We are happy to share that Joy Karinge, PhD Anthropology student, has been selected as a recipient in the 2025–2026 cohort of the!

ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ the award:

On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all 157 people aboard. Victims represented 35 nationalities, including 18 Canadian citizens, as well as permanent residents and others with ties to Canada. The flight was en route to Nairobi, where many of the passengers were scheduled to take part in the United Nations environmental conference. The Flight 302 Legacy Award contributes to supporting students whose areas of study help commemorate the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 tragedy.

Check out the official announcement .

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It has been an exciting few months in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology! We are thrilled to recognize the outstanding achievements of our students and to announce the recipients of several prestigious awards.

Convocation 2025

Governor General’s Medal

Awarded annually to a student standing at the head of the graduating class at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Donor: Her Excellency, the Governor General of Canada.

Chikezirim Nwoke, Doctor of Philosophy

Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement

Awarded, when merited, to graduating students of outstanding academic achievement.

Kai Jacobsen, Master of Arts

Cihan Erdal, Doctor of Philosophy

Katherine Davidson, Doctor of Philosophy

CSA Outstanding Sociology Student Award

Sociology related departments may select one top student in each academic level (Undergraduate, Honours, MA, or PhD). 

Marieann Thottungal – Bachelor of Arts

Prema Kapoor – Bachelor of Arts Honours

Kai Jacobsen – Master of Arts

Kristen Kowlessar – Doctor of Philosophy

SOAN TA Excellence Award

This award celebrates the support teaching assistants give to the undergraduate and graduate programs in their disciplines, their roles in establishing a positive learning environment and their work in implementing innovative teaching practices.

Christina Patterson – PhD Sociology

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“Frank Graves will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 9 a.m. ceremony on Friday, June 21, in recognition of a distinguished career in public opinion and policy research and outstanding contributions to research-based policy making.

As the Founder and President of EKOS Research Associates Inc., Graves is one of the country’s leading applied social researchers, directing some of the largest and most challenging social research assignments conducted in Canada. For more than three decades, the firm has held a reputation for creative and rigorous research in the areas of public policy, social policy, and program evaluation, and as a leader in innovative survey techniques and methodology.

His analysis and advice has been sought by senior decision makers in both the private and public sectors, including CEOs of top 100 Canadian companies, the Prime Minister’s Office, federal cabinet, the Clerk of the Privy Council, federal Deputy Ministers, the United States Ambassador to Canada, as well as the Canadian Ambassador to the United States.

Graves has been published widely and is a frequent commentator in Canadian and American media. He has directed numerous public opinion research projects on behalf of CBC, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and La Presse.

Graves is a ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ alumnus having completed an honours degree in social anthropology (first class honours) and an MA in sociology. He serves on the advisory board of ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´â€™s Sprott School of Business and is an adjunct research professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He has lectured at the Rotman School of Business, Harvard Kennedy School, University of Ottawa and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Graves is a founding Board Member and Fellow of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI), a Canada Council Doctoral Fellow and Honorary Fellow with the School of Public Policy (University of Calgary).” (ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University, 2024).

Reference: ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. (2024). Honorary degree recipients: Francis Graves. Retrieved June 11, 2024, from

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Congratulations to Carole Therrien, Anthropology PhD student, on being selected as the recipient for this year’s competition.

Carole’s paper “Cultural impacts in long-term disaster recovery settings: a case study of career women in St. Martin” has been selected for this year’s award of $500, recognition at the annual meeting, and mentorship moving forward to publishing the paper as a peer-reviewed journal article. Amazing work, Carole!

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Congratulations to Carole Therrien, PhD student with the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, who has been awarded the for doctoral research. to read more about Carole’s research.

The Richard F. Salisbury Student Award is given each year to a PhD candidate, enrolled at a Canadian university, for the purposes of defraying expenses incurred while carrying out dissertation fieldwork. The winner of each award is also invited to present their preliminary findings to the annual meeting of the Canadian Anthropology Society/Société canadienne d’anthropologie.

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Congratulations to anthropology Ph.D. students Chike Nwoke and Ugochukwu Okoye on winning The Flight 302 Legacy Award!

On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all 157 people aboard. Victims represented 35 nationalities, including 18 Canadian citizens, as well as permanent residents and others with ties to Canada. The flight was en route to Nairobi, where many of the passengers were scheduled to take part in the United Nations environmental conference. The Flight 302 Legacy Award will contribute to supporting students whose areas of study help commemorate the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 tragedy. – Read more on this award .

Congratulations to the well-deserved winners Ugo and Chike on this accomplishment!

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Congratulations to MA Sociology student Mackenzie Plumb on being awarded a Senate Medal! Mackenzie will be graduating this November. Her thesis was “Not in any Backyard: An Analysis of Public Frames and Perceptions of the Planned Kemptville Prison”. Mackenzie has just started her PhD in Criminology at the University of Ottawa.

Congratulations Mackenzie!

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Congratulations to sociology PhD student Evan Wicklund on winning ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´’s 2023 Vanier Award!

Evan is a PhD student in sociology who is being supported by the Vanier Scholarship to research the ethics of care in disabled bodies. “My approach is to not think of ethics as something that is what we should be doing, but how we might be interacting with other people and other technologies and how disabled experiences give us so many opportunities to explore those interactions,” says Wicklund.

Read the full article !

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Sociology MA student Kai Jacobsen has won the Autism Scholars award 2023, in recognition for their groundbreaking research on the experiences of transgender autistic people and accessibility in health care.

Jacobsen is currently pursuing their Master of Arts in Sociology, specifically looking at the barriers to health care that disproportionately affect transgender autistic individuals. Jacobsen explains, “My master’s thesis is about trans autistic people’s experiences of accessing gender-affirming care, and we know from existing research that trans people are more likely to be autistic than the general population, and vice versa.”

Read the full article !

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The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is proud to announce that Andrew Crosby, a sociology PhD student, was recently awarded the

When asked about this incredible achievement, this is what Andrew had to say:

“Winning the Governor General’s Gold Medal is an incredible honour that I never expected. It speaks more to the people that have surrounded me over these past few years than to me as an individual. Completing my doctoral research and winning this award would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues and without the efforts of the Herongate Tenant Coalition. I have worked and studied on the ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ campus over a 15-year period and winning this medal is a sweet way to depart from my home away from home in Ottawa, on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin land.”

So please join us in giving congratulations to Andrew, as well as all of the 2022 medalists.

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