Impact Awards—
2024 Connection Award winner: Marcia Ostashewski

Marcia Ostashewski has spent much of her life advocating for diverse cultural practices and equity in Canada. It’s a passion she inherited from her mother.

“I was four years old, and I remember marching with hundreds, including my mother, the president of our town’s Ukrainian Bilingual Association at the time, to make a case for Ukrainian children to be educated in our own language,” recalls an emotional Ostashewski, who is one of six siblings.

“The region, including our small, Northeast Central Alberta town, was the largest Ukrainian settlement outside of Ukraine, yet we weren’t allowed to be educated in our language,” she adds. “My parents’ commitment to practicing our Ukrainian traditions, alongside my mother’s fight for equity are a big part of who I am today.”

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Ostashewski works tirelessly with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to elevate marginalized voices in Canada and globally. An associate professor of ethnomusicology and former Canada Research Chair in Communities and Cultures at Cape Breton University, Ostashewski is also a former Fulbright Canada Visiting Chair, in Canadian studies, at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. She is, in addition, the founding director of the Centre for Sound Communities (CSC), an arts-led research lab addressing inequalities in the music industry and fostering collaboration through music and education.

“We often think about research in Canada related to engineering and sciences, but not the arts,” says Ostashewski. “The primary vehicle for our work is music, because it is part of all of our lives. We make music together in our homes and communities, we sing to our babies and at birthdays and funerals. Music plays an important part in ceremony and Truth and Reconciliation. It can reflect what’s happening in our communities, and can signal and support change.”

The CSC’s work involves artists, students and scholars from diverse groups, including Indigenous, African, Acadian and Ukrainian communities, newcomers to Canada, 2SLGBTQIA+ members, people living with physical disabilities and learning exceptionalities, and youth living in challenging circumstances.

“In this research-creation, our collective efforts draw on multiple perspectives and different ways of being and knowing. I’m inspired by the selfless dedication of time and care that our team members devote to their communities,” Ostashewski says.

Their research is especially impactful through a collaboration with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the iconic not-for-profit record label of the Smithsonian Institution dedicated to supporting cultural diversity through the documentation, preservation and dissemination of sound. The partnership promotes Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists and communities, and helps educate, include, and create opportunities in the music industry for, musicians and culture bearers.

“We’re levelling the playing field in the music industry and education, and training a new generation of professionals of many different backgrounds,” says Ostashewski. “History, public memory and scholarship have tended to focus on hegemonic cultures. Our team’s research collaborations are a reminder that all of our lives and work matter.”

Receiving the SSHRC Impact Award in the Connection category left Ostashewski in shock.

“I actually had to lie down and catch my breath,” she laughs. “Some say this is like the Grammys of academia.”

“Our work comes from our hearts,” Ostashewski adds. “With this award, SSHRC is acknowledging the importance and value of Indigenous and diverse voices and knowledge, and our efforts toward diversity, equity, inclusion and reconciliation.”