As part of Congress 2013, hosted by the University of Victoria, SSHRC organized the Storytellers Showcase on June 3, where a panel of high-profile communicators judged the presentations of SSHRC’s Top 25 Storytellers, selecting five final winners for the first-ever Research for a Better Life: The Storytellers challenge. The five winners are:
Cheryl Heykoop Royal Roads University
Manon Jolicœur Université de Moncton
Kirk Luther Memorial University of Newfoundland
Janine Stockford University of Alberta
Steve Wilcox University of Waterloo
The showcase gave the Top 25 finalists an opportunity to share their research stories in front of a live audience.
As winners of the contest, the “Final Five” have been invited to give their presentation before an international audience at the World Social Science Forum, taking place October 13-15 in Montreal.
SSHRC launched the Storytellers challenge in January 2013. We asked postsecondary students from across Canada to show the world how the very best ideas in the social sciences and humanities—research about people, behaviour, human thought and culture—are helping us understand and improve the world around us, today and into the future.
Students from across Canada rose to the challenge and submitted their most compelling story pitches describing an innovative, SSHRC‑funded research project being carried out at their institution. A jury selected the Top 25 from among the many entries, which included video, audio, infographics and text-based stories.
“The inaugural Storytellers competition set out to recognize new and emerging research communicators and to showcase the positive impact that social sciences and humanities research is having on Canada and the world,” said Chad Gaffield, president of SSHRC. “Through their creative, compelling stories, these students stand out as exceptional examples of Canada’s next generation of research communicators. Congratulations!”
Judging the Showcase were Shari Graydon, author, journalist and founder of Informed Opinions; Jay Ingram, writer, broadcaster and former host of Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet and CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks; Antonia Maioni, president of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences; and Pierre Normand, vice-president of external relations and communications at the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Earlier at Congress, the Top 25 took part in a day of research communications workshops with award-winning research communicators Graydon and Ingram.
Research for a Better Life: The Storytellers highlights the valuable research being done at postsecondary institutions across Canada, and encourages young scholars to find new and inventive ways to connect research and researchers with a broader audience.
The bios and original submissions of the Top 25 Storytellers can be viewed on the SSHRC website, and YouTube channel. Follow us on the Facebook and Twitter (#SSHRCStorytellers) to keep track of the Final Five, as they bring their research stories to the World Social Science Forum in Montreal this fall.
