Dec
11
Trekking Toward Awe: Nonreligion in a Complex Future project examines nonreligion and hiking
Lily Polowin, Digital Communications Officer, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
One of our goals at the Federation is to demonstrate the value and contributions of humanities and social science research. Sometimes, that value can be explained in terms of the skills that graduates gain from their education. At other times, that value is clear in the way in which the insights of our researchers can be applied by policy- and decision-makers to create a more equitable society. And lastly, often that value is shown in the humanities and social sciences’ ability to ask questions that simply can’t be approached by the hard sciences fields: questions about what it means to be human and to live in society.
“Productivity” is a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Governments, financial institutions and media commentators are all concerned with measuring, increasing and stimulating Canada’s productivity. But what does the concept of productivity actually mean beyond a gross domestic product (GDP)? Karen Foster, one of this year’s Banting Postdoctoral Fellows, will tackle this question during her research at Saint Mary’s University. The title of her post-doctoral research project is “Beyond the numbers: the meaning and measure of productivity in Canada.”
Over the past decade, border crossing has become a national security concern of growing importance, with states increasingly turning to surveillance technologies, databases and smart IDs to control migration flows. Criticism about the increased securitization of borders is generally levelled at states, which, according to 2012 Banting Postdoctoral Fellow Martin Geiger, ignores a major player in migration management – industry.
Laure Guirguis, née d’une mère française et d’un père égyptien chrétien, parle l’arabe et a régulièrement séjourné en Égypte depuis son enfance.