Dalitso Ruwe, assistant professor of Black Political Thought in the Department of Philosophy and the Black Studies Program, has been named a Azrieli Global Scholar by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), a Canadian-based global research organization.

The Azrieli Scholars are provided two years of unrestricted research funding and access to a community of interdisciplinary global collaborators to advance their work on pressing questions facing science and humanity. A total of 16 scholars were announced, including Élise Devoie, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, marking the second time Queen’s researchers have received the honour from CIFAR.

“It’s an incredible honor to be named a Global Scholar,” Dr. Ruwe says. “The opportunity to join a program that values interdisciplinary research while asking new questions about how the sciences and humanities can help us make sense of contemporary societal challenges is exciting. Personally, I'm excited to be learning from emerging and renowned scholars who have made an active commitment to public facing problems.”

The Azrieli Global Scholar community includes more than 400 researchers from 161 institutions in 18 countries and its fellows, chairs, scholars, and advisors are among the most highly cited researchers in the world.

Currently Dr. Ruwe is conducting research on how Eurocentric scientific discourses, from the 17th through 21st century, have not only dehumanized Black men but justified their deaths as well. He is exploring negative caricatures of Black masculinity that emerge in scientific narratives and addressing how these depictions and stereotypes have normalized anti-black violence.

He is also working on a manuscript titled Horrors of the Flesh: Black Misandric Violence and the Dehumanizing Logics of Western Sciences.

“I see this award as an opportunity to strengthen more pathways and connections to amplify research in Africana philosophy, Critical Race Theory and Black Male Studies in the field of philosophy in Canada.”

Learn more about Dr. Ruwe and Dr. Devoie and the award on the CIFAR website.

This article was first published by the Faculty of Arts and Science.