The Scarborough Social Atlas Project

Supervisor: Ahmed Allahwala (Human Geography)

Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s Infinite Cities Atlas Trilogy, the Scarborough Social Atlas combines scholarly research and mapping practices in the creation of a new social cartography of Scarborough. In this multi-disciplinary project, each student will serve as the academic lead of a mapping project and bring their disciplinary expertise to the collaborative. Possible topics include indigeneity, migration, food, music, queer culture, religion, architecture, green spaces and non-human species. End-of-program deliverables include a map for each project and a curatorial essay. Students will receive training in archival and database research, mapping, and narrative research. Students from all disciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Deconstructing Hip-Hop Music's Politics

Supervisor: Mark Campbell (Arts, Culture and Media)

The goal of this interactive media project is to build an educational resource that allows users to engage hip-hop musical texts from multiple disciplinary perspectives. We will work to reveal and analyze the ways hip-hop culture’s creative practices, informed by the culture’s aesthetic foundations, are used, in order to create a multidisciplinary interactive educational resource. This project welcomes RAs with interests in hip-hop culture, historical research, diaspora studies, and de-colonizing movements. Skills in web design, GIS mapping, video editing, data visualization and programming are needed; proficiency in French, Spanish, Creole, Arabic, Tagalog, or Visaya are an asset, but not required. RAs on this project will develop a nuanced and sophisticated suite of research and project management skills.

How Can We Teach Effectively in Canadian Prison?

Supervisor: Philip Heron (Physical and Environmental Sciences)

How can we connect with students who have low confidence, or negative perceptions of education? Think Like A Scientist is a specialist science course for people in prison, beginning in Canada in 2023. Successful applicants will help create a classroom dynamic that is relatable, accessible, and inclusive to all people. We are particularly interested in creating new course material on addiction, mental health, and better understanding neurodivergence. Our project needs fresh perspectives, and we believe the undergraduate students will bring new ideas to the table based on their lived experience. We encourage applications from diverse backgrounds.

Mapping Evictions in Ontario

Supervisor: Julie Mah (Human Geography)

To better understand the prevalence and geography of evictions in Ontario, this project will involve the creation of a unique database. This database will form the foundation for future work that examines these research questions: Where are evictions occurring? Are they concentrated in gentrifying areas? Who is evicting more? All of these questions carry important policy implications. Student RAs will help with inputting and cleaning the eviction filings database in preparation for mapping and linking to other datasets. Students should be familiar with Microsoft Excel, though RAs will receive training on creating Excel pivot tables, data manipulation, and geocoding.

Playing with Stories: Developing a Critical Encyclopedia of Video Game Narratives

Supervisor: Sonja Nikkila (English)

Student RAs will develop a critical encyclopedia for video game narrative studies: we will lay the groundwork for a digital, collaborative, and evolving resource that offers definitional entries as well as sample critical analyses and discussions of exemplar games. We will begin by absorbing foundational information on video game analysis––narrative lenses, categories, vocabularies, etc.––and plot a framework for the encyclopedia, including an outline of topics and proposed organization. We will explore a range of research resources (from the library to “the internet” to the games themselves) in order to extract and synthesize information for entries.

Media Messages and Reporting on Race: Differences in Discourse

Supervisor: Hadiya Roderique (Arts, Culture and Media)

Canadian media uses often negative narratives that carry powerful, coded messages about particular groups in society. There is evidence that the work of BIPOC reporters provides counter-discourses to these narratives through more nuanced portrayals of topics related to race. This project seeks to examine how white and BIPOC journalists report on race differently. Each researcher will be assigned a case study, collect reporting on these cases, and use critical discourse analysis and content analysis to analyse differences in reporting. This project appeals to students interested in Journalism, Media, Communications, Black and Indigenous Studies, and Cultural Studies. Previous experience or exposure to critical discourse analysis is an asset, but training will be provided.