York University professors Joshua Fogel, Sara Horowitz, Ali Kazimi and Debra Pepler are among the latest Fellows to be elected to the ranks of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) – one of the country’s highest honours in the arts, social sciences and sciences – in recognition of their career achievements and their positive contributions to public life.
“York University is thrilled that the exceptional work and leading expertise of professors Fogel, Horowitz, Kazimi and Pepler has been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “Their appointments as RSC Fellows are a testament to their passion and dedication in their respective fields of Asian studies, Jewish studies, film and psychology. The entire York community congratulates them on this well-deserved academic honour and recognition for advancing inclusive excellence for the benefit of Canada and the world.”
The RSC fellowship is made up of over 2,000 Canadian scholars, artists and scientists, who are all distinguished individuals in the arts, the humanities and the sciences. The York scholars join 101 new Fellows as part of the RSC Class of 2023. The new appointees will be inducted at an official ceremony hosted by the University of Waterloo in November.
The new RSC Fellows elected from York University are:
Joshua Fogel, professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Fogel is a professor in the Department of History. A leading scholar in Asian studies, his research focuses on the cultural, political and economic interactions between China and Japan, the importance of Japan in China’s modern development and the changing attitudes both countries have towards one another from the 14th to 19th century.
Sara Horowitz, professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Horowitz is a professor in the Department of Humanities, the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, as well as the graduate program in the Department of English. She is the former director of the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York. One of the world’s foremost experts in Jewish studies, her research and published works focus on Holocaust literature, women survivors, Jewish American fiction and Israeli cinema. She received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Holocaust studies from the Holocaust Education Foundation in 2022.
Ali Kazimi, professor, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Kazimi is an award-winning independent filmmaker and a professor in the Department of Cinema & Media Arts. Among Canada’s most acclaimed artists, his work explores issues of race, social justice, migration, history and memory, including documentaries that explore the diasporic South Asian relationship with Indigeneity. In 2019, he received the Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts. His most recent feature film, Beyond Extinction: Sinixt Resurgence, won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto’s Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival in 2022.
Debra Pepler, professor, Faculty of Health
Pepler is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and an Officer of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. Pepler’s influential research on bullying, aggression and other forms of violence, particularly among marginalized youth, has received international attention. She is a member of Ontario’s Safe Schools Action Team and the co-founder of PREVNet, a national research and knowledge mobilization hub focused on youth interpersonal violence prevention.
Originally published in YFile.