Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA)
Needles Hall, second floor, room 2201
Please join us in welcoming the first cohort of exceptional scholars though the Provost’s Program for Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholarship.
Read more about our Interdisciplinary scholars below.
2023 Scholars
Cmentowski, Sebastian
Faculty of Arts - Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business
Supervisor: Lennart Nacke
Faculty of Health - School of Public Health Sciences
Supervisor: James Wallace
Almost 1.5 billion adults are insufficiently active. Sedentary behavior is one of the biggest challenges in our society and is associated with severe health issues, including increased mortality, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Thriving towards a healthier society, we must motivate people to exercise regularly and reawaken their excitement for physical activities. One promising approach are exergames, which fuse exercises with engaging gameplay.
Sebastian's project will research on exergame-based training and gamification for older adults as a means of improving overall health outcomes.
Learn more about Dr. Sebastian Cmentowski
Kim, James
Faculty of Arts - Department of Sexuality, Marriage, & Family Studies; St. Jerome's University
Supervisor: Toni Serafini
Faculty of Environment - Department of Knowledge Integration | Sociology & Legal Studies
Supervisor: John McLevey
Despite gains in gender equality over the past decades, misogyny and gender-based violence (GBV) remain among the most pressing global challenges impacting individuals and societies worldwide. In recent years, the internet has promoted the spread of new misogynistic ideologies and growing levels of online GBV which have translated to real-world violence (e.g., 2018 Toronto Van Attack). As online misogyny operates anonymously and is difficult to study using survey methods, significant empirical knowledge gaps remain regarding how these ideologies move into the real world to have profound impacts.
James' project will identify distinguishing features of modern misogynist ideologies, and convert findings into a novel methodological tool, enabling new waves of empirical research on the sources and outcomes of modern misogynistic ideologies, and create the necessary foundation for evidence-based, empirically-informed solutions to combat GBV, which remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world.
Learn more about Dr. James Kim
Mills, Christine
Faculty of Health - Department of Kinesiology & Health Sciences
Supervisor: Heather Keller
Faculty of Health - School of Public Health Sciences
Supervisor: George Heckman
Christine's research will work with older adults in a setting where they congregate and using aco-design approach, create nutrition education programming to be delivered in that setting. The goal is to create a program that can be delivered by non-dietitians (nonspecialist staff, volunteers or undergraduate students).
Learn more about Dr. Christine Mills
Schussler, Stuart
Faculty of Arts - Department of Social Development Studies - Renison College
Supervisor: Craig Fortier
Faculty of Environment - Department of Knowledge Integration
Supervisor: Kathryn Plaisance
Member-led community organizations are at the heart of the social movements that make history. Yet the very characteristics that create such dynamism – their inclusive and non-hierarchical membership, the flexibility of not having legal status – mean that universities seldom engage them as viable sites of service learning. Stuart's postdoctoral research explores how to remedy this. "Bridging the Gap: The Makings of Constructive Service Learning with Community Organizations" is an interdisciplinary inquiry into the practices that allow university students, faculty, and staff to support community organizations inconstructive ways, sometimes through research and more often through hand-on volunteer work.