Big Thinking | Career Corner | Featured programming
Big Thinking 
The Big Thinking series is held throughout Congress and brings together leading scholars and public figures who present forward-thinking research, ideas and solutions to the critical questions and issues of our time. The series is open to all Congress registered attendees and to members of the general public registering with a community pass.
Big Thinking at Congress is the key opportunity at the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences for academics, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share ideas and solutions for a more innovative, progressive, and inclusive society.
Who can attend Big Thinking?
The Big Thinking lectures are open events. The lectures are open to all registered conference attendees, as well as members of the public with a valid community pass.
Care of togetherness: From social isolation to collective well-being
Date: June 3, 17:15 – 18:15
In an era of climate crises, humanitarian disasters, and rapid technological change, how can togetherness move us from social isolation and increasing polarization to collective well-being? This Big Thinking panel will explore the role of research, knowledge-sharing, and community building in strengthening social resilience and resistance. Panelists will share insights for diverse knowledge dissemination for community and societal impact, offering both fundamental and applied approaches to deepening our care for each other, our communities, and the world—putting into practice actions that foster healthier, more connected societies.
Meet the panelists
Billy-Ray Belcourt is from the Driftpile Cree Nation in northwest Alberta. He won the Griffin Poetry Prize for his debut collection This Wound is a World. He has twice been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award -- once in poetry and in non-fiction for his memoir, A History of My Brief Body. Both his works of fiction, A Minor Chorus and Coexistence, were national bestsellers. He is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.
Jael Richardson is the founder and Executive Director of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Her debut novel, Gutter Child was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award and the White Pine Award. She has three children’s picture books, and her first middle grade title, Today I Am was a finalist for the 2025 Forest of Reading Red Maple Award. Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.
Dr. Kisha Supernant (Métis/British) is the Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology and a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include the use of digital technologies in archaeology, Indigenous archaeology, community-driven research, and heart-centered archaeological practice. Over the past several years, she has been helping Indigenous communities in western Canada use technology to locate and protect unmarked graves.
She leads the Exploring Métis Identity Through Archaeology (EMITA), a collaborative research project which takes a relational approach to exploring the material past of Métis communities, including her own family, in western Canada.
She is on the National Advisory Committee on Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and chairs the Canadian Archaeological Association Working Group on Unmarked Graves, which was recently recognized with a Governor General’s Innovation Award. She is also President of the Indigenous Heritage Circle.
Kai Cheng Thom, MSW, MSc, Qualified Mediator, and Certified Professional Coach is an author, performer, and noted expert in the fields of trauma healing, professional coaching, somatics, dialogue facilitation, and conflict transformation. As a theorist and practitioner, she has made significant contributions in the area of trauma-informed, social change-oriented approaches to pursuing individual and collective healing and transformation, particularly in her work on Transformative Justice and conflict resolution in activist communities. A widely published author in multiple genres, Kai Cheng's non-fiction essay collection I HOPE WE CHOOSE LOVE: A Trans Girl's Notes From the End of the World was a Stonewall Honor Award book, and her poetry collection Falling Back In Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls was an instant Canadian bestseller. She also wrote 100 editions of the popular advice column Ask Kai: Advice for the Apocalypse for Xtra Magazine. As a Senior Teacher at The Embody Lab and a Faculty Member of the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education, Kai Cheng has trained hundreds of coaches, therapists, counselors, and other health and wellness professionals in body-based, anti-oppressive methods to working with people over the world.
Career Corner
Career Corner is a professional development workshop series where everyone from graduate students to established faculty members can learn how to publish and market their research, improve their lesson planning and teaching skills and find out about careers outside of academia.
Everyone from graduate students to established scholars can benefit from attending Career Corner, our professional development workshop series. Led by industry experts, these workshops include a range of topics, from publishing and communicating research, to advancing academic careers and discovering career options outside of academia.
Who can attend Career Corner?
Career Corner workshops are open events. The workshops are open to all registered conference attendees, as well as members of the public with a valid community pass.