A total of 24 Queen’s University researchers are recipients of more than $3 million in combined funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The Insight and Partnership Grants programs are designed to support their work in a range of disciplines that build knowledge and understanding about people, societies, and the world.

The funding for Queen’s is part of $158 million invested in more than 800 research projects across Canada recently announced by Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities. Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands, Mark Gerretsen, is helping highlight the portion awarded to Queen’s researchers.  

“Social sciences and humanities research contributes to the well-being of all Canadians. It helps us better understand the world we live in, and how we can strengthen our social institutions. I am very proud that the federal government has invested in so many worthy projects undertaken by Queen’s researchers,” says Mark Gerretsen, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands.

Highlights of the funding include Sam McKegney’s research into Indigenous peoples’ relationships with hockey in Canada and Li-Jun Ji’s work exploring the relationship between culture, adversity and resilience.

“Hockey is a vehicle through which non-Indigenous Canadians manufacture senses of belonging in the Northern landscape. Yet hockey is experienced by Indigenous players, coaches, and fans in ways that exceed the confines of the Canadian nation state and are expressive of Indigenous sovereignty,” says Dr. McKegney (English Literature) who received a $305,060 Insight Grant. “The research team, made up predominantly of Indigenous scholars, is grateful to SSHRC for funding that will allow us to collaborate with Indigenous individuals and communities throughout Turtle Island who are invested in decolonizing the game.”

Dr. Ji (Psychology) received a $172,150 Insight Grant to investigate how people from different cultures confront and cope with adversity and how they derive meaning from negative life experiences.

“Providing graduate students with good-quality training in cross-cultural research can be costly, as it naturally involves traveling, translating materials, meeting with collaborators and research participants from other cultures. The support of SSHRC makes all of this possible,” says Dr. Ji. “I have been continuously supported by SSHRC grants and without that support I wouldn’t be able to be as productive in my research and wouldn’t have been able to produce a group of excellent PhD students who have benefitted from my SSHRC grants and begun their own career successfully.”

In addition to the funding garnered for primary applicants from Queen’s, importantly, a number of Queen’s researchers will also act as co-applicants and collaborators on SSHRC Insight and Partnership grants held at other institutions. For example, Dylan Robinson (Language, Literatures and Cultures) and Karine Bertrand and Susan Lord (Film and Media) are co-applicants on a Partnership grant of $2.5 million out of York University, which will examine new theoretical questions, and the methodological challenges, that attend the changing nature and political realities of visual media archives.

“SSHRC funding provides the opportunity to develop our talent at Queen’s and connect those researchers with Canadian and international partners,” says John Fisher, Interim Vice-Principal (Research). “The projects focus on societal challenges and understanding human behaviour, and, ultimately, will provide better insight into the world around us.”

For more information visit the SSHRC website.