WATERLOO – The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has awarded Insight Grants to seven Wilfrid Laurier University faculty members. The winners will cumulatively receive nearly one million dollars in research funding.

“We are proud of Laurier’s SSHRC Insight Grant winners, whose diverse research ranges from studies on trade policy and industry adjustment to the search for meaning among older women,” said Jonathan Newman, vice-president: research at Laurier. “Insight Grants support research excellence in social sciences and humanities, an area of exceptional strength at Laurier.”

Kathy Absolon-King, associate professor and director of the Laurier Centre for Indigegogy, will receive $213,080 for her study “Decolonizing journeys: Learning about decolonizing through Indigenous research and digital story work.” Absolon-King will use video narratives to document the stories of graduates from Laurier’s Decolonizing Education certificate program, which helps educators understand colonization and its impacts, and to integrate those perspectives into their teaching.

“We are documenting a journey that not many people have had the courage to go on,” says Absolon-King. “We are going to take a closer look at where the turning points are, when the ‘a-ha’ moments occur and what causes those transformative moments. Our learnings will inform future modules and deepen our training.”

Learn more about Absolon-King’s study.

Laurier’s other successful Insight Grant applicants include:

• Judith Fletcher, professor of History, who will receive $82,837 for her study “Women and religion in Euripides.” In the context of late fifth-century Athens, Fletcher will analyze how women’s religious practices were represented in the works of Athenian dramatist Euripides and how he granted agency to female characters.
• Christian Jordan, professor of Psychology, who will receive $99,508 for his research on “How narcissism relates to perceptions of conflict and cooperative behaviour.” Jordan will test a novel theoretical model of how different forms of narcissism relate to cooperation, focusing on the distinct motives that can undermine cooperation among narcissistic individuals and how these motives are amenable to change.
• Brian McCaig, associate professor of Economics, who will receive $80,527 for his study “Trade policy and long-run industry adjustment: State, private, and foreign firms in Vietnam.” Using Vietnam as a case study, McCaig will examine how international trade interacts with resource distortions in developing countries and export-platform-based multinational investment.
• Kalyani Menon, associate professor of Marketing, who will receive $279,565 for her study “Driving adaptive versus materialistic consumption to benefit consumers and marketers.” Menon’s study will demonstrate how promoting adaptive consumption – consumption that increases consumer well-being – can help both marketers and consumers thrive. The study will also provide consumers and marketers with strategies for decreasing materialism.
• Nicola Newton, associate professor of Psychology, who will receive $73,181 for her study “Woman’s search for meaning: Identity and purpose in life among older women.” Newton will examine how social and psychosocial factors contribute to healthy aging for Canadian women over 65 years old, including during spousal bereavement.
• Daniel Waeger, assistant professor of Policy at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, who will receive $164,776 for his study “Boards of directors and shareholder activists: Impression management, framing contests and competition.” With shareholders playing an increasingly large role in corporate governance, Waeger will analyze how the strategic actions of board members and shareholder activists are impacting shareholder dissent.