At the Annual General Meetings (Nov 1999), recognition of the
major gains made by the humanities and social sciences community over the
past two years was the order of the day. The Federation has played a leading
role in securing
an increase of $19.5 million in federal funding for the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council. The Federation also helped secure
eligibility for humanities and social sciences research in the Canada Foundation
for Innovation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In
addition, it was successful in securing a 46% increase in the Travel Grants
Program, reinstating the Release Time Stipends as well as gaining over
$1 million in federal support for scholarly journals through protection
of the postal and financial subsidies. Theatre Research in Canada/Recherche
Théâtrale au Canada has benefited from that. The Federation
conceived and instigated the Community-University Research Alliances (CURA)
providing $4.5 million for community-based research in the humanities and
social sciences. The Federation developed and promoted the "Data Liberation
Initiative" which has made available many of the various statistics on
humanities and social sciences research you have seen reported in the media
and elsewhere. Through the Aid to Scholarly publishing programme, it supported
the publication of 140 new books. The HSSFC also has launched an "Expert
Panel on University Funding" whose preliminary draft of a report was discussed
at the sessions. Dr. Louise Forsyth, President of the Federation noted
that "Our increased visibility and advocacy efforts have helped put
us on the government's agenda in Ottawa," In addition, fully 400 of the
recently announced "21st Century Chairs of Research Excellence" will be
allocated to the humanities and social sciences.
Participants in the "Roundtable on Research Infrastructure" firmly
noted that federal government definitions of research infrastructure must
be broadened to reflect the needs of researchers in the humanities and
social sciences. As primarily text-based disciplines [able to read "text"
in a broad sense, I withheld my reaction to this phrasing], books, libraries,
time and travel as well as electronic tools have quite different research
applications, when compared to the sciences and engineering. For humanists
and social scientists, these tools represent fundamental research supports,
equivalent to laboratory equipment in the sciences, and are essential both
for individual scholars and those working in teams. The "Humanities Roundtable"
emphasized the importance of teaching and research in the humanities for
Canada's future in a knowledge-based economy. The humanities community
must protect its non-utilitarian values, set its own research agenda, and
define its own research needs, while explaining itself well to the public.
A large group gathered for the concurrent "Women in the Academe Roundtable"
to discuss historical experience, the present situation, and, above all,
the systemic factors that perpetuate traditional demographic patterns and
create obstacles to the full participation of women in universities and
communities. Some progress has been made, but much remains to be done.
In short, the sessions were positive and forward-looking. The
initiatives under way have some early signs of success, although some of
the issues are so large and unyielding that at times they seem insurmountable.
But as a Greek man I met on a trip to Greece many years ago said when commenting
on the installation of the autocratic rule of the 1970s, "we've had dictators
before and they didn't last."
As organizers of the annual Congress of the Social Sciences and
Humanities, the Federation noted that the Congress will be held at the
University of Alberta, from May 24- 31, 2000, and take place at l'Université
Laval in 2001 and the University of Toronto and Ryerson University in 2002.
As well, as your representative, I respond to your initiatives
and requests which can be carried to HSSFC. I urge you to keep me abreast
of concerns you have or discover in our membership. I am in contact through
the HSSFC network with other representatives of the "Small Societies" with
whom we share a number of concerns. The HSSFC also puts us in contact with
other societies, agencies, university representatives, and various people
in Ottawa and elsewhere. It offers a place where ideas and activities
can be fostered and supported -- I think here of such initiatives
as the "Allied Associations" projects we are involved in. But we must play
an active role in determining our own future. We need to express our concerns.
Keep me informed.