Karen Diepeveen, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Today in Montreal, Graham Bell, president-elect of the Royal Society of Canada, announced that in conjunction with Congress 2014 host Brock University, the Federation will present a Big Thinking lecture featuring Dr. Kevin Kee at the RSC’s AGM in Banff on November 15, 2013. In his lecture “Borders without Boundaries,” Kevin will discuss how we can harness technology to push the boundaries of teaching, bring the past to life and foster academic—private sector partnerships.  

It has been a week of launches across the country – in Hamilton, the Faculty of Humanities and the McMaster Humanities Society celebrated the opening of the Humanities Target Learning & Experiential Education Centre. A new resource for students, the centre will help increase career exploration and experiential education opportunities for Humanities students.

Over in Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan hosted the grand opening of the Social Sciences Research Laboratories. This premiere research facility supports faculty, staff and students doing cutting-edge research in the social sciences. With funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the SSRL provides access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and research supports for social scientists, while also creating opportunities for student engagement in research endeavours. Research is already underway at the facility—results from their “Taking the Pulse” survey of 1,750 Saskatchewanians have been released.

And finally: the deadline is approaching for the Konrad Adenauer Research Award. Honouring the scholar's entire academic record, the award allows the recipient to carry out a research project of his/her choice in Germany, in cooperation with German colleagues, for a period of up to one year. More information can be found on the Royal Society of Canada’s website.