Professor: Christine Gibb
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 4
Language: English, French (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

This research study - Everyday experiences & mobilities of children, teens and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic - explores the lived experiences of children, teens and older adults in several sites in Canada and the U.S., examining vulnerability, mobilities, and capacities. The results of this study will contribute to better disaster preparedness, responses, and policies and support systems that address the specific challenges and resilience of these potentially vulnerable and highly diverse groups. The study, which brings together an international team from three social science backgrounds, also explores the potential for digital communication between generations during disasters. The study uses mixed methods that are both child- and older adult-centric and pandemic-appropriate, including journals, interviews, research workshops, podcasting and surveys.

Key Learning Activities

As part of this directed research course, students will contribute to multiple aspects of the study. At present all research activities are being carried out remotely. The research activities will include one or more of the following:

• Participate actively in biweekly research meetings with the research team (Fridays 2-3 pm over Zoom)
• Support the research community partner (National Community and Campus Radio Association) with producing knowledge dissemination materials
• Assist in conducting podcast recording sessions, interviews and research workshops with research participants in English and/or French
• Recruit study participants, including through emails and phone calls to organizations and through social media 
• Transcribe interviews 
• Assist in the implementation of the social media strategy (proficiency in Canva or experience creating social media posts is an asset)
• Assist in the implementation of the equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) strategy
• Assist in the production and launch of the research podcast
• Collaboratively, conduct qualitative analyses of the journals, interviews, research workshops and podcast recording sessions (proficiency in Dedoose or other qualitative coding software is an asset)

Professor: Marie-Josée Massicotte
Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 1-2
Language: English-Spanish, French-Spanish (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

This research is in two parts, one in Mexico City and one in Canada. In Canada, I am exploring student activism around food issues on university campuses across the country. Considering the increasing rate of food insecurity among post-secondary students, it is essential to examine the main issues and efforts implemented to improve food security, especially among groups most at risk. The research attempts to shed light on the type of demands and initiatives put forward by various student groups, as well as how these demands and initiatives are received by university leaders and/or food service representatives. Some institutions have already adopted new practices and/or policies to meet student needs. In this study, I am particularly interested in student activism and activities, whether it is to fight against food insecurity, to create a pollinator garden, or to reduce food waste, for example. The goal is to understand the needs, expectations, and priorities of the student population, as well as potential solutions and strategies that could be put in place. In Mexico, the research seeks to understand the role of citizen mobilization within Mexico City in the development of alternative food initiatives and networks. I am studying the case of Huerto Roma Verde and the bridges that participants are developing with small agroecological producers in the southern region of Mexico City (Chinampas), which is still an agricultural region. The government has invested heavily in the promotion of agroecology throughout rural areas of the country, but also in Mexico City. I am interested in studying how peasant families are welcoming these programs to support diversified, ecological and small-scale agriculture, what are the benefits and difficulties they are facing, and what role leaders of Huerto Roma Verde are playing in promoting and sustaining such initiatives.

Key Learning Activities

• Get acquainted with Food Studies and the study of various forms of activism, in Canada and Mexico.
• Learn the central concepts, most important journals and authors on the subject, as well as the theoretical perspectives of environmental justice, food justice, and feminist and intersectionality.
• Learn how to find relevant articles in several languages.
• Learn to effectively identify and synthesize the gist of an article or book chapter, and develop your critical analysis and argumentative skills by comparing different articles, data and perspectives on a topic.
• Learn about qualitative research and engaged research: what is the relevance of this methodology often used by researchers in the social sciences (assets), and why it is shunned by others (limits).
• Know how to recognize and assess the relevance of this approach.
• Understand how university research can contribute to bridge theory and practice, and how combining academic and activist knowledge can participate in fostering greater social and environmental justice.

Professor: Susan Spronk
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 2-4
Language: English, French (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

We aim to better understand how blended finance in foreign aid programs in Canada is affecting our partners in developing countries and Canadian civil society. Blended finance is the use of public aid funds to raise money from the private sector (e.g. profit-seeking and philanthropists) to meet international aid and development goals while providing a profit to private investors. It is increasingly promoted as a solution to the financing gap to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Critics argue that blended finance is yet another iteration of privatization and it is not likely to raise the funds needed and risks further hampering the capacity of the public sector to deliver basic services, such as infrastructure and essential services (e.g. transportation, housing, education, water & sanitation and health) needed to promote equity and a Green Transition. In this course, we aim to better understand the particular challenges that blended finance creates for our partners in developing countries and for Canadian civil society organizations (e.g. non-governmental organizations and unions) by exploring the following questions:

1. What is the impact of blended finance initiatives in the global South?
2. How does blended finance contribute to the goal of gender equality?
3. What have been the reactions of Canadian (and Québecois) civil society organizations to blended finance?
4. What are the alternatives to blended finance?

If you are interested in questions related to decolonization of foreign aid, equity (e.g. race, gender, ability), climate change and social movements, this is the course for you! 

This course will take place in the Fall semester (September 6, 2023 to December 31, 2023). All meetings will take place by Zoom.

Key Learning Activities

This course will allow students to:

• Participate and be a member of an existing research team;
• Expand your research knowledge (methodologies, techniques, analysis, etc.) on foreign aid and international development;
• Gain an understanding of how different modalities of aid delivery affect partners in the global South and civil society organizations in Canada and Québec;
• Increase or validate their interests in graduate studies and gain a first practical experience of social science research;
• Learn how to formulate a research question and do a literature review for grad school
• Gain practical experience in research (e.g. how to do an interview)

Professor: Daniel Stockemer
Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 4
Language: English only

Research Description

In the view of politicians and ordinary citizens, immigration and immigrants have always triggered controversy. On the one hand, immigrants are an important part of many societies. They bolster the population, can make up a large and important part of the work force and create cultural diversity, which can be important for tourism and economic growth. On the other hand, the influx of immigrants into host countries can trigger resentment by the native population. In particular, members of the native majority group could feel threatened by a minority group, if there is economic scarcity or scarcity in social, cultural or security resources and if the outgroup is quantitatively large enough to pose a real or perceived threat toward the in-group (Semyonov et al., 2006).
Over the past 20 years, attitudes toward immigrants have morphed into a salient policy issue. In the wake of multiple refugee crises (e.g. the 2015 European refugee crisis, the 2022 refugee crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine War, or the ongoing southern border crisis in the US) the immigration issue has become a major cleavage that contributes to the growing polarization in many Western and non-Western countries including Brazil, Germany, the United States of America and Turkey (Fumarola, 2021, Hooghe & Marks 2018). The world has also witnessed an unprecedented rise of populist anti-immigrant parties in countries as diverse as Brazil, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, or the United States.
In this project, we want to contribute to the growing literature on anti-immigrant attitudes. We do so by asking a novel research question: are European football fans more positive toward immigrants than non-football fans? We hypothesize that they are. European Football has tremendously internationalized over the past decades. Not only have Neymar, Messi, Ibrahimovic become superstars in their respective clubs, but most clubs in the major European Football leagues have now more foreigners than native players. Fans identify with these foreign players, and we expect that this identification should also reduce prejudice against immigrants more generally. We use original survey research in four European countries (Spain Germany, Norway and Poland) to test the degree to which footfall fandom decreases anti-immigrant attitudes. The students involved in the project will summarize the scarce literature on fandom and anti-immigrant attitudes and will help analyze the original survey, which we have just put into the field. They will also contribute in writing a very novel and innovative article. 

Key Learning Activities

• Learn about a very exciting and novel topic
• Synthesize the literature
• Learn how to develop gaps in the literature
• Analyze data

Professor: Luc Turgeon
Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 2
Language: English, French (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

This research project aims to explore how certain social norms influence discourses on immigration or issues that have the potential, in theory, to have an immigration dimension. The project will explore discourses in Anglo-Canadian newspapers (The Globe and Mail, the Star, the Toronto Sun, the National Post, the Montreal Gazette and the Calgary Herald) related to the recent raise in Canada’s annual immigration intake as well as discourses regarding the housing crisis in the country. The ultimate goal of this study is to compare the way these issues are addressed in francophone Quebec newspapers in comparison to anglophone newspapers.

Professor: Christopher Cooper
Unit: Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 3
Language: English only

Research Description

This project analyzes the loyalty of senior public servants in Canada. Recent debates have emerged over whether the loyalty of senior public servants in Westminster countries has moved from traditional “impartial loyalty” to a more political “promiscuous partisanship”. While such disagreements have been difficult to settle because of a lack of empirical evidence, this project will analyze the testimony of senior deputy ministers before parliamentary committees. The analysis will focus on the nature of the testimony senior public servants provide, specifically whether this testimony reflects norms concerning classic “impartial loyalty” or whether it reflects aspects of promiscuous partisanship.

Key Learning Activities

• The identification and documenting of parliamentary committee testimony Hansard;
• Analyzing the collected data according to the theoretical framework provided and a final written report outlining the research questions, method, and findings;
• Self-reflection exercise. A written assignment outlining the student’s thoughts on what they have learned and what they wish to further develop their understanding with respect to: asking a research question; the use of theory in social science; discourse analysis; and the interpretation of evidence with respect to a theoretical framework; the evaluation of data with respect to answering research questions.
   

Professor: Denis Cousineau
Unit: School of Psychology
Number of Students: 4
Language: French (assignments can be submitted in English)

Research Description

The redundant attribute detection task is a task used in cognitive psychology to understand what information is used to make a simple comparison. In the classic task, the participant sees a stimulus that may have a certain desired shape (be a square for example), have a desired color (red, for example) or move in a desired direction. If either of these cues is present, the participant indicates “Present” by pressing a key on the computer keyboard. Sometimes more than one clue is present simultaneously; we then observe a “redundancy gain”, faster and more accurate responses. Unfortunately, the task in its classic version is very rigid: there are always three attributes manipulated, and it is always the same ones that are sought. The goal of this project is to generalize the task so that it is easier to administer under more varied conditions.

Key Learning Activities

• Readings of the 4 founding articles on this type of research and reading of a text that explains its limitations.
• Development of a less specific version of this task, using letters instead of shapes, color, and movement. This version varies the number of attributes presented to participants.
• “Beta testing” of the task after it is scheduled.
• Collection of data on 24 volunteer participants in the laboratory.
• Analysis of the data to verify that the usual effect is indeed observed.
• Writing a scientific report and a poster with a view to presenting it at a scientific conference.
• Writing a self-reflection report on the learning acquired.

Professor: Christine Gibb
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 3
Language: English, French
Assignments can be submitted in French: Yes

Research Description

This research study - Everyday experiences & mobilities of children, teens and older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic - explores the lived experiences of children, teens and older adults in several sites in Canada and the U.S., examining vulnerability, mobilities, and capacities. The results of this study will contribute to better disaster preparedness, responses, and policies and support systems that address the specific challenges and resilience of these potentially vulnerable and highly diverse groups. The study, which brings together an international team from three social science backgrounds, also explores the potential for digital communication between generations during disasters. The study uses mixed methods that are both child- and older adult-centric and pandemic-appropriate, including journals, interviews, research workshops, podcasting and surveys.

Key Learning Activities

As part of this directed research course, students will contribute to multiple aspects of the study. At present all research activities are being carried out remotely. The research activities will include one or more of the following:

• Participate actively in biweekly research meetings with the research team (Fridays 2-3 pm over Zoom)
• Support the research community partner (National Community and Campus Radio Association) with producing knowledge dissemination materials
• Assist in conducting podcast recording sessions, interviews and research workshops with research participants in English and/or French
• Recruit study participants, including through emails and phone calls to organizations and through social media 
• Transcribe interviews 
• Assist in the implementation of the social media strategy (proficiency in Canva or experience creating social media posts is an asset)
• Assist in the implementation of the equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) strategy
• Assist in the production and launch of the research podcast
• Collaboratively, conduct qualitative analyses of the journals, interviews, research workshops and podcast recording sessions (proficiency in Dedoose or other qualitative coding software is an asset)

Professor: Marie-Josée Massicotte
Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 2
Language: English-Spanish, French-Spanish (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

This research is in two parts, one in Mexico City and one in Canada. In Canada, I am exploring student activism around food issues on university campuses across the country. Considering the increasing rate of food insecurity among post-secondary students, it is essential to examine the main issues and efforts implemented to improve food security, especially among groups most at risk. The research attempts to shed light on the type of demands and initiatives put forward by various student groups, as well as how these demands and initiatives are received by university leaders and/or food service representatives. Some institutions have already adopted new practices and/or policies to meet student needs. In this study, I am particularly interested in student activism and activities, whether it is to fight against food insecurity, to create a pollinator garden, or to reduce food waste, for example. The goal is to understand the needs, expectations, and priorities of the student population, as well as potential solutions and strategies that could be put in place. In Mexico, the research seeks to understand the role of citizen mobilization within Mexico City in the development of alternative food initiatives and networks. I am studying the case of Huerto Roma Verde and the bridges that participants are developing with small agroecological producers in the southern region of Mexico City (Chinampas), which is still an agricultural region. The government has invested heavily in the promotion of agroecology throughout rural areas of the country, but also in Mexico City. I am interested in studying how peasant families are welcoming these programs to support diversified, ecological and small-scale agriculture, what are the benefits and difficulties they are facing, and what role leaders of Huerto Roma Verde are playing in promoting and sustaining such initiatives.

Key Learning Activities

• Get acquainted with Food Studies and the study of various forms of activism, in Canada and Mexico.
• Learn the central concepts, most important journals and authors on the subject, as well as the theoretical perspectives of environmental justice, food justice, and feminist and intersectionality.
• Learn how to find relevant articles in several languages.
• Learn to effectively identify and synthesize the gist of an article or book chapter, and develop your critical analysis and argumentative skills by comparing different articles, data and perspectives on a topic.
• Learn about qualitative research and engaged research: what is the relevance of this methodology often used by researchers in the social sciences (assets), and why it is shunned by others (limits).
• Know how to recognize and assess the relevance of this approach.
• Understand how university research can contribute to bridge theory and practice, and how combining academic and activist knowledge can participate in fostering greater social and environmental justice.

Professor: Justin Piché
Unit: Department of Criminology
Number of Students: 4
Language: English (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

There are 31 communities across the country that are home to federal penitentiaries operated by Correctional Service Canada (CSC). Whether co-located with other facilities on large parcels of land called “penitentiary reserves” (n=14) or operating as stand-alone sites situated on their own acreage (n=17), these settings have profoundly altered the landscapes upon which they were built and surrounding communities. These sites have also shaped the lived geographies of the thousands of people imprisoned and working within them. Through documents and archival research, this course will examine how settler colonial nation-building, capitalist restructuring and other forces have shaped where Canadian penitentiaries are located.

Key Learning Activities

Students enrolled in this course offered by the Carceral Geography (Col)laboratory based at the University of Ottawa will:

• Participate in regular team meetings and research training workshops; 
• Conduct a literature search and write annotated bibliographies;
• Conduct documents and archival research at Library and Archives Canada;
• Undertake data analysis and write summaries of their findings; 
• Write and present a draft research paper during a works-in-progress mini-conference; and
• Submit a final research paper that incorporates the feedback received during the mini-conference.

Professor: Susan Spronk
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 2
Language: English, French
Assignments can be submitted in French: Yes

Research Description

We aim to better understand how blended finance in foreign aid programs in Canada is affecting our partners in developing countries and Canadian civil society. Blended finance is the use of public aid funds to raise money from the private sector (e.g. profit-seeking and philanthropists) to meet international aid and development goals while providing a profit to private investors. It is increasingly promoted as a solution to the financing gap to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Critics argue that blended finance is yet another iteration of privatization and it is not likely to raise the funds needed and risks further hampering the capacity of the public sector to deliver basic services, such as infrastructure and essential services (e.g. transportation, housing, education, water & sanitation and health) needed to promote equity and a Green Transition. In this course, we aim to better understand the particular challenges that blended finance creates for our partners in developing countries and for Canadian civil society organizations (e.g. non-governmental organizations and unions) by exploring the following questions:

1. What is the impact of blended finance initiatives in the global South?
2. How does blended finance contribute to the goal of gender equality?
3. What have been the reactions of Canadian (and Québecois) civil society organizations to blended finance?
4. What are the alternatives to blended finance?

If you are interested in questions related to decolonization of foreign aid, equity (e.g. race, gender, ability), climate change and social movements, this is the course for you! 

All meetings will take place by Zoom.

Key Learning Activities

This course will allow students to:

• Participate and be a member of an existing research team;
• Expand your research knowledge (methodologies, techniques, analysis, etc.) on foreign aid and international development;
• Gain an understanding of how different modalities of aid delivery affect partners in the global South and civil society organizations in Canada and Québec;
• Increase or validate their interests in graduate studies and gain a first practical experience of social science research;
• Learn how to formulate a research question and do a literature review for grad school
• Gain practical experience in research (e.g. how to do an interview)

Professor: Rebecca Tiessen
Unit: School of International Development and Global Studies
Number of Students: 4
Language: English (assignments can be submitted in French)

Research Description

The prevalence of sexual harassment, discrimination based on sex and gender, sexual violence in conflict, and gender-based violence pose significant challenges to societal wellbeing, peace and reconciliation. In many parts of the world, gender-based inequalities, gender-based violence and insecurities are growing (in countries such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Uganda, to name a few). The persistent and ongoing challenges to promoting gender equality, peace and security require innovations in thinking, knowledge sharing, and policy.

This course provides students with opportunities to engage in practice-oriented - and experiential – learning research on themes related to gender equality, peace and security. Students will have practical experiences in data collection (interviews) during the February 2024 Women, Peace and Security conference (co-organized by Dr. Rebecca Tiessen and the IDW student conference coordinator) and/or volunteer placements or internships with partner organizations including the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, InterPares, the Women, Peace and Security Network (Canada – a civil society organization), the University of Ottawa Gender, Peace and Security Collaboratory, and Impact, among other organizations. Collaboration with these partner organizations will deepen students’ opportunities for diverse research-based learning.  Students will also receive training in mentorship in literature review, knowledge synthesis, policy evaluation, scholarly writing, data analysis and reporting, and social media outputs such as podcasts and blog post writing. Students will have the option of also obtaining Community Service Learning (CSL) recognition (if a minimum of 30 hours with a partner organization are completed).

Key Learning Activities

The objectives of this directed research course include:

1. Strengthening knowledge and understanding of gender equality, peace and security innovations, challenges and opportunities through knowledge sharing with scholars, practitioners, activists and researchers from multiple disciplines and sectors. Students will interact with civil society practitioners, Indigenous leaders, women’s human rights defenders, United Nations staff, and scholars (undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, early career researchers, and established scholars) 
    
2. Establishing new research priorities to further mobilize research knowledge between scholars, practitioners and activists in support of the intellectual, cultural, social and economic outputs and outcomes. 
3. Enhancing access to research knowledge through the design of policy-focused and public-facing outputs such as blogs, podcasts. 
4. Supporting a high-quality training experience on research tools and processes for students who will interact with scholars and practitioners for enhanced skills-development and career readiness.

Professor: Luc Turgeon
Unit: School of Political Studies
Number of Students: 2
Language: French
 

Research Description

This research project aims to explore the networks of actors and the historical conditions that contributed to the adoption in Quebec of a term that emerged in France in the 1990s: the concept of communitarianism. We wish to explore the networks of actors and the historical conditions that have contributed to its growing use in Quebec public discourses through an analysis of the Quebec press (La Presse, le Devoir, le Journal de Montréal) and parliamentary exchanges.

Professor: Elke Winter
Unit: School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Number of Students: 3
Language: English and French

Research Description

Political leaders from Nicolas Sarkozy to Donald Trump have expressed their preference for immigration choisie over immigration subie (chosen, not endured immigration). Indeed, in the global knowledge economy, human capital has become an important economic asset. Over forty percent of United Nations member states intend to increase the number of highly skilled migrants (Czaika and Parsons 2017). Immigration policies around the world have become less restrictive – in terms of scale and ethnic origin – and more selective – in terms of presumed economic utility and class (de Haas et al. 2018). To cite Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau, “being able to get the top talent and draw on big pools of well-educated, ambitious, forward-thinking and diverse [people] is a hell of a competitive advantage” (IRCC, 2019). The objective of this research project is to map and critically assess the prospects and pitfalls of high-skilled in North America and Europe against the backdrop of increasing social inequality and rising populism in the receiving societies. Students will assist with the collection, categorization, and analysis of new data (academic literature, grey literature, statistics). They will also help with producing country reports on economic immigrants and their reception/perception by native-born populations.

Key Learning Activities

Students will learn:

• to become a full member of an existing research team
• to work relatively independent, yet collaborate and respect timelines and goals of the collective project
• to collect, summarize, analyze, and evaluate academic literature (how to do a literature review)
• to trace, identify, collect, and catalogue information materials (statistics, “grey literature” from websites, think tanks, academic journal articles) in referencing-software
• to write up research findings and to identify the limitations of their research

They will also

• gain first-hand experience on how to execute a research project
• increase or validate their interests in graduate studies
• become experts on immigration and/or social inequality issues in specific country (learn how to do country case study)

The research activities for the FSS 4150 - Directed Research in Social Sciences course aim to:

• enrich your university education as well as learning experience and engagement;
• benefit from direct supervision with a faculty member;
• participate immersively in the acquisition of research knowledge and skills;
• enhance the interests and autonomy for higher education;
• increase knowledge of research methodologies and processes;
• become aware of the knowledge limitations inherent in any social sciences research;
• learn about scientific communication.

This course requires a minimum of three evaluations in line with the professor's guidelines and course outline. Work schedule, as well as research activities, shall be confirmed with the professor. The expected number of hours for the course is 120 to 150 hours.

All regulations and deadlines governing progress at the University apply in this case.

Students enrolled in their 4th year of a specialized program of study at the Faculty of Social Sciences that meet the following eligibility criteria are eligible. Please note that the selection process takes place in two parts: the first selection round is made by the Faculty according to the basic eligibility criteria, and the final selection is completed by the professor responsible for the chosen directed research.

Note: 3rd-year students with 51 credits and a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 9.0 can apply.

Basic eligibility criteria

• Have completed at least 81 credits.
• Have a CGPA of 8.0 or more.
• FSS 4150 may be repeated if the topic is different.

Additional evaluation criteria

• Justification of the relevance of the learning activities for your program of study and your career objectives;
• Letter of motivation: language quality, clarity, and coherence;

Only applications accepted by the Faculty and the professor will receive by e-mail an official confirmation of acceptance. We strongly encourage students to register for another course pending the official notification. You will be able to modify your registration within the applicable deadlines.

To submit an application for the FSS 4150 - Directed Research in Social Sciences course, you must complete the following steps:

• Fill out the application form clearly mentioning the chosen directed research.
• On the form, you must write a 200-word essay that shows how your participation in this research would enhance your student experience, support your professional development and fit into your career plan.
• Wait for the official confirmation of acceptance by the Faculty. The number of places available in the directed research courses is limited, and your academic progress will be reviewed.

IMPORTANT: Sending the application form does not mean that you will be accepted. If your application is approved by the Faculty (according to the eligibility criteria), it will be sent to the professor responsible for the chosen course. The professor will do the final selection. If you are selected, you will need to do the following:

• Change your course registration by using the modification of the registration form, which you will need to submit to [email protected].
• Communicate as soon as possible with your professor to arrange your research activities and work schedule.
• Notify us at [email protected], within the given deadlines, if you decide to withdraw from this course.

Note that you will not receive a schedule for this course, and it will not appear on Brightspace. Your schedule of research activities will be decided in collaboration with your professor.