Student Project Grants

PAST RECIPIENTS

Winter 2010

• Isaac Coplan, Tatiana Tupchy & Dawit Hailu, POG Debate Forum
• Mackenzie Aderman & Steph Perrin, Alternative Spring Break Project Peru
• Azar Masoumi, The Warrior Arash (Arash e Kamagir) – A Play

Isaac Coplan, Tatiana Tupchy and Dawit Hailu, POG Debate Forum
3rd year Politics and Governance student, 3rd year Politics and Governance student, 3rd year Politics and Governance student

The POG Debate Forum (PàDF) is a non-partisan volunteer organization designed by Politics and Governance students to engage their peers and faculty members on current political, social and economic issues.  The group hosts a series of debates and discussions throughout the school year on topics selected by Politics and Governance students through in-class consultations.  The debate series launched in Winter 2009 with a discussion on “The Development and Disappearance of Canada’s Action Plan for Food Security” and the organizers received a SELPG to support their activities.

As a result of their SELPG and the efforts of the PàDF organizers, the group hosted two discussions in the Winter of 2010 and plan to continue their activities for the 2010-2011 school year.  The group brought together experts and students outside of the classroom to engage in political discourse and critically examine issues important to today’s world.  Participants were able to expand their understanding of these issues by learning together through debate.  The funding they received helped the PDàF organizers make these forums a reality and in the process they learned about planning an educational forum, networking with staff and faculty, and engaging students in extracurricular projects.

Mackenzie Aderman and Steph Perrin, Alternative Spring Break Project Peru
2nd year Arts and Contemporary Studies student, 3rd year Arts and Contemporary Studies student

The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program received a second SELPG for the Winter 2010 semester.  This funding helped seven Faculty of Arts students participate in ASB’s Project Peru, which took place over two weeks in February 2010.

Azar Masoumi, The Warrior Arash (Arash e Kamagir) – A Play
2nd year Sociology student

Azar Masoumi received her second SELPG to put on a student performance of “Arash!,” an ancient Persian folk story glorifying honest devotion to the national community, as part of Ryerson’s celebration of Norouz, the Iranian New Year.  The story narrates the braveness of the warrior Arash who, in response to the humiliating decision of his victorious enemies, puts his whole livelihood into his arrow and as a result sends it inhumanly far, making the borders of Iran extend far and wide.  Although it is a nationalistic story, Azar and the other Faculty of Arts students who acted in the play, saw it as an opportunity to create a multicultural space for exploring different cultures and identities.
Four hundred members of the Ryerson community attended the play as part of Norouz celebrations.  Despite much of the audience being non-Persian, they were still able to enjoy and relate to the play, which was performed in Farsi.  As director and narrator of the play, this experience gave Azar a chance to improve her leadership and management skills, as well as to meaningfully engage in art, design and creative writing.  The students who acted in the play expressed that it was a valuable experience for them as well as it gave them the opportunity to connect with other Faculty of Arts students, explore Iranian cultures, learn about the cultures of their peers, express their own diverse identities and gain experience in the arts.