News: Ensuring that scholars from underrepresented groups have a voice in articulating the value of the humanities and social sciences

Ensuring that scholars from underrepresented groups have a voice in articulating the value of the humanities and social sciences

Dear Federation members,

In recent months, the Federation has been engaging with students and scholars in the humanities and social sciences on an ambitious new project that will help our community articulate the value of its scholarship. Our objective is to develop a renewed, evidence-based account of how the humanities and social sciences affect people’s lives in the 21st century and to communicate this effectively to key audiences in government, the media, the higher-education sector and the general public.

We are committed to developing the Role of HSS project in collaboration with the humanities and social sciences community, in all of its diversity. However, in reviewing the engagement we have had so far with our members, we’ve noted that certain groups aren’t as represented as they could be (although, it should be noted that we’ve had excellent gender diversity in our discussions so far).

The Federation recognizes the value of inclusive engagement and hopes to be as proactive as possible in seeking out a broad spectrum of perspectives. Certainly, the value and relevance of our Role of HSS project depends, in part, on our capacity to obtain feedback from scholars who identify with groups who are typically underrepresented.

We would greatly appreciate your assistance in identifying scholars from such groups who may be interested in providing input. Anyone interested in this opportunity for feedback should contact Peter Severinson at pseverinson@ideas-idees.ca. Peter will be happy to provide more details about the project and how to participate in it.

We believe strongly that the humanities and social sciences strengthen and enrich our society, and we welcome insight from across our diverse community to help us tell this story.

Sincerely,
Sonia Vani
Director of member engagement and communications
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences