Media Releases >  Media Releases Archive  > SFU student named new Trudeau Scholar

Document Tools

Contact
Kathryn Aberle, 604.291.3929; aberle@sfu.ca

Robert Huish, a doctoral student in the department of geography at SFU, has been named one of 14 new Trudeau scholars for 2004.

Huish examines development strategies and issues of empowerment at the local level of participation in Latin America. His doctoral project focuses on the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana, Cuba. The ELAM trains poor students from rural Latin America to become qualified physicians. Huish will examine how the ELAM actually fares in enhancing empowerment and whether the presence of its graduates in rural areas helps empower the people from these regions.

"I see this award as an opportunity to explore the places of this world that are hurting as a result of too much inequality and too little understanding," says Huish. "To me this scholarship is a commitment to discuss, with the academy and the public, the nature of the beauties and sorrows that we as communities and societies are capable of producing."

Each year, up to fifteen doctoral students are chosen through a highly rigorous selection process. The new scholars receive $35,000 per year for up to four years plus an additional $15,000 annually to support research-related travel.

Huish received his MA in geography from Queen’s University. Previous research includes the SFU Community Economic Development Centre’s capacity building project in Cuernavaca, Mexico and the municipal services project on water privatization in Havana, Cuba. He has also been a guest lecturer at the University of Havana and Queen’s University.

Originally from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Huish also holds a BA in Geography/History from Queen’s University. He expects to complete his PhD in 2007.

Huish and the other new Trudeau scholars will participate in the first Trudeau Public Policy Conference, to be held in Montreal in October. The theme of the conference is Ideas Move – Sharing Knowledge Across Cultural Boundaries and Security Barriers.

The Montreal-based Trudeau Foundation, established in 2002 as a living memorial to the late Prime Minister, encourages public debate and supports exceptional research on issues of public policy.

- 30 -

Website: Trudeau Foundation: www.trudeaufoundation.ca/