The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (), also known as the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, is a member-based organization and the national voice for researchers in the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

and

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

in Canada. Formed in 1996 through a merger of the Social Science Federation of Canada and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, it is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

that represents more than 85,000 researchers in 81 scholarly associations, 80

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s, and 6 affiliates across the country.

Purpose

Through its activities, the federation strives to support and advance Canada's research in the

and

, which are important for social, cultural and economic understanding and addressing the most pressing public policy issues of today. Research in the humanities and social sciences allows innovation in all areas to flourish. A better understanding of social, cultural and political issues ensures more effective technological innovation, medical discovery and economic growth. The federation: * represents and convenes one of the biggest research communities in Canada; * hosts the biggest multidisciplinary gathering of scholars in North America; * supports the publication of 150 scholarly books per year; * awards scholarly book prizes each year; * runs a series of lectures on Parliament Hill to bring humanities and social science research to policy makers; * addresses professional matters, including equity issues; * undertakes research projects to help advance Canada's humanities and social science fields. The federation is a non-profit, charitable organization, governed by an executive committee and board of directors made up of scholars from its member groups with a permanent

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

based in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The federation's work is sustained by membership fees, revenue from its annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, project funding from the

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; , CRSH), often colloquially pronounced 'shirk' (), is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humani ...

and other government bodies, and through the support of colleagues, institutional donors and other individuals through the Canadian Endowment for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Originally established in 1930 as the ''Learned Societies Conference'', and later renamed the ''Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences'' in 1996, this congress is the largest annual academic gathering in Canada and its multidisciplinary character marks it as unique in the world. Since its beginning, it has been an important meeting place for new and established academics and researchers working in such diverse areas as

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy, reading therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapy that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts. It uses an individual's relationship to the co ...

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

disability studies Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability", where impairment was an impairment of an individual ...

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

and literature,

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

and literature,

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, the history and philosophy of science, international development,

Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...

studies,

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, social work, theatre research, Ukrainian studies,

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

and many more. Congress is currently organized by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2014, from May 24 to May 31, approximately 8,000+ attendees representing 75 scholarly associations gathered at

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Canada, from all over North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia to present their research and to debate some of the most important social and cultural questions of the day. In 2020 Congress was held at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from May 30 to June 5. Congress 2023 was hosted by

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. With over 10,300 attendees and 67 participating associations, Congress 2023 was one of the biggest scholarly events in Canadian history.

Big Thinking

Formerly known as Breakfast on the Hill, the federation'
Big Thinking
lecture series lets leading researchers offer fresh ideas to Canada's parliamentarians. Perhaps more than any other program or lecture series, this one demonstrates the critical link between publicly funded research and policy development. Launched in 1994, the Big Thinking series has featured more than 50 humanists and social scientists presenting their findings to thousands of key members in the

policy community. Held up to six times a year on

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

, Big Thinking lectures are delivered when the House and Senate are in session. The talks are high-profile opportunities to introduce evidence from current research on the most pressing public policy issues

Awards to Scholarly Publications Program

The Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP) is a key activity of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Formerly known as the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, the ASPP is a competitive funding program designed to assist with the publication of scholarly books on topics in the humanities and social sciences. Through this program, the federation tangibly supports research dissemination and encourages excellence in humanities and social science scholarship. Under the program's mandate to support books of advanced scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that make an important contribution to knowledge, the ASPP has supported the publication of over 6,000 books that have helped to enrich the social, cultural and intellectual life of Canada and the world. Each year, the ASPP offers 180 Publication Grants of $8,000 and five Translation Grants of $12,000, contributing 1.5 million dollars to the dissemination of Canadian research. The federation gratefully acknowledges the funding of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Canada Prizes

The Canada Prizes are awarded annually to the best scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences that have received funding from the ASPP. The Canada Prizes are awarded to books that make an exceptional contribution to scholarship, are engagingly written, and enrich the social, cultural and intellectual life of Canada. Each winner receives $2,500. In 2014, the Canada Prizes were awarded to the following books: * Canada Prize in the Humanities (English): Sandra Djwa, ''Journey With No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page'', published by McGill-Queen's University Press * Canada Prize in the Humanities (French): Pierre Anctil, ''Jacob-Isaac Segal, 1896–1954 : Un poète yiddish de Montréal et son milieu'', published by Presses de l'Université Laval * Canada Prize in the Social Sciences (English): David E. Smith, ''Across the Aisle: Opposition in Canadian Politics'', published by

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...

* Canada Prize in the Social Sciences (French): Hugues Théorêt, ''Les chemises bleues : Adrien Arcand, journaliste antisémite canadien-français'', published by Éditions du Septentrion

Presidents

* 1996–1998 Chad Gaffield * 1998–2000 Louise Forsyth * 2000–2002 Patricia Clements * 2002–2004

Doug Owram Doug Owram is professor of history and was deputy vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia Okanagan from 2006 to 2012, a post he assumed on July 1, 2006. He was formerly vice president (academic) and provost at the University of Alber ...

* 2004–2006 Don Fisher * 2006–2008 Noreen Golfman * 2008–2009 Nathalie Des Rosiers * 2009–2011 Noreen Golfman * 2011–2013 Graham Carr * 2013–2015 Antonia Maioni * 2015–2017

Stephen Toope Stephen John Toope (born February 14, 1958) is a Canadian legal scholar, academic administrator and a scholar specializing in human rights, public international law and international relations. In November 2022, he was appointed as the fifth pre ...

* 2017–2019

Guy Laforest Guy Laforest (born 1955) is a Canadian political scientist and former director general of the École nationale d'administration publique. Previous to that he was director of the department of political science at the Université Laval, where he ta ...

* 2019–present Patrizia Albanese

Executive Directors

* 1996–1998 Marcel Lauzière * 1998–2001 Louise Robert * 2001–2006 Paul Ledwell * 2006–2009 Jody Ciufo * 2009–2016 Jean-Marc Mangin * 2016–2017 Christine Tausig Ford (interim) * 2017–present Gabriel Miller

References

External links

* {{Authority control Learned societies of Canada Supraorganizations Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies