News

Most aviation accidents are caused by human error. Human factors, such as eyesight, fatigue, decision-making, all pose challenges to air travel safety.

Leveraging institutional strength in psychology, kinesiology and vision science, research members of the University’s new Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) are working to offer evidence-based solutions to reduce pilot error. By building this comprehensive foundation of interdisciplinary research expertise, pilot training will be strengthened, and air travel will be safer for all passengers.

Congratulations to Professor Guy Poirier of the Department of French Studies who has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). He joins distinguished Canadians who have made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to announce the first corporate donation to the Longhouse Labs Project. Wawanesa Insurance donated $50,000 to support the creation of an art studio space.  

This week Professor Imre Szeman assumed the role of the Green Party of Canada’s senior Climate Critic, a role within the party’s Shadow Cabinet for Environment and Climate Change. It is not an elected position but one that allows Szeman and other experts in the shadow cabinet to voice critical perspectives on Canada’s climate present and future.

Congratulations to Professor Dillon Browne on winning an Ontario Early Researcher Award (ERA) for his project, Promoting Children's Mental Health in Ontario: A Whole Family Approach to Research and Practice. Browne is a clinical psychologist specializing in childhood mental health through a family systems lens. He also holds a CRC in Child and Family Clinical Psychology and runs the Whole Family Lab in the Department of Psychology. 

Benny Skinner, an MA Global Governance student, invites us to celebrate Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month fiercely and in tandem, mindful of the vast contributions to the push for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights by Indigenous peoples.

Countless hours attending seminars, writing exams, TAing, RAing, teaching courses, conducting research and participating in the dissertation defense have led to this exciting moment—degree completion. On behalf of the Faculty of Arts, congratulations to our newest cohort of Doctors of Philosophy!

This week the Faculty of Arts proudly celebrates our undergraduate class of 2021 who will receive a total 1,354 bachelor's degrees, diplomas and certificates on Saturday, June 19, during our virtual convocation ceremony. As part of our celebrations, we warmly congratulate the distinguished undergraduates receiving special awards and honours. 

It may seem like an announcement way beyond the Faculty of Arts, but it really is not. The Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute is pleased to share the news of their new co-directors — professors Jimmy Lin and Vijay Ganesh — with all six faculties because all six are part of this important interdisciplinary centre. Just have a look at the Arts research members in Waterloo.ai.

The Canadian Cancer Society has just announced that Professor Geoffrey Fong is the 2021 recipient of the O. Harold Warwick Prize for outstanding research achievements in cancer control in Canada. The prize recognizes Fong’s leadership of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project).