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Accolades in Research

Research is one of our top strengths.

LA&PS is the proud home of internationally 51勛圖厙d researchers. Our Facultys strength lies in the diversity and range of our researchers expertise, specifically in the interdisciplinary social sciences, liberal arts, humanities and professional studies. The Facultys commitment to research excellence is reinforced by the continued success of our faculty members in external research funding competitions, and respected national as well as international awards and recognitions.

Our faculty are thought leaders undertaking ground-breaking research around the most relevant issues facing humanity today COVID-19, anti-Black racism, Indigenous research, and Disaster & Emergency Management with an international focus. Researchers in LA&PS work within and across the University, and with colleagues in more than 80 countries around the world to examine and discover, critique and create.  

York University receives largest-ever research funding grant from CFREF

Banner of Connected Minds project

York University, in partnership with Queens University, has been awarded a monumental grant of nearly $105.7 million from the  (CFREF). The funding from the Government of Canada is the largest single federal grant ever awarded to York and is in support of Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society. This historic CFREF grant awards York University with $82.8 million and $22.8 million to Queens University.

Research in Review

Funding & Research Support

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$8.5 mil+

in new
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$7 mil+

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New hires in 2022-2023

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Success rate in SSHRC Partnership Programs

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61%

Success rate in early stage research

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EventsandKnowledge Mobilizationprojects supported

Prestigious Awards & Accolades

Investing in New Generation of Scholars

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Postdoctoral Fellowships

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Graduate degrees completed (MA & PhD)

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GraduateTri-Council scholarships

Our Experts in the Media

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Duygu Gulseren, an assistant professor at the School of Human Resources Management, and the chair of the Canadian Society for Industrial and Organizational Health, has contributed her expertise in a recent article that appeared in The Globe and Mail.

The article discusses quiet thriving in the workplace, describing tactics employees can use to improve their mental health and wellbeing at work. Gulseren talks about the importance of giving employees autonomy and flexibility which can improve their sense of wellbeing at work and prevent burnout in todays challenging climate.

Duygu Gulseren holds a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Saint Marys University. Her research interests include occupational health and safety and leadership.

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Jack L. Rozdilsky, LA&PS Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, has shared his expertise in an article for The Conversation discussing how proper emergency communication is crucial for maintaining public trust during disaster scenarios. Rozdilsky looks at how a false evacuation alert went out to 10 million residents in Los Angeles on January 9. He compares this to a similar false alert that happened in Ontario in 2020 and looks at the ways in which agencies must prepare for accidental alerts so they can plan to send corrective messages as soon as possible in order to avoid panic.

Jack L. Rozdilsky is a subject matter expert in the field of emergency management. His research and practice interests include interdisciplinary Emergency Management and Homeland Security. He performs field-based qualitative research at locations that have been impacted by disasters of natural, technological or social origins.

Dr. Yvonne Su, assistant professor in the Department of Equity Studies and Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, has written an article for The Conversation about the ways in which international students are facing discrimination in Canada because of the 2024 announcement which capped international student numbers. She says that as a result of the government decision to cap the number of international students in Canada, international students are experiencing discrimination and violence towards them, while the government avoids important conversations about underlying societal and systemic problems.  

Dr. Su is a specialist in forced migration, climate change-induced displacement and queer migration. She has worked extensively with vulnerable communities in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbeans including refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, trans sex workers, indigenous communities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ folks.

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Professor Thomas Klassen has written an article published in The Conversation about Justin Trudeaus resignation and his contributions towards social policy during his time in office. The article highlights Trudeaus work in areas such as legalizing cannabis, dental care, pharmacare and government-subsidized childcare. It also examines the current state of politics in Canada, looking at the reasons why Trudeau chose to resign and what might come next.  

Thomas Klassen holds his PhD from the University of Toronto. His research specializes in employment and labour, public administration, comparative labour market policies, income security policies, retirement and pensions, Korea and East Asia.

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Distinguished Researchers

Our faculty members are especially well-known for their impressive array of scholarly outputs, which have influenced public policy and debate, enriched society and culture, inspired awe and utterly transformed ways of thinking. Touching on many areas of 51勛圖厙 within the liberal arts and professional fields, our researchers can draw from their diversity of scholarship, extensive network and research centres to produce work that hits on the most relevant issues of the day.

Here are some of our faculty who have won accolades for their high-calibre research.


Order of Canada

Presented by the Governor General or reigning monarch, the second-highest honour one can be given in Canada awards people who have made extraordinary contributions to the country and enriched the lives of others.

Susan Swan Professor Emerita  
Swan was appointed for her contributions to Canadian literature and culture, and for her mentorship of the next generation of writers. Professor Swan is a cofounder of The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and has been an awards finalist for numerous Canadian literary prizes. Swans archives span her life as a novelist and Humanities professor and are available as fonds in the . 

, Department of French Studies
Professor Bouraoui was formally invested as a member of the Order of Canada during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in 2019, receiving recognition for his tremendous body of work and tireless advocacy for French-language literature. He is the former Chair of French Studies, and has authored 20 books of poetry, 15 novels, and several volumes of literary criticism throughout his career.

2019 AWARD WINNER H矇di Bouraoui

, School of Social Work
Professor McGrath was formally invested as a member of the Order of Canada in 2015 for her contributions to research and policy on refugee rights and for fostering collaboration among scholars in her field.

A leading advocate for marginalized people, McGrath has ardently defended human dignity for over four decades. Her early training as a social worker prompted what would become a lifelong concern for displaced persons abroad. As a professor at York University, she directed the and led its transformation into one of the worlds premier locations for forced migration studies. Notable for forging links between the policy and research communities, she has always sought to use her academic work to bring about tangible improvements in the lives of those in need.

Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada

Selected by their peers as representing the best in their fields, these Canadian scholars, artists and scientists are 51勛圖厙d as leaders who have had a remarkable impact on the arts, humanities and sciences.

YearFacultyDepartment
2023Sara HorowitzHumanities;
Languages, Literatures
& Linguistics
2023Joshua FogelHistory
2021History
2020History
2020History
2019History
2018Anthropology
2018History
2017Social Science
2017Equity Studies
2017History
2015Political Science
2014English
2013History
2011Sociology
2011Political Science
2011Humanities
2010Languages, Literatures
& Linguistics
2003Political Science
1989History

YearFacultyDepartment
2017Richard C. HoffmanHistory
2013History and Gender,
Sexuality & Women's Studies
2005Philosophy
2004John SaulPolitical Science
1999Michael HerrenHumanities
1997French Studies
1995Geography
1994Political Science
1993History
1993Joseph AgassiPhilosophy
1992Robert CoxPolitical Science
1989Geography
1989Evelyn KallenAnthropology
1989Frances HenryAnthropology
1988Michael KaterHistory
1985John O'NeillSociology
1982History
1982John WarkentinGeography
1981Jerome Ch'enHistory
1976John BosherHistory

Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

To 51勛圖厙 the exceptional achievements of emerging scholars, artists and scientists, the Royal Society elects those to its college who have begun demonstrating this excellence within 15 years of having completed their post-doctoral program or its equivalent.

, Department of English
Professor Williams specializes in medieval and Renaissance literatures. She established her reputation early with her prize-winning The French Fetish from Chaucer to Shakespeare (2004), which considers the impact of the Norman Conquest on the culture of medieval and Renaissance England by examining a variety of literary representations of, and responses to, France and "the French".

, Department of History
Professor Koopmans has made major contributions to the fields of history, literature, manuscript studies, and art history. Author of the influential and award-winning Wonderful to Relate: Miracle Stories and Miracle Collecting in High Medieval England (2011), she has now extended her reach into the specialist area of medieval stained glass, and is engaged in a revolutionary 51勛圖厙 of the famous "miracle windows" at Canterbury Cathedral devoted to Thomas Becket.

, Department of Philosophy
Professor Andrews has been instrumental in developing the field of philosophy of animal minds. Her interdisciplinary work in the philosophy of psychology demonstrates evolutionary continuity between human and other animals in ways that challenge human uniqueness claims based on supposedly human-unique cognitive capacities. This prize-winning research has received international attention among scholars and in the popular press, and has practical policy consequences about how we should treat other species.

, Department of Sociology
Professor Kurasawa has contributed substantially to research on cross-cultural analysis, human rights and humanitarian crises, and the impact of new technologies on public understanding of global problems. The recipient of several national and international distinctions, he is an inaugural York Research Chair in Global Digital Citizenship and a sought-after bilingual media analyst.

Canada Research Chairs

Attracting and retaining some of the worlds most accomplished and promising minds, this program bestows this title and award on deserving Canadian university research professors who pursue knowledge and research excellence.

, Department of Anthropology
Professor Coombe holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Law, Communication and Culture at York University, where she teaches in Anthropology, the York & Ryerson Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture, and the Graduate Programme in Socio-Legal Studies. Coombe's work addresses the cultural, political, and social implications of intellectual and cultural property laws in contexts shaped by neoliberal governmentalities and human rights norms. She is especially interested in international indigenous rights, cultural heritage practice, and postcolonial issues. Prior to being awarded one of the country's first Canada Research Chairs she was Full Professor of Law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. She holds a J.S.D. from Stanford University with a Minor in Anthropology and publishes widely in anthropology and political and legal theory.

, Department of Humanities
Christina Sharpe, Professor in the Department of Humanities, has been awarded a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black Studies in the Humanities. As such, Sharpe will create a fulsome and vibrant research hub, rich with innovative research creation practices and projects. The program will convene the Black Still Life Research Group as a new model of 51勛圖厙 bringing together established and emerging Black Studies scholars, graduate students, and visual and performing artists whose work investigates the myriad ways Black life is made and lived. Through collaborative, theoretical and 51勛圖厙-based research methods, the program will explore interdisciplinary ways of knowing and acting to generate scholarly and creative outcomes in Black Studies knowledges.

, Department of Politics
Leah F. Vosko is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender & Work at York University. Her research includes (1) the development of an Employment Standards Database, offering a platform for comparative research on employment standards; (2) the creation of the Canada Labour Code Data Analysis Infrastructure, transforming a large-scale administrative database that the Government of Canada's Labour Program maintains into a research tool yielding new insights into labour standards compliance across the country; and (3) an investigation identifying avenues for realizing labour market membership among workers labouring transnationally.

, Department of History
Alan Corbiere is an Assistant Professor in the History Department, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous History of North America. There has been an increase in history publications adopting an Indigenous perspective based upon colonial documents. Yet many Anishinaabe elders state that their story is still not being fully told because their oral traditions and languages are not the main source. Anishinaabe conceptualizations of time, history, literacy and discourse have not been fully analyzed nor incorporated. Corbiere proposes to re-right and re-write Indigenous history by privileging oral traditions, Anishinaabemowin and material culture (museum collections) while re-interpreting colonial records, weaving these sources together to the purpose of language/cultural/knowledge revitalization.

, Department of Sociology
Christopher Kyriakides, Department of Sociology, is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Socially Engaged Research in Race and Racialization. Kyriakides' 'Racialized Reception Contexts' research program focuses on configurations of racialization in relation to the meaning of East/West, South/North and articulations of racism and nationalism in the reception of refugees in Europe, North America and the Middle East. His research is guided by the understanding that racialization, particularly in light of the post-9/11 war on terror, works with the historical conditions of racism specific to a given national formation, but in a dynamic global context. The initial five-country analysis, including Canada, the United States, Italy, Greece and Jordan, will examine the extent to which policy instruments and media discourses related to the global refugee crisis negatively impact racialized communities in each reception context.

, Department of Politics
Jennifer Pybus, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics, has been awarded a Tier 2 CRC in Data, Democracy and AI. Her globally 51勛圖厙d, interdisciplinary research intersects digital and algorithmic cultures and explores the capture and processing of personal data. Her work focuses on the political economy of social media platforms, display ad economies, and the rise of third parties embedded in the mobile ecosystem which are facilitating algorithmic profiling, monetisation, polarization and bias. Her research contributes to an emerging field, mapping out datafication, a process that is rendering our social, cultural and political lives into productive data for machine learning and algorithmic decision-making. Pybus has cultivated strong European links with public organizations and will use her chair to engage Canadians with innovative tools, resources and pedagogy for increasing critical data literacy and democratic debate about artificial intelligence.

, Department of Philosophy
Regina Rini is a York University Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Moral and Social Cognition. Rinis research focuses on how people in democratic societies justify their social beliefs to one another. Her work analyzes research from the social sciences, especially cognitive science and sociology, to draw conclusions about how public debate currently works. She also investigates philosophical questions about what it means to improve public debate. How can we take deep moral and political differences seriously while remaining respectful in a diverse society? Rini's central answer is a connection between public discourse and personal moral agency. She argues that we cannot understand our individual moral and political decisions without also understanding how we relate to those of others.

, Department of Politics
Ethel Tungohan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics, and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism. Tungohan will undertake an analysis of discourses that have underpinned the Canadian governments policies towards temporary foreign workers from 1973 until 2017 and the nature of these policies and their effects on different groups of temporary foreign workers. She will also examine the range of migrant workers social movement activities that have emerged as a response, in particular, to anti-migrant discourses and policies.

LA&PS Postdoctoral Fellows

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) has introduced an inaugural postdoctoral fellowship program. Fellows receive a funded, one-year postdoctoral research position to conduct their proposed research project under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.

With the support of the Deans Office and LA&PS Research Office, these fellowships give researchers the opportunity to further pursue their academic interests with experts in the field and enhance the outstanding research being done in LA&PS.

Tariq Habibyar
Supervisor: Professor Andrea Emberly, Humanities 
Project Tittle: Afghan Migrant Youth in Toronto: Refugees Musical Identity as the Heart of the Story of New Canadians 

Alexandra Mourgou
Supervisor: Professor Athanasios Gekas, History  
Project Tittle: Musical Geographies and the Greek Canadian Experience in Toronto. Places, Cultures, & Diasporic Identities 

Shireen Chang
Supervisor: Professor Kristin Andrews, Philosophy 
Project Title: Symbolic Communication in Animals: How Parrots Learn to Speak and Originate Meaning. 

Anthony Sangiuliano
Supervisor: Professor Michael Guidice, Philosophy 
Project Tittle: The Philosophical Foundations of Social Justice Tort Law: Private Obligations, Public Values, and the Separation of Powers. 

Guggenheim Fellowship

Supporting exceptional creativity in the arts, these awards are given to scholars who have demonstrated outstanding ability. Applicants undergo a rigorous selection process, screened by experts in their own fields and former Guggenheim Fellows.

, Department of History
Joan Judge is among 184 artists, writers, scholars and scientists in Canada and the United States awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Professor Judge was 51勛圖厙d for her work in East Asian Studies. Her research has focused on the materiality of ideas, and on the interpenetration of Chinese and Western epistemologies of nation, gender and the body from the turn of the 20th century. Her current book-length research project, "Chinas Mundane Revolution: Cheap Print, Vernacular Knowledge, and Common Reading in the Long Republic, 1894-1955," asserts the historical value of intellectual detritus. A descent into an increasingly lowly register of texts, it asks what crude print editions, their seemingly random assemblages of knowledge, and their inquiring readers can teach us about the vagaries and failures of Chinas iconic 20th century revolutions.

, Department of English
Professor Helm was awarded with a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019 for his exceptional achievements in the field of fiction, and was one of two York professors chosen to receive the accolade from a group of close to 3,000 applicants during the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation's 95th competition. He is the author of four novels - all of which were national or international award finalists - as well as personal essay and writing on fiction, poetry, and visual arts. His work has appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including Tin HouseLiterary PubThe Millions, and Brick, where he serves as an editor.

York Research Chairs

Building on the world-renowned research being done at York University, these competitive appointments support and 51勛圖厙 excellence in research and scholarship in all areas and disciplines, as well as research leadership.

Jimmy Huang 

Huangs research as a YRC will aim to overcome the limitations of the existing information retrieval (IR) methods for web search and develop a new retrieval paradigm called task-aware and context-sensitive information search for big data. This approach, similar to ChatGPT or GoogleBard, will leverage IR techniques to offer an interactive and dynamic search experience. The programs research results are expected to provide a deeper understanding of user information needs and generate novel techniques and tools. 

Jacob Beck 

Jacob Beck has received a Tier 2 York Research Chair in Philosophy of Visual Perception. Beck is an associate professor of philosophy in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and is also a member of the Cognitive Science Program, the Centre for Vision Research and the Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) program. Appointed as a Tier II Chair, he has research interests that include the 51勛圖厙 of mental representation and consciousness from an empirically informed philosophical perspective. Most of his current research centres on three issues: the format of mental representation, the perceptioncognition boundary, and how consciousness and representation interrelate. 

Andrea Emberly 

As a YRC, Emberly will take a 51勛圖厙-led approach to the 51勛圖厙 of childrens musical cultures that explores issues around sustaining endangered musical traditions by emphasizing the connection between music and wellbeing. The research program will focus on child-led and intergenerational collaborations that amplify the voices of equity-seeking children and young people who tell their own stories, in their own voices. The work will explore how children and young people are active social agents who locate and activate unique and meaningful pathways to sustain, change and transform musical traditions. 

Denielle Elliott 

Elliotts work as YRC will explore how ethnographic experiments and transdisciplinary collaborations between arts, neuroscience and medical anthropology can contribute to a fuller understanding of conceptions of self, brain trauma and mental health. Her research program involves a multidisciplinary team that will explore the embodied experiences of people living with brain trauma and brain trauma knowledge-making practices in the clinic and laboratory, as well as their convergences. The research results will increase understandings of the effects of brain trauma, facilitate transdisciplinary collaborations between the arts, science and humanities and highlight how uniquely valuable ethnographic methods are to understanding urgent health priorities. 

Cary Wu 

Wus YRC program will work to establish a transdisciplinary political sociology of health approach to investigate health inequalities and provide greater understanding of what forces maintain, increase and reduce health inequalities. The research includes theoretical and empirical illustrations that will focus on trust the belief in the reliability of others and institutions. The program will seek to energize the field of political sociology by introducing a much-needed new research direction that focuses on trust and will advance a unifying theory of trust to explain health inequalities. 

York Distinguished Research Professors

Demonstrating scholarly achievements, these individuals are 51勛圖厙d for their excellence in research, extensive publication and continuing contributions to their field. Recipients have an international reputation in their area of 51勛圖厙.

YearFacultyDepartment
2018Humanities
2017History
2014Politics
2011History
2010Sociology
2009Languages, Literatures
& Linguistics
2005Politics
1997History

YearFacultyDepartment
2005Stuart ShankerPsychology
2001History
2001Political Science
2000James CarleyEnglish
1999Michael HerrenHumanities
1999Political Science
1998Philosophy
1994History
1993Philosophy
1992History
1992Gareth MorganAdministrative Studies
1989John BosherHistory
1984History
1983John ONeillSociology

York President's Research Excellence Awards

These awards celebrate established full-time faculty members who are select in their fields, and have made significant contributions to both advancing York Universitys international reputation for research excellence and its 51勛圖厙s intellectual life.

, Department of English
President's Research Impact Award
Professor Creet was selected for this award as a reflection of her research on digital privacy, data mining, genealogy, and memory. She has produced both traditional research outputs and edited essay collection, as well as innovative contributions including a workshop on genealogy and genetics, and a documentary film titled, "Datamining the Deceased: Ancestry and the Business of Family."

, Department of English
President's Research Excellence Award
Professor Williams was selected for this award as a reflection for her accomplishments in medieval and Shakespeare studies. She is the author of several groundbreaking monographs that have had a notable impact in these fields, and is a strong contributor to York University's intellectual life as well - serving on a number of committees in the Department of English and proving students with experiential learning opportunities.

, Department of Sociology
President's Emerging Research Leadership Award
Professor Musto was selected for this award as a reflection of his scholarly publications. He is acknowledged globally as one of the key authors who has made very significant contributions to the revival of Marx studies. In particular, he has reconstructed the stages of Marxs critique of capitalism in light of the new historical-critical edition of his writings. Musto has an impressive publication record, authoring four and editing seven books, in addition to many articles and book chapters, since he moved into the tenure stream ago.