CIH Applied Ethics Fellow Agnes Tam gains momentum towards a new ethics of belonging

The Calgary Institute for the Humanities would like to congratulate Dr. Agnes Tam (2023-24 Applied Ethics Fellow) on ranking first in the most recent SSHRC Insight Development Grant competition for her new transdisciplinary project “Towards Narrative Democracy: A New Ethical Model of Inclusive Belonging”. She also recently contributed to Esker Foundation’s Permanent Collection online publishing initiative, which commissions responses to its exhibitions each season. Dr. Tam credits, in part, her time as a CIH Resident Fellow for these accomplishments:

“The past year at the CIH has been a year of experiments and intellectual growth. One of these experiments is my new essay “What's in a Name? That Which We Call Home?” It uses the lens of political philosophy to view contemporary art, illustrating the power of art to evoke deep, complex, and at times painful, emotions about the idea of belonging. As an outsider to the art world, I never imagined being able to start a dialogue between philosophy and art myself, but thanks to the trust of Naomi Potter, Director of the Esker Foundation, who attended my CIH Applied Ethics Lecture "Towards an Ethics of Belonging" at the Calgary Public Library, this bold collaborative idea has become a reality. I cannot thank the CIH enough for their trust, support, conversations, networks, friendships, and protected time and energy, without which I wouldn't have been able to accomplish any of these.”

You can read Dr. Tam’s Permanent Collection essay here. 

The Calgary Institute for the Humanities is proud to carry on a tradition of supporting a vibrant and nurturing environment for humanities scholars. If you would like to take part, we invite applications for annual Resident Fellowships each year. Scholars with teaching appointments at the University of Calgary that continue through the 2025-26 academic year are eligible to apply. Fellowship recipients receive partial teaching release funding of one HCE course release each term. 

The humanities are not conceived as a specific group of academic disciplines, but as forms of study that examine what is human – typically guided by literature, history, social and physical settings, artifacts, visual and performing arts. Applications from outside the traditional humanities disciplines are welcome and should make clear the humanistic orientation of their project. Find out about our 2024-25 Resident Fellows and information on how to apply for a 2025-26 CIH Resident Fellowship here.