What does the literary culture of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Scotland have in common with queer Can. lit.? They are the subjects of just two of the five winning proposals submitted by students in the department of English that took SSHRC Joseph Bombardier Canada Graduate Master’s scholarships in 2010.
Anne Kelly is the recipient of one of these awards. “I was very excited to receive such a prestigious scholarship,” she says, “My area of research is relatively narrowly focused and so it was encouraging to receive such considerable support.” Kelly’s proposal, titled “Towards an aesthetic of retreat: recusant culture under James VI and I,” explores the relation between figurative and literal expression of neo-Stoicism in early modern Scotland. Neo-Stoicism was a philosophical movement that combined classical stoicism with Christianity. Kelly says she enjoys the interdisciplinary aspect of this topic, which allows her to combine the study of literature with philosophy, history, art history, and garden culture. She chose to pursue her MA at the U of S because of the prospect of studying with David Parkinson, her supervisor, “whose expertise in Scottish Studies will be invaluable for my own academic work.” Kelly anticipates going overseas for her PhD, and broadening her knowledge of early modern British and Northern European culture.
Lisa Johnson describes her own reaction to learning of her award as “surprise, followed by complete elation.” Johnson’s winning proposal envisioned a selective survey of queer Canadian literature from 1966, the year Of Leonard Cohen’s novel Beautiful Losers, to the present. She now sees this as far too broad, and is focusing her thesis on Beautiful Losers itself, combining post-colonial and queer theory to examine the sexual politics of Cohen’s work. Asked how she arrived at this topic she replies, “The book is so bizarre, so experimental, that I knew I could work with it for a long time and have lots to sink my teeth into.” Johnson’s future plans are as wide-ranging as her original proposal, “I would like to do my PhD some day. Travel, work as a journalist, write a bestseller of non-fiction, and sell the movie rights.” For now, though, she works with her supervisor, Kevin Flynn, enjoying the freedoms that come with a $17,500 scholarship.
Each year grants and scholarships awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funds the research of Canada’s promising scholars. The University of Saskatchewan traditionally does very well in SSHRC competitions, and 2010 was no exception — $685,000 was awarded to scholars at the U of S in the form of Canada Graduate Doctoral Scholarships, doctoral fellowships, and Joseph Bombardier Canada Graduate Master’s scholarships. U of S students did particularly well in this latter competition, pulling in eighteen Joseph Bombardier Master’s scholarships, five of them in the English department alone.
Department of English Joseph Bombardier Canada Graduate Master’s Scholarship Awardees for 2010
| Elliott, Ian | English | History |
| Johnson, Lisa | English | Canadian Literature |
| Kelly, Anne | English | English Literature |
| Shwetz, Katherine | English | Canadian Literature |
| Smith, Karen | English | Mediaeval Literature |
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