SSH News: We Teach Ontario, Creating the Future U, Impact of the Social Sciences, Open Data for Development Challenge, Canada Council for the Arts APM, Canada-Africa Research Exchange Grants

Blog
January 23, 2014

We Teach Ontario, an initiative of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, highlights “the ways in which Ontario’s professors and academic librarians are connecting teaching and research to produce exceptional student learning, community engagement, and cutting-edge knowledge.” Most recently, Lisa Philips, Professor and Associate Vice-President of Research at Osgoode Hall Law School (York University) and Director of Research Policy at the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, has been featured in a We Teach Ontario video entitled “I Teach Fairness.” Lisa candidly discusses bringing her research into the classroom to show students how Canadian tax policy is a dynamic and engaging area of study—rather than just something that happens every April 30th.

We Teach Ontario’s current campaign, a video contest entitled Creating the Future U, is all about Ontario’s professors using teaching and research to make real, positive change. The contest asks, “Do you have a story to share about a great professor? Did they use their teaching and research to make a difference in your community?  How did they bring their research into the classroom?” Share your story for a chance to win an iPhone, iPad or trip to Toronto!

Scholars at the London School of Economics and Political Science have highlighted this week the importance and development of the social science as a complete discipline group. Along with the launch of a new book, The Impact of the Social Sciences: How Academics and Their Research Make a Difference, the spotlight has also focused on the strong convergence of contemporary science with STEM disciplines in the study of ‘human-dominated systems’ and ‘human influenced systems.’

The Canada Council for the Arts invites you to its Annual Public Meeting on January 28 in Ottawa. Come and learn more about the Canada Council’s activities and plans for the future, watch the livestream or tune in and ask questions via Twitter.

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada will be hosting the Open Data for Development Challenge on January 27-28 in Montreal. The event, which will take the form of a "codathon", will focus on data, policy, and technical questions related to aid transparency. It will bring together technical experts and policy makers to generate new tools, approaches and ideas in the fields of open data and aid transparency in order to address development issues.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) has announced the launch of the 2014 Canada-Africa Research Exchange Grants (CAREG) competition. The CAREG program is managed by AUCC with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). CAREG supports short-term exchanges between Canadian and African universities that address IDRC’s program areas. The deadline for submitting applications is Tuesday, February 18, 2014.