CIRCLE: An intercultural gift to the university and community
Research-intensive universities like the University of Guelph are a gift to society. These institutions attract the leading minds in their fields, addressing challenges and seizing opportunities to advance the understanding of pressing issues.
Their work is for society’s good. Where else would you find this sweeping range of talent under one roof? Nowhere.
A centre kicks that effort up a notch further. It congregates specific expertise among broad expertise, increases the cross-fertilization of ideas and further attracts leaders in the field, as well as students who want to study with them. Sometimes that development is methodic. Other times, like in the case of the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), development is more organic.
Prof. Sharada Srinivasan, CIRCLE’s founder and director, joined the university in 2013 as the Canada Research Chair in Gender, Justice and Development. She was already a well-established research leader. And looking around, she saw many other faculty members with expertise or interest in India. The critical mass needed for a centre already existed.
But it went beyond the walls of the university. India and Canada share a rich immigration pattern that’s reflected in the demography of Guelph and more broadly in Canada. True to its clever acronym, CIRCLE encompassed and showcased a huge expanse of knowledge and what would become clear as pent-up interest. The network included people in the city and elsewhere, immersed in the curiosity, the joy and sometimes the pain of India. They ranged from water engineers who helped develop structural projects in India, to students and immigrants who shared the challenges of adapting to their new society here.
CIRCLE’s approach to community is appealing. I was fortunate to be a communications advisor to CIRCLE, helping its very talented student interns and coordinators further hone their communications skills. CIRCLE gave them and others space to liaise, reflect, develop and be published. Working with them expanded my own horizons culturally and professionally. Currently, the CIRCLE network of expertise includes more than 125 people. Check the breadth of the students’ stories on the CIRCLE website.
These are challenging times for higher education and centres such as CIRCLE. They need support to get through the crisis facing higher education. CIRCLE’s focus on research, global connectivity and experiential learning is ideal. During its five-year run, CIRCLE has been exemplary in its focus, its mission and its governance. It stands as an example of a research-based intercultural gift to the Guelph university and community.
Owen Roberts, Ed.D., is a faculty member at the University of Illinois. He led research communications at the University of Guelph for more than 30 years.
Connect with us! Do you want tell us how you encountered India or South Asia in this section? Or, you might want us to profile you and your research in the Profiles section? Write to us at circlel@uoguelph.ca.