Three StFX faculty members, Dr. Maria Soledad Paz-Mackay, Dr. Kara Thompson, and Dr. Jonathan Langdon, have successfully received SSHRC Connection Grants that will, respectively, help advance studies on mothering in Latin America contexts; campus alcohol policies in Canada; and learning among non-profits in a global context.
Dr. Paz-Mackay, a StFX modern languages professor, with colleagues from Lethbridge and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, has received $19,136 to host a colloquium at StFX in July 2025 focused on ‘Cinematic Mothers: Mothering and Motherhood in Contemporary Latin American Cultures.’ The workshop is intended to lead to a book publication.
Psychology professor Dr. Kara Thompson, with colleagues from Dalhousie and Victoria universities, has received $49,969 for ‘Mobilizing Knowledge to Strengthen Campus Alcohol Policies in Canada.’ The project will take existing research knowledge to create decision making tools and delivery of a learning workshop.
Development studies and adult education professor Dr. Jonathan Langdon, working with StFX’s Dr. Sutapa Chattopadhyay, Dr. Wojciech Tokarz and Sheena Cameron and a colleague from University of Kwazulu-Natal, has received $50,000 for ‘Amplifying translocal social movement learning through podcast translations.’ It will take existing research knowledge to create new ways of sharing and learning among non-profits in a global context.
SSHRC Connection Grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives. These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and engage with participants on research issues. The grants support workshops, colloquiums, conferences, forums, summer institutes, documentaries or other events or outreach activities
More details on each StFX project follow.
Cinematic Mothers: Mothering and Motherhood in Contemporary Latin American Cultures
StFX modern languages professor Dr. Maria Soledad Paz-Mackay, with colleagues from Lethbridge University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, will host a colloquium at StFX from July 1-3, 2025 focused on ‘Cinematic Mothers: Mothering and Motherhood in Contemporary Latin American Cultures.’ The colloquium, which will address and challenge preconceived notions of motherhood, will see scholars from six countries and various academic backgrounds attend. It will also lead to a book publication. “This colloquium will bring together early-career, mid-career, and established scholars and students from diverse disciplines such as women’s studies, film studies, literary studies, Indigenous studies, sociology, and anthropology, to explore the foundations of mothering theory in Latin America,” Dr. Paz-Mackay says. “We aim to achieve three goals: first, to establish a theoretical framework for studying the representation of motherhood in Latin American cinema—both fiction and documentary—through various perspectives. Second, the exchange will lead to an edited volume (González Hurtado, Paz-Mackay, and Rodríguez, eds.) to share the group's findings. Third, participants will create open-source video essays on the films discussed, making them accessible to the public.” Dr. Paz-Mackey says the representation of mothers in cinema is a well-established trope, particularly in U.S. film, where motherhood has been critiqued as a construct shaped by patriarchal structures. Early studies in the 1980s and 1990s revealed that motherhood is not a natural or universal experience but one deeply influenced by the Western patriarchy. Since then, motherhood studies have grown into a broad, interdisciplinary field, offering frameworks like maternal thinking, radical mothering, trans parenting, nonbinary parenting, maternal ambivalence, and feminist fathering. However, much of this research assumes that the normative form of motherhood reflects the expectations of middle-class, stay-at-home, white women. While this perspective may hold in the global North, it does not fully capture the diverse realities of Latin American cultures, where what is considered an alternative form of motherhood may be perceived as mainstream, she says. “This colloquium challenges these assumptions and expands existing theories to reflect Latin American contexts better.” She says the event will bring attention to the intersectionality of race, gender, class, identity, territoriality, politics, and psychology, emphasizing the social roles played by mothers, both individually and collectively. The event is also funded with $11,278 from St. Francis Xavier University, The University of Lethbridge, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and the Associación de Hispanistas y Latinamericanitas de las Provincias del Atlántico.
Mobilizing Knowledge to Strengthen Campus Alcohol Policies in Canada.
"This funding will support the development of a bilingual web-based alcohol policy evaluation tool using our evidence-based scoring rubric from the Campus Alcohol Policy Project,” says Dr. Thompson on the SSHRC Connection Grant. This online tool, she notes, will provide campuses with personalized feedback about their current policy strengths and weaknesses and provide actionable recommendations to improve their current policies. Dr. Thompson says they will host a pre-conference training workshop in November 2025, aligned with the Issue of Substance Conference hosted by the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction. The primary objective of this training workshop is to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively utilize this tool at their own institutions. “This knowledge mobilization project will increase the understanding of best-practice campus alcohol policies across postsecondary institutions in Canada and build capacity for campuses to make evidence-based changes to their current campus alcohol policies," Dr. Thompson says.
Amplifying Translocal Social Movement Learning Through Podcast Translations
Development studies and adult education professor Dr. Jonathan Langdon, working with Dr. Sutapa Chattopadhyay, Dr. Wojciech Tokarz and Sheena Cameron from StFX, and a colleague from the University of Kwazulu-Natal, will work on ‘Amplifying translocal social movement learning through podcast translations,’ to take existing research knowledge and create news ways of sharing and learning among non-profits in a global context. Using podcasts as an outreach tool, this project will amplify the voices of grassroots social movements in Ghana, South Africa and Guatemala in mainstream and academic contexts. Dr. Langdon says the Translocal Learning Network (TLN) has focused on building relationships between these grassroots social movements over the past three years through a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant. “By sharing and translating their stories of struggles—ranging from homelessness to climate issues—these movements have fostered solidarity and learning through a mutual understanding of each other's experiences. Such practices enhance empathy and interconnections among network members, contrasting with the challenges they face in mainstream media, which often ignores or criminalizes their efforts,” he says. Scholars in Canada's Maritimes and in South Africa have played important roles in this network as well, connecting these stories, and the way movements learn from each other. Importantly, he says this collective effort represents a documentation of grassroots social movements dynamic learning from each other in non-hierarchical ways, something rarely shared in academic literature. This initiative will include creating a series of translated podcasts that share stories of struggles in local languages (Talensi, Dangme, IsiZulu, and Mayan-Achi) as well as in English and Spanish. A Mi'kmaq language podcast will also be developed through connections with Mi'kmaq water defenders previously associated with the TLN. Key participants include the grassroots movements/organizations Abahlali baseMjondolo and Church Land Programme in South Africa, Radio Ada, Savannah Research and Advocacy Network, and Venceremos Development in Ghana, and the Comité Campesino del Altiplano in Guatemala, alongside allied academics from Canada and South Africa. “Overall, this project represents an innovative approach to solidarity and knowledge-sharing among translocal social movements, aiming to elevate marginalized voices and foster collective action for social justice and ecological sustainability. By utilizing modern media like podcasts, the TLN not only strengthens local languages and cultures but also enhances global connections among activists, scholars, and community members facing similar struggles.”
