Screenshot from a film.

Pursuing Project and Portfolio PhD

In support of re-envisioning doctoral study and the PhD thesis, Dean Barbara Crow and the Faculty of Arts and Science created the FAS Awards for Project-based and Portfolio PhD Research.

The Award supports students pursuing doctoral research who are undertaking a project or a portfolio PhD option to a maximum value of $3,000.

鈥淭he award supports graduate programs in FAS by responding to the changing landscape of graduate education in Canada as well as increased student demand for non-traditional doctoral formats,鈥 explains Dean Crow, Faculty of Arts and Science. 鈥淚t is exciting to see students do doctoral work that includes creative and practical outputs as well different forms and methods, from experiential learning projects and internships to exhibitions, performances, and the production of visual or digital media, to development of policy documents and community-engaged research. This award provides important funding and support for students to complete their project and portfolio PhDs.鈥

This option also makes Queen鈥檚 Arts and Science attractive to prospective graduate students to acknowledge alternative doctoral formats to engage and accommodate different research contributions and applications, new forms of knowledge mobilization, the development of new competencies, and help foster student awareness of the transferable skills acquired in the completion of the doctoral degree that are in demand in academia as well as non-academic careers.

This year, nine students earned funding including:

  • Bronwyn Bond (Art Conservation), fifth year PhD, The Restoration of Italian Renaissance Polychrome Sculptures
  • Alysha Strongman (Art History), third year PhD, Picturing Ancient Arctic Ivories Through Non-Invasive Technologies
  • Alisha Piercy (Cultural Studies), fourth year PhD, Haunting-with Other-Than-Human Design: A Theory-Fiction
  • Carleigh Candice Mignonne Milburn (Cultural Studies), third year PhD, Making Sense of Decolonization Together with Artificial Intelligence, Digital Art Media, and Conventional Art Creation
  • Hannah Burge Luviano (Cultural Studies), fifth year PhD, The Ajiaco of Mambo; Transnational Pathways in the Mexico City Mambo Bands of D谩maso P茅rez Prado
  • Nabila Huq (Cultural Studies), third year PhD, Legal Immigrant, Illegal Settler: An Autoethnography of a Muslim Bengali in Canada and Other Essays
  • Shannon McConnell (Cultural Studies), third year PhD, Unraveling the Legacy of Custodial Training Schools and Canada鈥檚 Forgotten Patients: Huronia Regional Centre
  • Neven Lochhead (Cultural Studies), fourth year PhD, Breach: Magazine-as-OER
  • Mehvish Rather (Film and Media), third year PhD, Theoretical, Creative, and Pedagogical Interventions in the Documentary Representation of Political Conflict in Kashmir

In highlighting two of these doctoral projects, Alysha Strongman鈥檚 research examines the ancient Arctic cultures of the Thule and Old Bering Sea and their incised ivory objects. The other portion of her thesis is a technical imaging analysis of these incised ivory objects and their areas of loss. 

鈥淭his award allows me to be able to travel to National Museum of Denmark for an examination of a select number of these ivory objects from the collections that were recovered by Knud Rassmussen, a part of my project that I am really excited to pursue,鈥 says Strongman.

While Mehvish Rather鈥檚 research focuses on the representation of subjects in documentaries based in protracted political conflict zones, trying to envision them beyond the scope of victimhood. She questions the patterns of absences within such documentaries, such as that of humour and transcendentality. The research is a combination of traditional thesis work, a documentary, an immersive screening, and pedagogical element in the form of workshops and exhibitions - exploring different aspects of the topic.

鈥淭he project-based and portfolio award has made it possible to cover the logistical costs associated with the exhibitions and screening for the research,鈥 she explains. 鈥淓xhibitions are scheduled over the Fall and the screening is set to be conducted during Winter - the award has made it possible to execute these projects as the research demands.鈥

Congratulations to all this year鈥檚 award winners.

For more information visit the FAS Awards for Project-based and Portfolio PhD Research webpage.