This week, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences was pleased and honoured to welcome Annalise Acorn as an expert in Law for the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP). Annalise Acorn is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. With research interests that include the theory of the emotions in the context of conflict and justice, she has also authored a book entitled Compulsory Compassion: A Critique of Restorative Justice on the rhetoric of the restorative movement. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the ASPP is a unique program that helps promote knowledge in the humanities and social sciences in Canada. “The program is designed to assist the publication of works of advanced scholarship which make an important contribution to knowledge, in the areas of the humanities and social sciences” (Faculty of Law, University of Alberta).
If like Jorge Luis Borges, you have “always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library”, be sure to take a trip to Gatineau (Québec) between February 27 and March 2, 2014 for the 35e Salon du Livre (Book Fair). The 2014 Honorary President is no other than Kim Thúy. Kim Thúy was awarded the Governor General's Literary Award in 2010 for Ru, which was also shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2012. Stay tuned for details about the event, as all the special programming will be announced next week, on February 6!
In other literary news, “Shelagh Rogers [from CBC news] is interviewing all five of the Canada Reads authors on The Next Chapter -- one a week between January 6 and February 3” (CBC books). The Canada Reads 2014 contenders include The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Cockroach by Rawi Hage, and Annabel by Kathleen Winter.
The Annual Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference will be held for the first time in Canada this year! Engaging for Change: Changing for Engagement will take place at the University of Alberta in Edmonton October 5-9, 2014. The conference aims to “bring together academics and community members to explore, discuss, debate, and demonstrate why and how both universities and communities are changing” (Engaging for Change: Changing for Engagement) and will explore three sub-themes, “Why engage?”, “How do we engage?” and “What impacts are we having?” Proposals are due March 17, 2014 (video submissions due Aug 31, 2014).