The Global & Community Engagement (GCE) Collaborative Project Fund is intended to support LA&PS faculty members and registered York student organizations for projects and initiatives that build inclusiveness and diverse forms of community engagement.
As our University Academic Plan recognizes, a “spirit of inclusion and empowerment” is a priority for enhancing community engagement within and beyond the university. Commitments to social justice, equity, and inclusion should form the core principles of successful Global & Community Engagement collaborative projects. Successful projects will foster Principle #2 of the LA&PS Academic Plan, by maximizing academic potential and collaborating on initiatives to engage local communities and promote sustainability.
Eligibility
Open to full-time YUFA faculty in Research and Teaching streams, Retired YUFA, and Contract Faculty members (CUPE Unit 2, CLA). Registered York student groups are also encouraged to apply. GCE Fund applicants may not submit the same proposal for the same project to more than one LA&PS Internal Grant, i.e., Internal Grants managed by other units within the Office of the Dean, LA&PS, such as the Research Office, Teaching & Learning, Faculty Council, etc.
Application Deadline
Application Deadline: January 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
Value and Duration
Applicants may request up to $5,000 per project, and one grant two years from the date of an applicant’s last successful GCE submission.
Notification
Successful applicants will be notified by email within three to four weeks of application deadline. Once you receive approval from the from the Associate Dean, Global & Community Engagement via email, you will be ready to begin your project. Please keep copies of all your receipts.
Collaborative Projects Fund Recipients 2024-25
The students in EN 3535 (Shakespeare) and 2140 (Drama) had an absolutely amazing summer!
This amazing course allowed students to learn about Shakespeare in conversation with the rich and diverse community of Shakespeareans that York students have access to across the GTA, from actors and directors to academics and musical performers.
— Professor Deanne Williams
Department of English
Shakespeare and Drama Summer Courses
This is a joint initiative between a nonprofit organization (Innovate Landfill Solutions) dedicated to sustainable waste management solutions, the Department of Economics at York University and Rethinking Economics York University, a new club at York founded by students in economics and other disciplines.
Goals include raising awareness about recycling and sustainable waste management among York students and the community at large and obtaining information for academic studies about the effectiveness of messaging and incentives in recycling for policy purposes.
In the project, the nonprofit organization designs and places (coffee) cup sorting stations in several locations on campus, the club promotes the event and the faculty members manage the project and data collection for potential research endeavours.
— Professors Berta Esteve-Volart, Neil Buckley and Tsvetanka Karagyozova
Department of Economics
Re-Cup Initiative
The Creative Writing Program’s annual reading series, named in commemoration of faculty member Rishma Dunlop, has historically allowed York students the opportunity to encounter exciting local and international writers working in a wide variety of genres, as well as editors, publishers and other professionals in the writing world.
We used the GCE funding to support the Rishma Dunlop Reading Series and related creative writing public events, including a talk by literary agent and author Cody Caetano, a keynote address by Giller Prize-shortlisted novelist Dimitri Nasrallah, and a reading by our Winter 2025 Writer-in-Residence, Waubgeshig Rice. Our best attended event, though, was a March 26 panel, hosted by Waub, that featured three authors and screenwriters—Craig Davidson, Naben Ruthnum and Tamara Faith-Berger—talking about film adaptation and the difference between writing for the page and screen.
— Pasha Malla, Associate Professor
The Writing Department
The Rishma Dunlop Reading Series
The aim of this project was to partner with existing supports in the community. By building relationships with leaders in the Black Creek community and the York U- TD Community Engagement Centre, we ensure this project supports and adds value to existing initiatives.
— Marie Hélène Budworth
School of Human Resource Management
Support career exploration among youth in the Black Creek community
With the support of the Global & Community Engagement Fund, I organized a dialogue event on March 6, 2025, between the students of my CH3800 Chinese Canadian Diasporic Literature class and two acclaimed Chinese Canadian writers, Ling Zhang and Zoe Roy.
The writers generously shared insights into their creative processes, inspirations, and thematic concerns, engaging students in a thought-provoking conversation on topics such as identity formation, cultural assimilation and resistance, and the intersections of race and gender.
— Prof. Xueqing Xu
Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics
Griots to Emcees: Speak OurStory! is an oral history research project that connects multigenerational artists in an exploration and documentation of Spoken Word art, culture and history.
The aim is to contribute to the archiving of Black Canadian and diasporic voices and histories, create community, connection and opportunity for the upcoming generations of creators and Spoken Word artists, and to develop resources that spotlight the growth and impact of Spoken Word accessible to the spheres of arts, education and community.
— Wendy Motion Brathwaite,
Department of Humanities
Griots to Emcees: Speak OurStory Series
