: An eighteenth-century life for the twenty-first century”
• Teena Willoughby, Psychology, $104,233 for “Academic achievement from late high school through university: Processes of risk and resilience”
• Sandra Beckett, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, $61,724 for “The art of recycling stories for all ages”

Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences

• Renee-Claude Bretenstein, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, $15,504 for “Le choix de la langue dans la construction des publics a la Renaissance en France”

Partnership Grants — Letter of Intent

• Steven Renzetti, Economics, $20,000 for “Water economics, policy and governance network”