News and Events

• New Pathways to Prosperity Partnership Awarded $2.5-Million Grant to Support Settlement and Integration of Immigrants across Canada

  The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada has awarded a 2012 Partnership Grant to Victoria Esses and a pan-Canadian team of thirteen co-investigators.  The project - Pathways to Prosperity: New Policy Directions and Innovative Local Practices for Newcomer Integration and Attraction - will equip local institutions with the analytic capacity to address challenges related to migration, integration, local development, and economic and social sustainability. The project will also help federal, provincial, and municipal governments develop and implement policies for attracting, settling, and integrating newcomers in centres across Canada. The partnership will comprise a network of five regional nodes – Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, and British Columbia – with the Welcoming Communities Initiative serving as the project’s Ontario node.  For more information, see the press release.
  
  

• MER PhD student Riley Dillon was named among 10 Africa-based and 10 Canada-based graduate students receiving funding from the Africa Initiative Graduate Research to confront critical issues facing Africa. Read more here.

• Congratulations to Melissa Stachel, Victoria Esses, and Gillian King, who have just received a University Of Western Ontario Autism Centre Of Excellence Award for their project, "A qualitative, cross-national analysis of the experiences of Somali parents raising children with and without autism."  

• MER graduate Dr. Abel Chikanda will be conducting an IOM-funded training workshop in Senegal on diasporas and development. For more info please click here.

• The Western Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations, in partnership with the Canada-U.S. Institute, held a conference in London, Ontario, on April 28-30, 2011. The conference is titled: "Taking Stock of a Turbulent Decade and Looking Ahead: Immigration to North America in 2000-2010". More information can be found at the website: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/wmc/

• Harold Crabtree Foundation Award in Public Policy - Congrats to Prof. Vicki Esses and PhD Candidate Caroline Bennett-AbuAyyash, who are the 2010-2011 recipients of this award! <<more info>>

• "Coping with Autism: Suffering and Hope Among Somalis in the Twin Cities", news article written by MER Student Melissa Stachel, published October 9, 2010.

• Christopher Taylor, MER PhD Student, is currently doing an internship in Mwanza, Tanzania, in coordination with the Western Heads East Project. To check out the details of his research travel and internship agenda, Chris invites you to read more on his blog "Christopher Stuart Heads East".