LA&PS Research Awards

These awards recognize Liberal Arts & Professional Studies faculty members’ excellent research and the impact that work has on academic and social communities, as well as their commitment to engaging York University students.

Award categories include Distinction in Research Creativity or Scholarship and Distinction in Social Justice Research.

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Jelena Zikic

School of Human Resource Management 
Established Researcher 

Dr. Jelena Zikic, PhD (University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management) is a Professor at York University, School of Human Resource Management. Her research focuses on Career Transitions and associated challenges of various populations (migrants, baby boomers, unemployed, expats and others). In her work, she seeks to bridge micro type phenomena, such as Professional Identity with more macro-organizational processes (i.e., Integration of diverse workforce).  Dr. Zikic brings significant international background, cross-cultural research collaborations and varied teaching expertise. Her work appeared in top ranked journals in her field such as Academy of Management Discoveries, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Human Relations, among others; and her practical advise is often featured in the media and outlets such Harvard Business Review.

Sylvia Bawa

Department of Sociology
Emerging Researcher

Dr. Sylvia Bawa is an Associate Professor of Sociology at York University. She is a global sociologist with expertise in human rights, globalization, critical development, and postcolonial feminisms. Her research explores discourses around empowerment, decolonization, human rights, culture, and development. She has received multiple research awards for her work, including from SSHRC, CHIR, and York University, leading transnational collaborative research projects. She is the recipient of the LA&PS Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (2025). Some of her publications appear in high-impact journals, including Third World Quarterly, African Identities, Qualitative Report, Development in Practice, the Canadian Journal of African Studies, the International Journal of Human Rights of Women, and the Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies (Springer Major Reference Works Series). Her recently co-authored book, "Truth Commissions and State Building" (McGill-Queen’s, 2023), was selected as a runner-up for the best book anthology on African Studies by the African Studies Association.

Jean-Thomas Tremblay

Department of English 
Emerging Researcher

Dr. Jean-Thomas Tremblay is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and the Director of the Graduate Program in Social and Political Thought at York University. He is the author of Breathing Aesthetics (Duke University Press, 2022), the co-author, with Steven Swarbrick, of Negative Life: The Cinema of Extinction (“Superimpositions: Philosophy and the Moving Image” series, Northwestern University Press, 2024), and the co-editor, with Andrew Strombeck, of Avant-Gardes in Crisis: Art and Politics in the Long 1970s (State University of New York Press, 2021).

Dr. Tremblay’s research in the fields of literary studies, cinema studies, sexuality studies, and the environmental humanities is supported by an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Excerpts from his current project, tentatively titled “The Climate after the Fact,” have appeared in Critical Inquiry and Representations. Dr. Tremblay serves on the editorial board of the journals Differences and Discourse.