The 84th annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canada's largest academic gathering, is scheduled for May 30 to June 5 at the University of Ottawa. Congress 2015 will bring together 69 scholarly associations, representing fields as diverse as political science, game studies, theatre, philosophy and sociology. Some associations have sent out a call-for-papers. You can now review the list of participating associations and click on each association for more information.

In a new op-ed for The Globe and Mail, Federation President Antonia Maioni asks why so few women are in top leadership positions in corporate, political, public and scholarly circles. Female postsecondary enrolment has surpassed that of men, but we still know very little about professional trajectories for women post-graduation. More research from the social sciences and humanities is needed, concludes Maioni, to help us understand this phenomenon and reshape the culture of work to meet the realities of women, men and children. 

The Federation team is very pleased to welcome Gauri Sreenivasan, new Director of Policy and Programs. Read more about Gauri's professional background and expertise in this welcome note from Jean-Marc Mangin, Executive Director of the Federation. 

The Federation hosted two successful Big Thinking lectures on the Hill in the month of October. On October 9, political science professor Guy Laforest spoke about bringing Quebec back into Canada. Following the lecture, Professor Laforest was interviewed on Radio-Canada's "Les voies du retour." His op-ed appeared in Le Devoir and The Hill Times. On October 30, Bartha Knoppers from McGill University spoke about the impact of big data on the future of health care in Canada, in an event sponsored by Genome Canada.

World-renowned sociolinguist Shana Poplack of the University of Ottawa, will be offering a Big Thinking on the road lecture titled "Mythes et science: The ideology of "standard" language" as part of the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Society of Canada. The event will take place on Friday, November 21 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City.Tickets are available online and RSVPs are requested by end of day November 12 (today).

The Federation is looking forward to attending the Salon du livre de Montréal, taking place November 19 to 24 at Place Bonaventure. Anne-Marie Fortier, Chair of the ASPP Academic Council and Federation Board member, and Nadine Tremblay, Director of Publishing at the Presses de l'Université de Montréal, will be present at the Salon on November 21 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm to offer a workshop for publishers of scholarly books who are interested in ASPP funding opportunities.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has announced and honoured the five recipients of the 2014 Impact Awards, which recognize research, knowledge mobilization and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. The five award recipients were Beverley Diamond (Gold Medal), Thomas Lemieux (Insight Award), Nico Trocmé (Connection Award), Wendy Craig (Partnership Award) and Kirk Luther (Talent Award). Host of CBC Radio show "Ideas" Paul Kennedy acted as Master of Ceremonies at the event, which also included a keynote address by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. The video of the event is available online.

The Federation has played a key role in the organizing and programming of  Imagining Canada's Future: A National Forum, held on November 3 in Ottawa. The Forum, organized by SSHRC in collaboration with the Federation and other organizations, kicked off discussion on two future challenge areas for Canada: "The Aspirations of Aboriginal Peoples" and "The Impact of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies". Federation President Antonia Maioni moderated a panel at this event, while Cindy Blackstock, Director, Equity and Diversity on the Federation Board delivered a keynote address. Participants who came from across the country noted the value of the event in providing a collective forum for our community to address critical emerging issues.

The media response following the tragic attacks in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa was enriched by the voices of students and scholars in the humanities and social sciences. To highlight the important role that the HSS play in shaping public and policy thinking in response to these incidents, the Federation used its social media space to showcase contributions and reflections from the HSS community. The success of this endeavor highlights the need to continue supporting the contributions of our community to issues of concern to all Canadians.

The Federation ran a bilingual blog series from October 20-24 to mark International Open Access Week. Contributed posts highlighted open access developments at les Presses de l'Université de Montréal (with a focus on the "Parcours numériques" collection), University of Ottawa Press, Athabasca University Press, as well as in the Federation's Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP). We would like to thank all contributing bloggers who made this series possible.

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The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is a national, member-based organization that promotes the value of research and learning for a free and democratic society.

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