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Trent University Researchers Receive Over Half a Million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Funded Projects Include Studies of Rock Art and Religion, the "Collapse" of the Ancient Maya, and the Renewal of Organized Labour in Canada

Wednesday, July 5, 2006, Peterborough

Innovative thinking about real life issues will be among the outcomes from a $597,833 funding infusion for Trent University researchers in a variety of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. The funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) was part of an $81 million Standard Research Grants announcement, which aims to support essential research on a wide range of topics and to train a new generation of Canadians for careers in research, as well as in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

The SSHRC funding will support nine humanities and social science researchers at Trent, including: Dr. Marit Munson, who will examine rock art at two ancient Pueblo Villages in New Mexico in order to gain a clearer picture of the role of religion in ancient Pueblo political and social organization; Dr. Gyles Iannone, who will expand on his research into solving the mystery behind the "collapse" of the ancient Maya; Dr. David Sheinin, who will create the first history of Argentine boxing framed in a larger social and cultural context; and Dr. Steven Tufts, who will explore the links between specific geographies of strategic corporate research and the revitalization of union organizing, collective bargaining, and political action.

"Trent University's success with SSHRC funding demonstrates, once again, that our faculty are working on important and emerging issues in a diverse range of disciplines," says Professor James D. A. Parker, Associate Vice-President: Research at Trent University. "The work that will be supported by the new funds will help Trent maintain its position as one of the most research intensive universities in the country".

A complete list of researchers at Trent University to receive SSHRC funding is as follows:
• Dr. Dimitry Anastakis, History, $15,501: Auto Continent: Consolidating the Borderless North American Auto Industry, 1971-1995
• Dr. Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez, History, $40,008: Fear and Progress: A Social History of Franco's Spain, 1939-1975
• Dr. Finis Dunaway, History, $39,007: Imagining Environmentalism: Nature and the Culture of Images in 1970s America
• Dr. Gyles Iannone, Anthropology, $173,509: Community Response to Dramatic Political Change: A Case Study from the Ancient Maya Centre of Minanha, Belize
• Dr. Marit Munson, Anthropology, $55,408: Rock Art, Religion, and Politics in the Late Prehistoric Galisteo Basin, New Mexico
• Dr. Davide Panagia, Cultural Studies, $98,164: The Viewing Subject: A Genealogy of Political Reflection
• Dr. David Sheinin, History, $64,013: The Last Champions: Boxing, Violence, and Political Cultures in Argentina, 1963-1988
• Dr. Jacqueline Solway, International Development Studies, $48,915: Democracy as a Lived Experience: Governance and the Livestock Industry in Botswana
• Dr. Steven Tufts, Geography, $63,308: Geographies of Union Strategic Corporate Research and the Renewal of Organized Labour in Canada

The overall SSHRC investment will support 969 research projects at 70 universities and colleges across Canada.

"This research will see enormous benefits for all Canadians," said Camille Limoges, SSHRC council member. "From psychology and education to archaeology and law, research in the social sciences and humanities delves into every corner of our lives. It helps us understand the world around us and allows Canada to take a strong leadership role on important global issues."

Following a national peer-reviewed competition, SSHRC's Standard Research Grants program awards grants of up to $250,000 over three years to individual researchers and small teams from universities and colleges across the country.

SSHRC is an independent federal government agency that funds university-based research and graduate training through national peer-review competitions. SSHRC also partners with public and private sector organizations to focus research and aid the development of better policies and practices in key areas of Canada's social, cultural and economic life.

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For more information, please contact:
James Parker, Associate Vice-President, Research, Trent University, 705-748-1011 x7935