Congress a leading venue for ideas, research

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (external link)  is more than a cultural event: it’s Canada’s largest academic gathering. With more than 9,000 attendees from over 70 universities, colleges, and scholarly associations, Congress 2017 is the leading venue for leading thinkers to share research and build partnerships.

That makes the Faculty of Arts—a vibrant hub of research and innovation—the ideal host, said faculty Dean Pam Sugiman. “There’s an incredible amount of innovative, exciting work being done by various people, groups, and organizations within the city of Toronto, and this provides our student and faculty researchers with fabulous opportunities to engage.

“Arts is made up of 11 different departments,” she added, “and this provides an opportunity for students and faculty researchers to engage with both the humanities and the social sciences, thereby offering a truly interdisciplinary educational experience.”

In a unique historical moment, the humanities and social sciences are more critical than ever. Academics, researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners will present on everything from theatre research and literature studies to history, education, sociology, and communications. And in a rapidly changing world, the Faculty of Arts is on the cutting edge of learning. 

“The Faculty of Arts now offers courses in Indigeneity and colonialism, philosophy and mass culture, and human rights and justice,” said Sugiman. “These are extremely popular courses, and they reveal the ways in which the curriculum in Arts keeps pace with changes in our society.

“We believe that the education that we provide is relevant, is in touch with current trends in society, speaks to students—we’re an extremely student-friendly faculty, and we’re very much engaged with the community and the larger society in which we exist.”

This year’s Congress theme is “The Next 150, On Indigenous Lands,” in recognition of the 150th anniversary of Canada’s federation and the insights from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Congress programming will be open to attendees from academic and non-academic audiences.

*

This is one in a series of stories about Canada 150 at Ryerson. As our nation marks the 150th anniversary of confederacy, Ryerson University is curating events, activities and stories that speak to the Canadian experience from vantage points as diverse as our people.

Related stories:

Telling Canada’s stories
Celebrating Canada’s 150th with new Canadians
Canada’s history in 3,000 books
Recapturing Canadian history

Congress stories:

Congress 2017 looks ahead to the next 150 years
Five reasons to attend Congress 2017
University unveils plans for Congress 2017