CIRCLE News

Statistics Canada is once again honouring Asian Heritage month by highlighting data on Asian Canadians, including their histories and contributions within Canada. This year's theme, Honouring Asian Canadians: Stories that Built Canada, "celebrates the longstanding presence and signifcant contributions of Asian Canadians to the country's heritage, culture, economy and social fabric over generations". Visit the following media from StatsCan to learn more about Asian heritage in Canada:

Universities Canada is facilitating a nationwide delegation of university presidents to visit India with the goal of gaining and strengthening opportunities for research collaboration. From February 2^nd to 6^th, 21 presidents from universities across Canada, including UoG President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Rene van Acker, will be touring India to meet with researchers, government leaders, and industry officials.

Statistics Canada released a new in-depth analysis titled Portrait of the South Asian populations in Canada.

In the convocation ceremony on 14th October, 2025, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chair, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Guelph. Dr. Swaminathan is an outstanding scientist and a global leader who has made holistic contributions to medicine, healthcare, global policy, philanthropy and social welfare.

In a move to further strengthen the research collaborations between the University of Guelph, Canada, and the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), India, an MoU was signed by Prof. Shayan Sharif, Vice President Research, University of Guelph, and Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chair, MSSRF, on October 14, 2025. 

Meher Fiha successfully completed her MRP, "Negotiating Identity and Belonging: A Study of Second-Generation South Asian Immigrant Experience in Derek Mascarenhas’ Coconut Dreams," (advisor: Gregor Campbell) in April 2025. 

Dilshan Fernando successfully defended his PhD dissertation, "Future Life How? Charting the Destigmatization of Disability in Titan, India," on May 6, 2025.

Dr. Guneet Kaur, a professor at the School of Engineering, University of Guelph, is appointed as CIRCLE’s director for a three-year term, effective May 1, 2025.

International Conference on Democracy and Its Undoing: South Asia and Its Polities

March 20-21, 2025 | Organised by the Department of Political Science, Easwari School of Liberal Arts, SRM University- AP (Andhra Pradesh) | More information here

Dr. Kurt Annen, Professor of Economics at University of Guelph, will be delivering a keynote address titled, "Democracies over time: A global perspective".

Please see the attached file for the conference schedule. 

The first Global Inequality Research Award was awarded to Bina Agarwal, Professor of Development Economics and Environment, University of Manchester, for her work on gender inequalities, environmental governance, feminist environmentalism, and environmental inequalities.