Acadia Faculty Secure Competitive SSHRC Research Grants
Two Acadia University faculty members have been awarded Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Research grants totaling more than $158,000 in support of innovative research. Julia Rombough (History and Classics) and Matthew McSweeney (Nutrition and Dietetics) are undertaking projects that use past experiences to shape how we engage with important issues of our time.
“Both of these projects demonstrate the rich interdisciplinary research that is ongoing at Acadia,” notes Dr. Peter Ludlow, Vice Provost of Research and Innovation, “and we are thrilled that these excellent scholars have been recognized for their work.”
The goal of the SSHRC Insight Research program is to build knowledge and understanding about people, societies, and the world by supporting research excellence.
Researcher: Julia Rombough (History and Classics)
Award: SSHRC Insight Grant for $90,298
Project: A five-year study entitled, “Making race in Renaissance Tuscany: senses and spaces”
Why it matters: This project analyzes how race and enslavement were produced and experienced in late Renaissance Italy, a region and scholarly discipline often mischaracterized as culturally, ethnically, and racially homogenous. By making visible the lived experiences of enslaved and racialized communities, this project responds to pressing calls for inclusive histories, reshaping how Renaissance Italy is studied, taught, and represented in scholarly works, classrooms, galleries, and public discourse.
Researcher: Matthew McSweeney (Nutrition and Dietetics)
Award: SSHRC Insight Development Grant for $68,116
Project: A two-year project entitled, “Sustenance from the sea: Historical food uses of seaweed in Nova Scotia”
Why it matters: The two-year research project supports a focused historical and interdisciplinary study of seaweed consumption in Nova Scotia between 1900 and 1965. The project asks how seaweed functioned as food during this period, why routine consumption declined, and how historical practices continue to shape contemporary perceptions, interpretation, and acceptance. McSweeney’s research will reconstruct past patterns of harvesting, preparation, and consumption, situating seaweed within broader social, economic, and cultural change.
A full list of recipients is available through the official SSHRC announcement.