It has been an exciting week for the humanities and social sciences!
The Federation has launched a new working paper proposing impact metrics for humanities and social science research. Executive Director Jean-Marc Mangin led the French-language launch of the impacts project on October 6 at the “Mobilizing Knowledge for Social Innovation” colloquium at Concordia University.
Political science professor at Université Laval, Guy Laforest, spoke at the Federation’s Big Thinking lecture on Parliament Hill today, where he proposed that Quebec re-engage with Canadian politics after its long internal exile. Professor Laforest also wrote an op-ed for Le Devoir on the same topic, and will be interviewed this afternoon on Radio-Canada emission “Les voies du retour.”
Ted Hewitt, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of SSHRC, has written an article in The Hill Times describing the profound impact of our access to vast amounts of information in this digital age on everything from business, entertainment, science and medicine. Hewitt explains how SSHRC has been funding different research projects to help analyze this data wealth and turn it into useful, versatile information.
It seems that PhD completion times are causing some to worry. Alan MacEachern, associate professor and graduate chair of history at Western University describes in a University Affairs opinion piece the pressure PhD students face to finish their dissertation before funding expires. In the Chronicle of Higher Education, Vimal Patel describes the ways in which universities are encouraging PhD students to finish their doctorate sooner.
Other interesting SSH News:
Should university professors share their personal thoughts and beliefs with students?
How do disparaging jokes affect students who are majoring or planning to major in the humanities and social sciences?
What goes into creating a counterculture in today's world?
Are PhDs tailored to non-university careers a service to the social sciences and humanities or a huge mistake?