By Lucianna Ciccocioppo
The Faculty of Law’s Kyle Kirkup, SJD candidate, and alumnus Ryan Liss, JD 2011, are two of the 14 recipients of the 2013 Trudeau Foundation Scholarships, Canada’s most notable doctoral awards. These awards support exceptional doctoral students in the social sciences and humanities who are “investigating issues of critical importance to Canadians” and reflect one of four themes: human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada and the world, and people and their natural environment.
Kirkup is researching equality issues for the LGBT community, arguing their human rights and dignity cannot solely be addressed in the realm of family law. He’s investigating if criminal law can assist in the pursuit of LGBT equality.
"When I learned that I had been selected a 2013 Trudeau Scholar, I was both thrilled and humbled. I am so grateful to the University of Toronto for the tremendous support they provided me in reaching this goal," says Kirkup. "This scholarship will allow me to connect and collaborate with a dynamic, interdisciplinary group of Canadians who contribute to every facet of public life. The Trudeau Foundation also provides me with a unique platform to disseminate my research and policy contributions to Canadian society. Ultimately, I hope that becoming a Trudeau Scholar will allow me to play a role in protecting the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable members of the LGBT community."
Liss begins his doctoral degree in international law at Yale University this fall. His research will focus on a common set of fundamental justice principles and if this set can rally nations of the worlds, similar to what occurred in the domain of international criminal justice.
"I am really excited about the possibilities the scholarship offers to engage with and learn from others committed to the worlds of both academia and social advocacy," says Liss. "The Trudeau community seems to be an incredible environment to exchange ideas with peers and mentors from a wide variety of disciplines. I look forward to seeing how this engagement will challenge and strengthen my work over the coming years. As well, the Foundation's support of doctoral fieldwork will provide an indispensable opportunity to explore how national and international institutions of international justice actually function, which will substantially contribute to my doctoral work."
Trudeau Scholars receive a generous $60,000 annual grant for three years, and have access to a network of outstanding Trudeau fellows and mentors, comprised of a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary group of academic and non-academic leaders at various stages of their careers.
Kirkup is one of three doctoral candidates based at the University of Toronto to land the award. To date, this university has landed 18 out of 157 awards since the Foundation’s launch in 2001.
Read more on the Trudeau Foundation’s website.
Read more about the legal issues the Trudeau Scholars are researching (Canadian Lawyer Magazine website)
Read about our 2012 winner here.
