School of Social Work – Faculty of Public Affairs https://carleton.ca/fpa Carleton University Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:28:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 Building Community in the Classroom https://carleton.ca/fpa/2023/building-community-in-the-classroom/ Mon, 17 Jul 2023 20:42:17 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=44401 headshot of Karen Sewell

Social Work Professor Karen Sewell

Participatory. Co-operative. Energized. Experiential. Those are just a few of the words that Professors Karen Sewell and Trish Audette-Longo use to describe their approach to teaching. The two educators have received the New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award from Teaching and Learning Services, which underscores Carleton’s commitment to teaching excellence and innovation.

“The Faculty of Public Affairs is proud to have such engaging and innovative faculty members working with our students,” says Brenda O’Neill, Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs. “They serve as an inspiration for everyone on campus.”

Head shot of Professor Trish Audette-Longo

Journalism Professor Trish Audette-Longo

As a professor in the School of Journalism and Communication, Audette-Longo is midway through a two-year project called “Navigating Risk in the Journalism Classroom,” aimed at building digital security and risk assessment skills across the undergraduate and graduate journalism programs.

“My approach to teaching is participatory. I want students to know that they can safely question what and how they are learning in my classes,” she explains. “My teaching strength is co-building a sense of community that empowers students to draw on their existing skills and build new ones.”

Social Work Professor Karen Sewell shares that dedication to community building in the classroom.

“I focus on relationship development within the classroom to co-create exciting, energized learning environments,” says Professor Sewell. “I work to foster the development of knowledge, skills, and cognitive and affective processes to prepare future social workers. This occurs with attention to mental health and wellness in the classroom to support optimal student learning and embody the conditions for effective social work practice.”

The New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award is given each year to candidates in their first five years at Carleton.

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Provost Scholar Award: Lu Chen, Social Work https://carleton.ca/fpa/2023/provost-scholar-award-lu-chen-social-work/ Wed, 07 Jun 2023 15:19:10 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=44104

Lu Chen is a social work student who is described as a stellar student. Using her contacts within the Chinese community, Lu acted on her knowledge about Canada’s Old Age Security program and its under-utilization by immigrant seniors to do community outreach and information sharing among Mandarin-speaking older adults in Ottawa. She also conducted research on long-term home care inspection reports with community volunteers from the Ottawa Health Coalition bringing public attention to problems in the sector. As a summer research assistant with Prof. Susan Braedley (Social Work), Lu worked on a long-term care-and aging-related research project. She completed an analytic literature review for a CIHR grant application, working with staff from both the Bruyère Research Institute’s Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care and Family Councils of Ontario. During this time, she also began volunteering with the Social Planning Council of Ottawa supporting their research in identifying the housing needs of ethnocultural seniors. This academic year, Lu is working as a research assistant with Prof. Dennis Kao (Social Work) on a course transformation project to revamp the Carleton’s undergraduate-level “Introduction to Statistics” course – helping to transform the course from its current traditional statistics framework to focus more on data literacy and storytelling.

Provost Scholar Award

Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Jerry Tomberlin and Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) David Hornsby, along with the Faculty Deans, presented 10 undergraduate Carleton students with Provost Scholar Awards on Wednesday, May 3.

Funded by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and administered by Teaching and Learning Services, the Provost Scholar Award is valued at $1,000 and is given to undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in research, community engagement, immersive learning and/or international activities.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Provost Scholar Awards.

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Healthy End of Life Project (HELP) Ottawa Plans Public Forums https://carleton.ca/fpa/2023/healthy-end-of-life-project-help-ottawa-plans-public-forums/ Mon, 08 May 2023 18:02:29 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=43861 headshot of Pam Grassau

Pam Grassau, School of Social Work

The Healthy End of Life Project (HELP) Ottawa, a community-based, participatory action research project, has received funding to host four forums over the next several months to highlight the research, community development and projects that were developed at four sites in Ottawa.

Led by Social Work Professor Pam Grassau, and 7 community partners, the initiative is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connection program.

The SSHRC Connection Grant funding will support toolkit translation, knowledge mobilization, knowledge translation and capacity building through four community-site forums, and a community-wide summit. The forums will be tailored to each of the host sites and will include interactive presentations, experiential learning activities, and future planning. The summit will engage a broader audience, including decision makers, to establish an Action Plan with the goal of building more compassionate responses to death, dying, grief, and loss in Ottawa.

The mission of HELP Ottawa, Compassionate Communities, and other Public Health Palliative Care approaches is to see frailty, illness, death and dying as normal parts of living that everyone will experience. They also see care for the dying, grieving, and their caregivers as a normal part of living; it’s not the health care systems’ responsibility alone but all of our responsibilities – as family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and community members — to be part of these experiences. HELP Ottawa is sponsored by Compassionate Ottawa and funded by the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada.

Learn more about the Healthy End of Life Project (HELP) Ottawa.

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Five FPA Members Receive 2023 Carleton University Achievement Awards https://carleton.ca/fpa/2023/2023-university-achievement-awards-2/ Wed, 22 Mar 2023 17:58:58 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=43581 Administered by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International), the Carleton University Achievement Awards were established to recognize outstanding achievements in teaching and research.

Be sure to view past Research Achievement Award winners and the Teaching Achievement Award winners too!

Research Achievement Award

This year, two members from the Faculty of Public Affairs were among the recipients of the Carleton University Research Achievement Awards.

Stephan Schott

School of Public Policy and Administration

Project: Stakeholder and Rightsholder Engagement and Decision-making for Forestry Resources and Stewardship

This research will address important topics that are all related to forestry management and stewardship with the objectives of advancing Indigenous self-governance and effective coordination between multiple levels of government, rightsholders, and stakeholders. We anticipate that it will contribute to more transparent decision-making, more adaptive forestry management, and more inclusive governance with a wider variety of objectives taken into consideration when choosing management and policy options.

Erin Tolley, Political ScienceErin Tolley

Department of Political Science

Project: Black Canadians in Electoral Politics

There are nearly 1.5 million Black Canadians in Canada, but we know very little about their political presence because research tends to rely on aggregate categories like “visible minority.” In collaboration with Operation Black Vote Canada, this multi-method project is the first comprehensive study of the experiences of Black Canadians in electoral politics. Our research will identify factors that promote and impede political engagement, and will make recommendations to increase political inclusion in Canada.

Teaching Achievement Award

Brenda Morris, School of Social WorkBrenda Morris

School of Social Work

An experienced practitioner, clinical supervisor and social work educator, I believe that social work education can be transformative for teachers and students alike. My goal is to facilitate learning by bringing energy, respect, diverse voices and creativity to the classroom. Teaching is my passion and provides a constant context within which to explore social work’s complicated history and ongoing relationship with social justice, equity and inclusion. Much of my research uses co-operative inquiry methodology that embraces diverse knowledges and experience in the creation of knowledge, and I’m a proud member of the International Network of Co-operative Inquirers.  My teaching focuses on critical reflective social work practice with individuals and families and on mental health social work, spanning both the BSW and MSW programs.

Contract Instructor Teaching Award

Said Yaqub IbrahimiSaid Yaqub Ibrahimi

Department of Political Science

Flexible pedagogy which requires interactive, collaborative, and facilitative teaching forms the basis of my teaching philosophy in the Department of Political Science. I regularly design courses based on a key question: how can I make the topic and debates approachable to my students? Addressing this question forms the basis of my pedagogy and teaching philosophy at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Students highly appreciate this pedagogy and the learning space it creates.

Tiffany MacLellan, Department of Law and Legal StudiesTiffany MacLellan

Department of Law and Legal Studies

My courses encourage students to perform interdisciplinary examinations of the relationship between law and politics, paying particular attention to the ways in which states attempt to account for mass atrocity. As such, students are invited to turn to traditional empirical sources frequently leveraged in legal studies, as well as non-traditional sources like aesthetic and spatial sites, to grapple with important problems that underlie public international law and theories of transitional justice. I am committed to generating educational experiences within and beyond the walls of the classroom, as demonstrated by incorporating Carleton University Art Gallery exhibition material to illuminate important themes that emerge in my course’s readings.

View all of the 2023 Carleton University Achievement Award recipients on the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) website.

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Stitching Together Grief and Art https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/orange-shirt-day-beaded-vamps/ Tue, 27 Sep 2022 20:13:05 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=42518 FPA Researchers Receive Funding to Partner with Community Organizations https://carleton.ca/fpa/2022/fpa-researchers-receive-funding-to-partner-with-community-organizations/ Fri, 01 Apr 2022 17:32:13 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=41862 Three Faculty of Public Affairs faculty members and their research partners have won Partnership Engage Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The grants “provide short-term and timely support for partnered research activities that will inform decision-making at a single partner organization from the public, private or not-for-profit sector.” They also enable the researchers and organizations to share knowledge and expertise on topics of mutual interest.

“We are proud to have our researchers working with community partners on these mutually beneficial projects,” said Brenda O’Neill, Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs. “These projects demonstrate the influence academic researchers can have in tackling the most important issues in society today. This is part of our core mission.”

2022 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant Winners

headshot of Karen Sewell

Professor Karen Sewell, School of Social Work, is partnering with researchers at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, as well as Sarah Todd and Brenda Morris in the School of Social Work for the  project, “Community reintegration and recovery: Exploring and embedding social work advocacy practices to influence the social determinants of health.”

Erin Tolley, Political Science

Professor Erin Tolley, Department of Political Science, is collaborating with a number of partners to study “Black Canadians’ Participation and Inclusion in Electoral Politics.”

The partnership includes Velma Morgan and Operation Black Vote Canada, Professor Nana aba Duncan in Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication, Professor Wendell Adjetey of  McGill University, and Professor Wisdom Tettey of the University of Toronto.

Alex Wilner

Professor Alex Wilner, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) is partnering with Global Affairs Canada, as well as NPSIA researcher Devlen Balkan, to study “Strategic Foresight and Policy Action: A Roadmap for Decisionmakers.”

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Highlights 2021: The Faculty of Public Affairs https://carleton.ca/fpa/2021/highlights-2021-the-faculty-of-public-affairs/ Fri, 17 Dec 2021 20:11:09 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=41281 From new research funding to teaching awards to timely events, there are many reasons to celebrate the outstanding efforts of everyone in FPA this year. While we faced many challenges, 2021 also presented new opportunities, which were embraced by the faculty, staff and students within FPA. What follows is a sample of some of the highlights within our Faculty over the past year.

 FPA Highlights 2021

 

Communication (School of Journalism and Communication)

 

Vicky McArthur

Vicky McArthur

Research winners

Miranda Brady – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Hannah Dick – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Vicky McArthur – NSERC Encouraging Vaccine Confidence Grant

Dwayne Winseck – SSHRC Partnership Grant

Liam Young – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Awards

Karim H. Karim – Carleton University Chancellor’s Professor

Vicky McArthur – Carleton University Research Achievement Award

PhD student Stephanie Ritter – John Rainford Award in Health and Risk Communication.

Events

12th Annual Atallah Lecture

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Evelyn Maeder

Evelyn Maeder

Research winners

Nicolas Carrier – SSHRC Insight Grant

Evelyn Maeder – SSHRC Insight Grant

Natasha Stirrett – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Awards

Robin Dunbar – FPA Staff Excellence Award

Evelyn Maeder – FPA Research Excellence Award

Jeffrey Monaghan – Carleton University Research Achievement Award

Danette Nearing-Guibord – Carleton University Professional Achievement Award

Initiatives

The Criminology BIPOC caucus was launched with a mandate to support Black, Indigenous, and racialized students in our program.

The Student Support Funds program was launched.

The Institute hosted two postdoctoral fellows, Julia Chan and Logan Ewanation.

The Institute also participated in the Students as Partners Program.

 

Economics

Maya Papineau

Maya Papineau

Research winners

Maya Papineau – SSHRC Partnership Development Grant

Matthew Webb – SSHRC Insight Grant and CIHR grant

Awards

Economics students are finalists in Bank of Canada challenge.

Jevan Cherniwchan named the Canada Research Chair, Tier II, in Economics of Sustainability and Globalization.

Initiatives

The Department of Economics introduced the Graduate Diploma in Economic Policy.

The department established the Afshan Dar-Brodeur Scholarship for Excellence in Economics.

European, Russian and Eurasian Studies 

Crina Viju-Miljusevic

Crina Viju-Miljusevic

Research winners

Crina Viju-Miljusevic and Agnieszka Weinar – Partnership Engage Grant

Initiatives

The Institute marked its 50th anniversary.

Paul Goode was named the inaugural McMillan Chair in Russian Studies.

 

 

Journalism (School of Journalism and Communication)

Nana aba Duncan, Carty Chair in Journalism, Diversity and Inclusion Studies

Nana aba Duncan

Research winners

Allan Thompson – SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant

Nana aba Duncan – Carleton Racialized and Indigenous Faculty Alliance Research Grant

Awards

Brett Popplewell – Carleton New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award and FPA Teaching Excellence Award

Katelyn Graham – Excellence in Blended and Online Teaching Award

Initiatives

Journalism marked its 75th anniversary.

Matthew Pearson launched a landmark survey of mental health and well-being in journalism.

Afghan journalist Farida Nekzad joined the School as a journalist-in-residence.

Journalism faculty members Christopher Dornan, Susan Harada, Brent Popplewell, Aneurin Bosley and Nana aba Duncan are contributing to the book The Canadian 2021 Federal Election, edited by Christopher Dornan and Jon Pammett (Political Science).

Events

Stursberg Lecture

 

Arthur Kroeger College

Jennifer Robson

Jennifer Robson

Research winners

Marylynn Steckley (BGInS) – Canadian Institute of Health Research grant

Awards

Marylynn Steckley – Carleton University Excellence in Teaching Award

Initiatives

Jennifer Robson (Political Management) and Saul Schwartz (SPPA) both contributed to the 2021 Canadian election debate.

Jennifer Robson joined the Royal Society of Canada Task force on COVID-19.

Abel Mengistab Scholarship was established.

Dean Laplonge was a fellow-in-residence in Arthur Kroeger College.

The Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGInS) introduced a minor in community engagement.

 

Law and Legal Studies

Dale Spencer

Dale Spencer

Research winners

Dale Spencer – SSHRC Insight Grant and FPA Research Excellence Chair

Megan Gaucher – Insight Grant.

William Hébert – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Michael Christenson – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Awards

Melanie Adrian won an Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching Award.

Melanie Adrian was appointed to the Order of Ontario.

Hollis Moore won a Carleton University Experiential Learning Fund grant.

 

Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA)

Leah West

Leah West

Research winners

Leah West – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Lama Mourad – Partnership Engage Grant

Alex Wilner – Ontario Early Researcher Award

Awards

Leah West –  FPA Public Commentary Excellence Award.

Initiatives

NPSIA hosts visiting ambassador-in-residence Dr. Raoul Delcorde.

CFPJ Trudeau Foreign Policy Report Card was published.

Events

NPSIA hosted a talk by Bob Rae, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations.

Yanling Wang hosted the event, “We Rise Together: Stopping Anti-Asian Racism.”

 

Political Economy

Initiatives

The Institute added a specialization in climate change for MA students.

Political Economy also hosted a Fulbright Scholar this year.

Political Economy welcomed visiting professor John Peters.

 

 

Political Science

members of dual master's program with University of Lucerne

The first graduates of the Dual Master’s Degree with the University of Lucerne with the coordinators of the program. From L to R: Carleton Professor Hans-Martin Jaeger, Arta Tahiraj, Max Kallenbach, Sukhi Dhaliwal, and Lucerne Professor Joachim Blatter.

Research winners

Aaron Ettinger – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Peter Andree – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Awards

Erin Tolley named Canada Research Chair, Tier II, in Gender, Race, and Inclusive Politics.

Aaron Ettinger won the Canadian Political Science Association Prize for Teaching Excellence

Scott Bennett, Chris Brown, Achim Hurrelmann, Mira Sucharov, Alex McDougall, and Steven Orr won CUSA Teaching Awards.

Noah Schwartz – FPA Teaching Excellence Award (Contract Instructor).

Initiatives

The book The Canadian 2021 Federal Election is being edited by Jon Pammett (Political Science) and Christopher Dornan (Journalism).

Events

The first graduates of the Dual Master’s degree with University of Lucerne were honoured at a special celebration with the Swiss Ambassador.

School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA)

Marc-André Gagnon

Marc-André Gagnon

Research winners

Marc-André Gagnon – Insight Grant

Paloma Raggo – SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant

Jerald Sabin – Insight Development Grant

Jose Galdo – Insight Development Grant

Mehdi Ammi – Canadian Institutes for Health Research grant

Award winners

Amanda Clarke won an Early Researcher Award.

Initiatives

SPPA Researchers Established Lab to Study Decentred Governance in the Digital Era.

Events

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Planting a Seed Towards Reconciliation.

PhilanthroTHINK: Naheed Nenshi

 

Social Work

 

Susan Braedley

Susan Braedley

Research winners

Karen Sewell – SSHRC Insight Development Grant

Award winners

Brenda Morris – Carleton Professional Achievement Award.

Initiatives

Susan Braedley released a report on LGBTQ2+ adults and the workers who care for them.

Events

Black History is Every Month event

The School also hosted events on Asian Canadians in Social Work and on Black Canadians in Social Work.

Nimo Bokore hosted a Somalia Studies Colloquium with a focus on Somalinimo, Blackness and Belonging in the West.

Office of the Dean, Faculty of Public Affairs

Publications

Another Take

FPA Voices

News stories

Initiatives

Carleton University Research Opportunity (CUROP)

Dean’s Honour List

FPA Ambassadors

FPA research support 

Events

Author Meets Readers

Bagels and Banter

Emerging Perspectives

FPA Excellence Awards

Research series

New faculty orientation

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FPA Researchers Receive SSHRC Insight Development Grants https://carleton.ca/fpa/2021/fpa-researchers-receive-sshrc-insight-development-grants/ Thu, 11 Nov 2021 19:16:37 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=40430 We are proud to announce FPA’s winners of the 2021 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grants. These grants support research in its early stages, enabling “the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas.”

2021 Insight Development Grant Winners

Peter Andree, Professor, Department of Political Science

Entitled “Reaching for net-zero carbon emissions while reckoning with settler-colonialism: the case of dairying in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Andree and his collaborators’ project will examine how reducing greenhouse gas emission in agriculture to address climate change can be reinforced by processes of reconciliation and redress between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. ($69,048)

Miranda Brady, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Supervisor (Communication and Media Studies), School of Journalism and Communication

Entitled “Bridging the Silos: Autistics and Menopause,” this project is a collaboration between autistic advocates and academics. It explores experiences of menopause amongst autistic individuals and the ways in which knowledge about menopause can be made more accessible. ($64,795)

Michael Christensen, Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies

Entitled “A Cultural Typology of Vaccine Misinformation,” this research project will develop a new way to understand and address misinformation surrounding measures to control COVID-19. Christensen is working with co-applicants Sarah Everts from the School of Journalism and Communication and Majid Komeili from Computer Science. ($70,790)

Hannah Dick, Assistant Professor (Communication and Media Studies), School of Journalism and Communication

Entitled “Christian Persecution at the Courts: The Legal and Cultural Advocacy Work of Alliance Defending Freedom,” this project will integrate communication and media studies to the litigation strategies and coalition-building efforts of the American Christian Right. ($45,305)

Aaron Ettinger, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Entitled “Surviving Trump: Protecting Canada’s Interests When America’s First,” the project will cover two major areas of Canada-U.S. cooperation that are fundamental to Canada’s security and prosperity: North American trade and international security cooperation through NATO, both of which were imperilled by the Trump presidency. ($69,788)

Jose Galdo, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and School of Public Policy and Administration

Entitled “Can land reforms reduce the legacy of colonial institutions,” this research project will examine the role of a post-colonial land reform to reduce the legacy of a colonial labour forced system, mita, on today’s agricultural productivity and financial inclusion of smallholder farmers in Peru. ($36,980)

William Hébert, Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies

Entitled “A Critical Analysis of Emerging Policy Solutions to the `Problem’ of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Canada’s Criminal Justice System,” this project looks at Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and how it has emerged and materialized as a criminal justice problem in Canada. ($54,776)

Stéfy McKnight, Assistant Professor (Media Production and Design), School of Journalism and Communication

Entitled “PROTOHYVE: Research-Creation as a Collaborative Method for Knowledge Mobilization and Policy Making,” this project will confront the artistic and scholarly demand for a change in research-­creation policies, a refined definition of research-­creation and opportunities for national collaboration. It will also facilitate and disseminate the national and transdisciplinary discussions of research-­creationists. In collaboration with Julia Chan, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University;  Victoria McArthur, School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University; and others. ($73,334)

Jerald Sabin, Graduate supervisor, Indigenous Policy and Administration and Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration

Entitled “What is a territory? Comparative federalism and colonial political development in North America,” this project explores the development and uses of territories in Canada and the United States. With their diverse histories and geographies — ranging from tropical islands to Arctic tundra — the project considers what binds these regions together under the jurisdictional class of “territory.” ($44,160)

Karen Sewell, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Entitled “Examining Workplace-based Supervision to Strengthen Social Services,” Sewell and Social Work Professor Kenta Asakura’s project will seek to answer the following overarching research questions: What is the practice of supervision in Ontario social services? How does this supervision impact organizational outcomes? ($60,691)

Natasha Stirrett, Assistant Professor, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Entitled “Mapping the Sixties Scoop Diaspora, Criminalization and [Re] Imagining Indigenous Communities through Storytelling,” Stirrett and Criminology Professor Jeffrey Monaghan’s project will study Indigenous theoretical and methodological approaches to explore the role of criminalization and punishment in the specific experiences, resiliencies and  struggles of Sixties Scoop survivors.
($72,436)

Leah West, Associate Director (MA Admissions and Recruitment) and Assistant Professor, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs

Entitled “Control, Alt, Delete: International Law’s application to Below-Threshold Cyber Operations,” this project asks, “Does international law prohibit or permit state cyber operations that seek to alter or delete data in a foreign state?” It will answer this question by undertaking the first empirical study of the world’s 17 leading cyberpowers to determine whether customary law regulates state conduct in cyberspace that impacts data integrity but falls below the threshold of a use of force or armed attack (“below threshold operations”). ($45,320)

Liam Young, Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Communication

Entitled “Salt: Thresholds of Taste and Time,” this project explores salt’s mediation of social, cultural and technical relations at various sites and moments throughout human history. It seeks to show how these long histories of extraction and mediation inform contemporary media cultures and infrastructures.
($58,819)

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Social Work Student Launches Community Art Project in Honour the Children from Residential Schools https://carleton.ca/fpa/2021/social-work-student-launches-community-art-project-in-honour-the-children-from-residential-schools/ Mon, 12 Jul 2021 13:12:59 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=40355 By Karen Kelly

When Deborah Young learned that the unmarked graves of 215 children had been discovered at the former Kamloops Residential School and, more recently the 751 unmarked graves Marieval Indian Residential School at Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, she felt a familiar sense of sadness and grief.

“It hurt me. I felt like I was with those children,” says Young, a PhD candidate in the School of Social Work. “I am a backseat passenger in the car driving the highway of life because of my parents’ experiences in residential schools. I came out of that trauma which those schools inflicted in our community.”

Deborah Young, Social Work

Young is a Cree from Manitoba and a visitor on Algonquin unceded traditional territory. Her mother was taken from the Peguis First Nation when she was 9 years old and placed in the Brandon Residential School. Her father was taken from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation when he was only 5 and placed at residential school in Saskatchewan.

“He was a 5-year-old boy who only spoke Cree and he was terrified when he saw the huge building and the nuns,” recalls Young. “He wanted to go home, so he ran away into a potato field and got lost. He sat in that field and cried until they brought him back to the school. It’s unimaginable. My dad survived but many did not.”

Young says the discovery of unmarked graves in Kamloops, Cowessess First Nations, and the others yet to come have come to symbolize all of the children who died in residential schools across Canada. In memory of all the lost and missing children who attended residential schools, she is launching a communal beading project at Carleton, inviting faculty, staff and students to join together to create 215 beaded baby vamps for eventual display in the School of Social Work.

“For me, 215 has became a symbolism of a country awakening from its colonial past to its colonial present,” says Young.” The voices of all of those children are finally being heard. The 215 started the awakening but we always knew there would be more.”

Young explains that participants will bead single vamps, which would traditionally be the top of a moccasin, to signify the incomplete journey of the children who never made it home.

Beaded Vamp

Young says creating art is a powerful means of resistance and a tool for building awareness. When she was a student at the University of Manitoba, she led a quilt-making project in honour of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The beaded quilt now hangs at the university.

“That was a really powerful experience and I wanted to bring that here,” says Young. “There is a saying that beading is medicine and it truly is. That’s the beauty of a community coming together and beading.”

Young is hosting three online beading sessions over the summer in collaboration with the Centre for Indigenous Initiatives. Interested faculty, staff and students can email her at DeborahGYoung@cmail.carleton.ca and she will send them the beading supplies for a 5-centimetre square baby vamp.

“I’m not really looking for donations, I’m looking for people to get out and bead,” she explains. “That’s the biggest contribution you can give. I just want to engage the community.”

The call for beaded baby vamps will end on September 30, which has been designated Orange Shirt Day in honour of residential school survivors. Young is also collaborating with the School of Social Work and the Centre for Indigenous Initiatives on a panel discussion of residential school survivors to be held that day.

The 215 vamps will eventually be displayed at the School of Social Work, along with a commemorative plaque describing the history of the project and residential schools.

“As social workers, our history is entwined with the residential schools and for us, this is a really helpful project for opening up that conversation and thinking about what reconciliation could look like,” says the school’s director, Prof. Sarah Todd.

In 2018, the school supported the development of a Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Indigenization Committee, of which Young is a member. Indigenous knowledge and experiences are beginning to be reflected in both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Deborah Young, Social Work

Deborah Young welcomes further conversation about bringing Indigenous experiences and knowledge into the School of Social Work, as well as the university as a whole.

“One of the things I would love to see come out of this work is to get more Indigenous students engaged,” says Young. “I am working on establishing an Indigenous students’ Circle in Social Work where Indigenous students can come together and share ideas and advice with each other and with the administration.”

If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

Carleton employees can also receive counseling services from the Employee Family Assistance Program.

Beaded Vamps

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Report Highlights Shared Concerns of LGBTQ2+ Workers and Older Adults https://carleton.ca/fpa/2021/report-highlights-shared-concerns-of-lgbtq2-workers-and-older-adults/ Thu, 11 Mar 2021 22:08:26 +0000 https://carleton.ca/fpa/?p=38839 Researchers in Carleton University’s School of Social Work released a report on March 11, 2021 that demonstrates for the first time that LGBTQ2+ older adults, and the workers who care for them, have the same concern for safety in public spaces.

Report: It’s Got to Be About Safety: Public Services that Work for LGBTQ2+ Older Adults and LGBTQ2+ Workers in CanadaThe report, “It’s Got to Be About Safety: Public Services that Work for LGBTQ2+ Older Adults and LGBTQ2+ Workers in Canada,” is the product of a collaboration between Social Work Associate Prof. Susan Braedley, doctoral student Christine Streeter, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Egale Canada.

The group is collaborating on an international seven-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council partnership grant entitled “Age-Friendly Communities in Communities: International Promising Practices.”

“As we conducted our research, LGBTQ2+ older adults and workers in a number of communities emphasized to us that we needed to pay attention to how unsafe services were,” says Braedley, associate director of the SSHRC project.

“Feeling safe or not safe was something both older adults and workers talked about a lot.”

The researchers focused on public services used frequently by older adults, including seniors’ drop-in programs, community health centres, buses, parks, libraries, social housing, hospitals, residential long-term care and home care.

Prof. Susan Braedley

Prof. Susan Braedley

“Older adults told of having to go back to the closet in their own homes in order to feel safe accessing home care,” or being physically assaulted in washrooms,” said Braedley.

Workers reported dealing with managers who suggested that being “too gay” or working on LGBTQ2+ initiatives might negatively affect their career tracks. LGBTQ2+ older adults.

Experiences of both groups included physical violence, harassment and outright denial of services and employment.

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