We are pleased to announce that Nathaniel Whelan has accepted a new continuing, full-time position with Carleton International. As the team’s Event and Outreach Coordinator, he is responsible for developing web and social media content, drafting speeches and correspondences, and event planning. He previously worked for our office as an Outreach Officer.

Nathaniel has been a part of the Carleton community since 2009. After graduating with a B.A. in History, he continued his pursuit of higher education by earning an M.A. in European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. His time spent studying in Kyrgyzstan has given him practical, firsthand insight into the values our office upholds and the benefits of international mobility. He also has a diploma in Professional Writing from Algonquin College and a background in creative writing.

Congratulations to Nathaniel on successfully acquiring this new position. We are thrilled to welcome him now as a permanent fixture of this team.

Dudley Maseko is a Carleton alumnus from the Department of Law and Legal Studies, who currently practices law as in-house counsel at the Royal Canadian Mint. Born in Zimbabwe, he is committed to supporting students in Africa. In honour of his late father, a man who strongly believed in the value of education, Dudley set up the Daniel Samuel Maseko Memorial Scholarship at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2019 to help students in financial need who demonstrate academic excellence and a history of community engagement.

Once the pandemic hit soon after, many universities across the world were forced to suspend all in-person classes to minimize the spread of Covid-19. Concerned about the impact that this would have on low-income students, Dudley made a generous donation to UCT to help students find their way home, as well as provide emergency food assistance.

A dedicated alumnus, Dudley also initiated a meet-and-greet this past June between Carleton community members and the Vice-Chancellor and Executive Director of Research at UCT to discuss potential research collaborations. As a result, we are currently in talks to connect faculty members in the fields of biomedical engineering and mechatronics from our respective universities.

We’re delighted by Dudley’s work and grateful for his continued interest in his alma mater. With over 177,000 Carleton alumni worldwide, stories such as this remind us of the importance of creating community and in setting up our students to participate as global citizens.

Thanks to $287,360 of funding from the International Development Research Centre, Carleton is one of 11 Canadian universities participating in the QES-Advanced Scholars West Africa program. Funding was awarded to the schools whose proposals support initiatives in the region with an emphasis on gender equality.

Coordinated by Dr. Nduka Otiono and the Institute of African Studies, this project will enable 17 women PhD and postdoc scholars from West Africa to engage in research training and placement opportunities. It will support them in overcoming the institutional prejudice and structural barriers that prevent many African women from completing the necessary requirements of their education. Placement partners include IMPACT, CODE, the Afro Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and Fourah Bay College, all of whom will provide invaluable work experience to help participants strengthen their research capacities and advance in their careers.

Five scholars have been invited to begin their placement in fall 2022.

Click here for more details.

Episodes 2 and 3 of our podcast are now live!

Listen to the experiences and challenges of coordinating complex international research projects with Stephanie Pineau, the Special Initiatives Coordinator with the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network. Or learn about research assessment and developing a framework that works for us with Kristin Bourassa, research facilitator in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

The Carleton International podcast is a recent initiative that is designed to explore ideas and issues that relate to international research. Episode 1 is also available for those who missed it.

Established in 2018, CALAREO is a consortium of Canadian universities, including Carleton, that promotes and facilitates student mobility and research collaborations between Canadian and Latin American institutions.

In June, representatives from member universities came together in St. John’s, Newfoundland to review the past 5 years and brainstorm about the future. Attendees had the privilege of hearing from numerous speakers, including Cristiana Verônica Mueller, a visiting PhD student at Memorial University who spoke about exploring possible joint opportunities between CALAREO and a consortium of universities in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

Another topic of discussion was the International Research Mobility Experience project. Funded by the Global Skills Opportunity program and Mitacs, this project is designed to provide students outbound opportunities to countries in Latin America that are rarely considered viable study or work destinations, and address information gaps about the region. Our own Dr. Karen Schwartz, former Associate Vice-President (Research and International), gave an update on the short-term research internships and field schools that Carleton International will run as part of this larger project. Both programs are expected to launch in the fall.

Research mobility to Latin America remains strategically important for Carleton. As we look ahead, we remain encouraged by our membership with CALAREO and will continue seeking new ways to increase our engagement in that part of the world.

Even though Covid-19 introduced numerous travel restrictions, applications for mobility grants continued to be offered to faculty and students. Because the university was not approving outbound travel or welcoming international visitors, some of the awarded funding was put on hold until conditions improved to allow physical mobility.

Now that travel has resumed, our staff is working hard to get our international activities back on track so that community members do not miss out on enriching research opportunities. Right now, students of varying levels can apply to go to India, Japan, or several countries in Latin America through the Carleton-Mitacs and Mitacs-CALAREO Globalink Research Award programs, among others.

We also find ourselves encouraged that the amount of interest from international students to conduct research at Carleton has increased beyond pre-pandemic numbers. As of May 2022, we witnessed a 54% increase in the number of applications than we did in all of 2019. Just this summer, Carleton faculty members are hosting close to 30 Mitacs GRI interns from around the world, and 13 research visits for this coming academic year will be funded by Global Affairs Canada through their International Scholarships Program.

A list of all in- and outbound mobility programs is available on our website, which is updated as soon as new calls for applications get posted.

For more information, please contact:
Sylvie Jasen (International Projects Coordinator)

Volunteers are the backbone of Academics Without Borders (AWB), a not-for-profit organization that supports capacity building projects in the higher education sector in low- and middle-income countries. While individual projects vary in focus and region, volunteers work alongside host institutions as equal partners to increase the latter’s ability to produce its own experts who can go forth and drive progressive change.

Carleton’s own Dr. Joy Mighty was one such volunteer. In 2019, she spent a month at the University of Saint Joseph Mbarara in Uganda to assist in developing and implementing its five-year strategic plan.

“I believe in the mission and values of Academics Without Borders. They seek to improve education to build capacity in the developing world and I think that’s a very worthwhile goal. It aligns very well with my own educational philosophy, which seeks to recognize… that we are all human beings and that education can provide the knowledge and the skills and expertise that can help us together build a better world.”

Dr. Mighty first got involved when she saw an ad online. AWB is the right career move if you’re looking for a rewarding international experience and committed to making a difference.

Subscribe today to receive notifications on new upcoming volunteer opportunities. You can also watch our promotional video to hear from Dr. Joy Mighty herself.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have any content recommendations or suggestions on how we can improve our newsletter, please contact Nathaniel Whelan.