Each year, the Dalhousie Institute on Society and Culture (DISC)聽hosts 鈥� engaging聽panel discussions聽featuring experts from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds.
The first of these seminars, held on Thursday, February 4, featured a special announcement from Provost and Vice-President Academic Carolyn Watters about the establishment of the new Special Provost-Alumni Scholarships for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The four new scholarships guarantee a minimum $20,000 per year for four years, including a teaching assistantship or equivalent, and will help FASS be more competitive in its offers to exemplary applicants to its eight doctoral programs.
Supporting grad students
Dr. Watters explained that both the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Provost鈥檚 Office were concerned that the incoming cohort of PhD students to FASS this year was very small 鈥� not from a lack of interested and well-qualified candidates, but because our offers were not competitive on a national scale.
鈥淧hD students and our commitment to high quality research and education in FASS go hand-in-hand,鈥� said Dr. Watters. 鈥淭hese scholarships are one way for FASS to be more competitive in attracting great PhD students and restore the vibrancy of its long-standing PhD programs. We are very proud of our graduates, so let鈥檚 pull together as a community of alumni, students, and faculty to support them while they are here.鈥�
The scholarships are funded through the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), the Provost鈥檚 Office and FASS. The hope they will be expanded in subsequent years through alumni donations.
鈥淲e would like the Arts and Social Sciences [community] to know that the faculty supports them and is a part of their mission,鈥� said Dr. Watters.
Julia M. Wright, associate dean research for FASS, thanked FGS and the provost for their support.
鈥淥ur doctoral students are key contributors not only to FASS research but also to the educational experience of our undergraduate students because of their work as highly qualified teaching assistants and instructors,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese new scholarships are an important acknowledgment of the vital parts doctoral students play in FASS鈥檚 academic mission.鈥�
Left-to-right: Brandi Estey-Burtt, Tonya Katherine Canning and John Mitton.
The announcement was followed by presentations from three of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences鈥� current PhD candidates. The theme of the year鈥檚 first Cross-Currents Seminar was 鈥淐reed, Currency, and Credibility,鈥� examining responses to social concerns through literature, economics, and politics.
Brandi Estey-Burtt (English) presented "When the Messiah Comes: Rethinking Religion in 21st-Century Literature,鈥� examining spirituality, social justice and other contemporary concerns, particularly in a recent novel by Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee. Tonya Katherine Canning (Sociology & Social Anthropology) presented 鈥淓conomic Empowerment or Shell Game?: Ethnographic Analysis of a Local Currency System,鈥� tracing the uses of local currency systems as alternatives to national currency and comparing the communities鈥� aspirations for these local currencies to their experiences using them. And John Mitton (Political Science) presented "Selling Schelling Short: Reputations and聽American Coercive Diplomacy After Syria,鈥� examining the theoretical debate over the relative impact of political reputations versus present circumstances (such as interests, balance of power) in international negotiations.
The next Cross-Currents Seminar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25th, 11:30 a.m. 鈥� 1:00 p.m. in Rowe 1016, and will also feature three FASS PhD candidates, this time around the theme 鈥淐ontact Zones鈥�:
- Anas Atakora (French) 鈥淭ourism and places of memory in 鈥楾he shadow of things to come鈥� of Kossi Efoui鈥�
- Katie Stockdale (Philosophy), 鈥淭he Social and Political Dimensions of Hope鈥�
- Sinziana Chira (Sociology & Social Anthropology), 鈥淔eeling at home?: International students negotiating diversity on the Atlantic Canadian campus鈥�
All are welcome. To learn more about the Cross-Currents Seminars, . More information about the Special Provost-Alumni Scholarships can be found on the .