Discover why academic research is important and how it is used to respond to community and industry challenges this Friday at the launch of the Research Matters Associate Dean Research Speakers’ Series, showcasing research excellence in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
Research Matters will run on Sept. 25 from 10am to 12:30pm in 005 Accolade West Building, Keele Campus.
It is an opportunity to hear York researchers discuss some of the innovative projects they are working on, and to learn about the impact their research is having and how it is redefining the way people see and understand the world.
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In the first half of Research Matters, York English Professor R. Darren Gobert (right) will discuss "The Subject Between the Page and Stage".
“In this talk, I describe two book projects that are underway," says Gobert. "The first, entitled The Princess in Exile: Tragic Emotion After Descartes, demonstrates the influence of Cartesian philosophy on dramatic theory and theatrical practice, beginning with those of Descartes’ influential contemporary Pierre Corneille. The second project, entitled What Precedes the Subject, concerns speech prefixes, the little tags in a dramatic script that indicate who is speaking."
“My goal in the Research Matters presentation will be to connect the two projects, to reveal their theoretical consonances and shared methodological innovations," says Gobert. "Both concern notions of the subject, of course, but both also move between page and stage: between the practices of print and those of theatrical performance.”
Communications Professor Amin Alhassan will look at "The Grammar of Aid in International Development". “My research project interrogates the uses of the language of help in international development discourse. Using Ghana and Uganda as cases, I have demonstrated how the gift of international development assistance functions within the triad of state, civil society and market as a medium of power,” says Alhassan.
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In the second half, York social work Professor Uzo Anucha (right) will discuss "Community Engagement as a Methodological Practice: The Community Dialogue Approach". Anucha’s presentation discusses a framework for community-university research partnerships that re-imagines community engagement as a methodological practice and research as a community dialogue that must fully and equitably engage the community that is the focus of the research.
Professor Marie-Hélène Budworth (left) of York’s School of Human Resource Management will present "Against the Odds: Accessing Employment by Increasing Self-Efficacy". Budworth’s research findings suggest that when self-identified groups, such as native Canadian youth and women in Turkey, were trained in verbal self-guidance they were more likely to find employment than individuals who were not trained. Self-efficacy was found to predict successful re-entry into the workforce. Budworth will review plans on the relationship between self-efficacy and the role it could play in assisting laid-off employees to re-enter the labour market.
A question-and-answer period will follow the presentations.
“In transition to the new Faculty the former associate deans Heather Campbell and Kelly Thomson and I have organized this series to engage, challenge and celebrate the wide range of research methodologies and practices represented in the new Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies,” says Barbara Crow, associate dean research.
For more information regarding the speakers and their topics, visit the Research Matters Program Web site.
To RSVP, call Lorraine Myrie at 416-736-2100 ext. 22464.