Projects

Principal Investigator: Victor Kuperman (Humanities)

Co-Investigators: Brian Detlor (Business), James Gillett (Social Sciences), Ranil Sonnadara (Health Sciences/Science), Brenda Vrkljan (Health Sciences)

Question: How can digital tools and intergenerational storytelling combat social isolation and improve emotional and cognitive well-being in older adults?

What: This project aims to bridge the digital divide that, particularly during COVID-19, has increased social isolation for older adults. Through the use of digital storytelling programs and one-on-one digital training provided by students, seniors will develop the skills needed to break through isolation.

Why: The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of connection and highlighted the dangers of isolation and disconnection from communities. Developing tools and practices to support older adults to form connections, even when physically isolated, is vital in ensuring their health and well-being. The project will use the findings of this academic and community-informed research to document, assess and improve best-practices that can be shared broadly and will lay the foundation for future research in Canada and worldwide.

Principal Investigator: Vanessa Watts (Sociology/ Indigenous Studies/ Social Sciences)

Co-Investigators: Amber Dean (English and Cultural Studies/Humanities), Jackie Price (Scott Polar Research Institute/Department of Geography, University of Cambridge), Kara Granzow (Sociology/Faculty or Arts and Science, University of Lethbridge).

Question: What does reconciliation look like outside of state-informed processes and what do descendants of affected communities see as hope?

What: This project will 1) examine archival records and creative works connected to the Mountain Sanatorium and the Mohawk Institute; 2) engage in initial and exploratory conversations with stakeholder groups and affected communities; 3) explore what well-being looks like in these dual contexts as expressed through both short term and longer-term outcomes. As such, this project seeks to reimagine what power, hope and well-being look like between and across affected communities.

Why: In order to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, it is vital to understand the experiences and needs of individual communities rather than solely relying on top-down solutions.

Principal Investigators: Ingrid Waldron (Centre for Peace Studies; Department of History and Global Peace and Social Justice Program, Faculty of Humanities) and Chandrima Chakraborty (Centre for Peace Studies; Department of English and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities)

Co-Investigators: Anthea Innes (Department of Health), Sonia Anand (Department of Medicine; Canada Research Chair in Ethnic Diversity and Cardiovascular Disease), Kassia Johnson (Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences)

Question: How can centering the voices and experiences of marginalized populations lead to better public health responses?

What: This project will engage South Asian and Black communities, who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and examine how their experiences and conceptualizations of loss resulting from the pandemic are shaped by race, ethnicity, gender, age, health and religion/faith/spirituality. This project will take these lived experiences and integrate them into future strategies to foster collective public health responses.

Why: In order to continue responding and recovering from the pandemic, it is critical to acknowledge the differential impacts of COVID-19 on racialized Canadians and ensure their voices and experiences are integrated into health system decisions going forward.

Principal Investigator: Ameil J. Joseph (School of Social Work)

Co-Investigators: Amber Dean (English and Cultural Studies), Rodrigo Narro Pérez (Faculty of Science)

Collaborators: Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC), Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO)

Question: How can community-led initiatives be better supported to dismantle structural and systemic racism in Hamilton and throughout Canada?

What: Hamilton has one of the highest rates of police-reported hate crimes per capita in any city in Canada. This project aims to better understand and support community-led initiatives that work to counter the racism that fuels these crimes by mobilizing solidarities, sharing nuanced analyses that arise from grassroots organizing via lived experience, and attending to the confluence of factors that complicate the intersectional realities of individual, systemic (institutional) and structural forms of racism.

Why: This project will facilitate local and national dialogue on solidarity building, knowledge sharing and mutual aid action in response to racism and hate. The knowledge gained as a result of this project will enable community members and leaders—both locally and nationally—to affect social and policy change via anti-colonial/decolonizing approaches to knowledge generation and sharing.

Principal Investigator: Clifton van der Linden (Political Science)

Co-Investigators: Victor Kuperman (Linguistics), Roma Sehmi (Medicine), Deena Abul-Fottouh (Sociology)

Question: What role does social media play in spreading misinformation, particularly in the context of COVID-19, and how does this misinformation lead to people losing trust in democratic institutions?

What: There is a link between the advancement of communication technology and the waning of public trust in democratic institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a microcosm of this dynamic, with online disinformation being leveraged in increasing pervasive and sophisticated ways to undermine collective action, discredit scientists, and sow mistrust in public institutions. This project brings together novel data and methods to model the diffusion of COVID-19 disinformation in Canadian social media discourse and measure its effects on public opinion.

Why: With the press, higher education, democratic governments, science and medical authorities under attack, it is important to understand the role of online platforms in this trend and how misinformation is being used to erode the public’s trust in these institutions. In addition, this research will inform innovative approaches to the detection and mitigation of online disinformation—all with a view to building capacity for resilience among Canada’s democratic institutions.

Principal Investigator: Hendrik Poinar (Anthropology/Biochemistry)

Co-Investigators: Stephanie Marciniak (Anthropology), Joslyn Jamieson (Forensic Science, Trent University), Jessica Hider (Anthropology)

Question: How can creating tailored information regarding DNA identification empower Indigenous communities to lead the decision-making process around using genetic tools in identifying children from residential school burial sites?

What: A roadblock to reconciliation, and one of immediate urgency, is locating and identifying the many Indigenous children who did not return home from residential schools. This project will collaborate with interested Indigenous communities to provide tailored media content and resources to help support decision-making about the potential uses of DNA to help identify victims of residential school genocide.

Why: In order for Canada to actively move forward with reconciliation, it needs to face the devastating historical and intergenerational impact of residential schools within Indigenous communities. This project will directly respond to #71-76 “Missing Children and Burial Information” of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action while countering the long erosion of trust between colonizers and Indigenous Peoples. By supporting the reconnection of families to lost loved ones, the project will foster relationship-building and the development of future community well-being.

Principal Investigator: Karen Bird (Political Science)

Co-Investigators: Joanna Everitt (Political Science, University of New Brunswick), Mireille Lalancette (Lettres et communication sociale, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières), Angelia Wagner (Political Science, University of Alberta)

Question: If more political candidates with diverse backgrounds run for election in Canada, will this lead to more voter engagement?

What: Using an online survey experiment, involving fictional candidates to measure voter reaction, this project will investigate the general argument that by running candidates from more diverse backgrounds, political parties will help to interest more voters in election campaigns. It additionally considers how personalization and social media framing of candidates’ identities impacts voter responses. The results of this research have the potential to strengthen arguments about the importance of diversity in Canada’s political bodies and may lead to higher levels of turnout and political participation, particularly among those who have traditionally felt disengaged and disenfranchised by the lack of political role models with whom they identify.

Why: In order to strengthen Canadian democracy, voter and political engagement is crucial. In addition to learning the impact that local candidate identity may have on broader forms of political engagement (turnout, interest and political participation), this project also seeks to understand to what extent women, racialized, Indigenous, LGBTQ and other non-traditional political candidates are subject to online trolling and harassment that specifically targets their identity and difference, and what steps can be taken to mitigate this.

Principal Investigator: Robert Cockcroft (Physics and Astronomy/ Science)

Co-Investigators: Rick Monture (Department of English and Cultural Studies and the Indigenous Studies Program/Social Sciences), Rhéanne Chartrand (Curator of Indigenous Art, McMaster Museum of Art), Sarah Symons (School of Interdisciplinary Sciences/Science), Katie Moisse (School of Interdisciplinary Sciences/Science)

Question: How can Indigenous astronomy knowledge be used to further truth and reconciliation?

What: Colonization has greatly reduced the extent to which Indigenous astronomy knowledge is presently known and shared. This had led to western-trained scientists being skeptical of the existence of Indigenous astronomy and Indigenous communities being reluctant to share it out of fear of being dismissed. This project plans to further reconciliation through astronomy by building on existing efforts to share Indigenous astronomical stories including (1) creating an Indigenous astronomy undergraduate course, (2) expanding the Indigenous astronomy outreach program using McMaster’s planetariums, and (3) hosting a two-day Indigenous astronomy workshop.

Why: In order to further reconciliation and build greater trust between Indigenous communities and public institutions, Indigenous culture must be recognized and interwoven within these public institutions. Through the introduction of Indigenous astronomy knowledge in higher education, this project will challenge the paradigm of western science while creating an opportunity for inclusivity and a sense of shared place.

Principal investigator: Briana Palmer (SOTA, Humanities)

Project Engagement Committee: Carmel Whittle (No Borders Art Festival, Thunderbird Sisters Collective), Patsea Griffin (No Borders Art Festival, Thunderbird Sisters Collective), Alejandro Arauz (Fine Art Program, Queen’s University), Darlene Kalynka (Faculty of Arts; Visual Arts, Thompson Rivers University), Robert Truszkowski (Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance, University of Regina), Tara Cooper (Fine Arts Department, University of Waterloo)

Question: How can a visual representation of the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report help to increase public awareness, contribute to social change and support knowledge exchange through artistic collaborations?

What: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report can be difficult for many to access and understand. This project proposes to facilitate a visual experience of the 94 calls to action that will not only increase public awareness of the report, but also foster knowledge exchange and nurture collaborative spaces that include academic and community scholarships across Canada that equitably represent Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. This project is a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s call to action #83, which calls for Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to undertake collaborative projects and produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process.

Why: In order to move forward with reconciliation, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people must be collectively committed to learning and overcoming challenges associated with reconciliation. By sharing knowledge via accessible visual representation, more people will be informed about reconciliation and can come together in a collaborative space where solutions to challenges can be shared and worked on collectively.

Len Waverman, PhD

What: The foresight lab aims to become Canada’s premier developer of change agents who seek to imagine positive future outcomes for their organizations, communities, and society.  We will provide methods, insights, and skills-building activities that will help stakeholders make better sense of the forces that will shape the nation’s well-being and its global role over the long term. This will include:

• a variety of for-credit and non-credit learning opportunities available to all Mac students
• a Foresight Network dedicated to serving busy private and public sector leaders who wish to stay on top of future trends impacting industries, policy areas and Canadian society at large; and
• applied research that will provide in-depth analysis to decision makers across Canada.

Why: Despite the growing interest in strategic foresight outside the country, there remains a relative lack of such programs and activities in Canada.  Furthermore, as the pandemic has shown, it is imperative that the nation scale its long-term strategic thinking and leadership capabilities to better anticipate and manage the challenges and opportunities that the future will inevitably bring.

Ian McKay, PhD
Professor, History and Director, Wilson Institute for Canadian History, Humanities

What: This project aims to foster dialogue and create scholarship on how the development of Canada’s democratic principles intersects with some of the country’s most pressing issues.  Deliverables include 1) a series of public events exploring the implications of the pandemic for Canadian democracy; 2) collaborative research into “Water Politics and Power in Canada.”

Why: Canada’s democracy needs a public-spirited citizenry knowledgeably motivated to transform our stance towards the natural world and address crises related to it (the pandemic, clean and safe water). This work is as necessary to citizens and communities, as it is to professionals devising strategies to provide clean water and manage water and environmental crises to come.

Jeremiah Hurley, PhD
Professor, Economics and Dean, Social Sciences

What:  This project undertakes research and engagement to support policy development by deepening our understanding of Canada’s various capitals: people’s health, knowledge, and abilities (human capital); infrastructure supporting social relationships and organizational networks (social capital); the health and diversity of the natural world (natural capital); and digital capital.  Deliverables include 1) a white paper on these diverse capitals and their role in contributing to a flourishing Canada; (2) a roadmap on measurement and evaluation of investments in Canadian capitals; 3) knowledge mobilization on the investment nature of government expenditures in these areas; 4) an Intersession course offering on these capitals; contribution to the development of a certificate in social innovation.

Why:  The urgency of our need to invest wisely across Canadian capitals has been highlighted by the COVID pandemic, which has exposed critical gaps in our social, economic, and educational infrastructure; the now visible effects of climate change and the degradation of our environment and ecosystems; and the growing prominence of digital phenomena and their effects on our economy, politics and social interactions.  We need to develop the evidence base to support the development of sound policies.

Julia Abelson, PhD
Professor, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact (HEI), Faculty of Health Sciences

What: This project promotes interdisciplinary scholarship, education and methods expertise to inform, prepare and engage those who live in Canada to contribute to a healthier society through more robust, citizen-engaged health policy making.  Deliverables include 1) a collection of accessible, policy-friendly articles, podcasts, videos and/or webinars on public engagement in the health sector; and 2) the development of a Participatory Democracy in Health course to prepare future leaders for roles in academia, governments, and NGOs. 

Why: The global pandemic highlighted the challenge of balancing science with social values to support robust health policy decision making.  Public engagement can be an effective tool for eliciting values to inform such policies.  However, the magnitude of the current political, economic and social challenges facing Canadian health leaders calls for critical reflection on how best to engage the public to ensure meaningful and timely input.

Sean Van Koughnett
AVP, Students & Learning and Dean of Students

What: The WLSA is an intensive development award program that prepares a select group of graduate and undergraduate students to serve as future leaders. Deliverables include 1) introductions to issues of national importance through problem-based learning (PBL) sessions, shared readings, and meetings with guest experts and mentors; 2) experiential learning through the Wilson Leaders’ own community projects.

Why: As the challenges Canada faces become more complex, young leaders will need to be better prepared with examples of how to tackle complex problems, a professional network that includes experienced professionals, and practice solving problems, managing others, and correcting course.

Progress towards deliverables
Deliverable 1) Three of four PBL sessions are complete (post-pandemic long-term care, economic recovery in a global recession, public spending during a pandemic), and one is scheduled (pandemic-proofing the right to vote). Guest talks and reading discussions are complete or scheduled, including upcoming talks open to all students on the future of long-term care in Ontario and the future of higher education in Canada.
Deliverable 2) the Wilson Leaders’ projects are in their final stages.