Research Centres

Research centres add value to departmental work in many ways. Faculty find their research and teaching enriched through engagement in the centre activities. Centre projects regularly generate new research and thesis topics for students and faculty, and many students work on funded centre projects closely related to their theses. Conferences sponsored by the centres and dissemination of their research enhance the department’s reputation and increase our ability to attract new scholars.

Established in the 1990’s HSSSJE (formerly SESE) established and housed three core centres: the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS), Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) and the Centre for Media and Culture in Education (CMCE). These are described in brief below. Links are also provided for more centre information.

In addition to the centres located within the Department, HSSSJE is also closely affiliated with several other OISE/UT research centres.
 

Core

• CIARS - Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies:
  CIARS is the first and only Centre at the University of Toronto, and to our knowledge, the first one in Canada, to be devoted to Anti-Racism Studies in Education. CIARS's mandate is to enhance research and teaching in the areas of equity, anti-racism praxis and alternative knowledge(s) in education.
  
  CSEW - Centre for the Study of Education and Work:
  CSEW pursues critical investigations of all aspects of learning that may be relevant to work. From the CSEW perspective, learning includes formal schooling and continuing education courses, but also informal self-directed and collective learning in workplace, household and community spheres.
   
• CMCE - Centre for Media and Culture in Education:
  CMCE seeks to foster critical inquiry and debate regarding cultural practices integral to everyday life in contemporary communities.
   

Affiliated

• CREFO -Le Centre de recherches en éducation franco-ontarienne (CREFO):
  Est un centre de recherche interdisciplinaire où on étudie les pratiques éducatives, sociales et langagières de la francophonie en Ontario, au Canada et dans le monde, en mettant l'accent sur les processus de construction des différences et des inégalités sociales ainsi que sur les mécanismes sociaux d'inclusion et d'exclusion. 
   
• CUS - Centre for Urban Schooling:
  CUS carries out academic and contracted research, offers educational programs and professional development opportunities, and supports students, teachers, schools, parents and district boards in the development of school reform initiatives that have a clear focus on equity for all students.
   

• CWSE - Centre for Women's Studies in Education:
  The specific objectives of the Centre are to advance the excellence of faculty, researchers and graduate students working in women's studies through inter- and multi-disciplinary discussion and research; to enhance the capacity of OISE's Women's Studies in Education focus and Interdepartmental Specializations to play a leading role in graduate training; to nurture linkages between OISE's Women's Studies and the wider constituency of educators concerned with women's issues.
   
• CIDE-Comparative, International, and Development Education Centre:
  Offers diverse and dynamic graduate programs in the field of comparative education.
   

• TLC- Transformative Learning Centre:
  Supports interdepartmental research and instruction in Transformative Learning Studies and related areas, provides a forum for the discussion of interdisciplinary issues related to transformative learning and social transformation, and provide a structure for community-university partnerships in research, education and social action both in local and global communities.