Progress: Building connection through Interdisciplinarity

Note: The Faculty of Arts reorganization is creating a stronger foundation for this pillar.

Current areas of focus:

  1. Increased opportunities for interdisciplinary research
  2. Increased interdisciplinary/collaborative undergraduate and graduate learning
  3. A uniquely interdisciplinary approach to “business” at Waterloo

Interdisciplinary research

  • Applied - CFI infrastructure grant proposal submitted for Waterloo TechReg Hub for cross faculty health data integration and AI; collaboration between Arts, Health Engineering, Math; results will be known approx. Nov. 2025
  • Awarded - CFI infrastructure grant for Feminist Interdisciplinary Research Lab – Communication Arts, French Studies, Political Science – approved June 2025
  • Leadership - Water Institute interdisciplinary research and education center has been led by Roy Brouwer (Economics) for nearly 10 years; Waterloo is ranked #1 in Canada (2025 Shanghai Ranking) in the water resources domain, and #24 in the world
  • Leadership - TRuST network from co-founder/co-director Ashley Mehlenbacher (English), in collaboration with Engineering and Science
  • Leadership - Antagonism and Intimidation in Academia speaker series from Suzan Ilcan (Sociology and Legal Studies) (fall and winter 2023/24; fall 2024) involving all six faculties, and in From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding international conference (June 2024)
  • Leadership - Critical Tech Talk series from Marcel O’Gorman (English), emphasizing interdisciplinary perspectives from Waterloo faculty, graduate students, as well as external guests; four events in 2024.
  • Appointed - inaugural O'Donovan Chair in Communication Across the Disciplines, Shana MacDonald, Communication Arts
  • Participated - Academic Industry Meeting Day (AIM Day) for Arts-Health (Nov. 2024); Arts and Office of Research used AIM day model to host gov’t and non-profits exploring health, tech regulation, data sovereignty, policy (June 2025)
  • Awarded – Canada Excellence Research Chair to Sara Hart (Psychology), first Arts CERC at Waterloo, applying genomics in educational settings to specify how genes and contexts work together to result in a reading and mathematically competent individual
  • Awarded - four Provost’s Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars affiliated with Arts through  cross-faculty supervision – Communication Arts, English, Stratford School, Renison, Engineering, Math
  • Awarded - Lupina Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellows working at intersection of health, technology and society, e.g. gaming/VR for seniors’ health and wellbeing, AI and healthcare, social media and mental health — Psychology, Sociology & Legal Studies, Stratford School (funded by the Lupina Foundation)
  • Proposed/awarded - 25 Global Futures Fund submissions endorsed by Dean in spring 2025  (15 led by Arts people, 10 with Arts collaboration; Sept 2025- 1 Arts-led project awarded - Brianna Wiens, English - and four Arts-collaborated projects awarded)
  • Stratford School faculty researchers are advancing interdisciplinary scholarship and design in gaming and VR to support health, aging well-being, accessibility, work/labour inequalities cyber security and privacy
  • Altay Coşkun (Classical Studies) co-established the online Seleukid Lecture Series bringing together scholars of the ancient world, including from Classical Studies, Near Eastern Studies, Jewish Studies, Archaeology, Numismatics, Art History, Assyriology, and Women’s Studies.
4 Provost’s Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars affiliated with Arts through cross-faculty supervision
A skall box filled with electronics strapped to a hand

A prototype of a switch designed to make gaming more accessible for disabled players.

Interdisciplinary/collaborative learning

  • Collaborating with Engineering: 30 Arts and Business (ARBUS) students participated in Engineering-led I-Capstone course in Fall 2024 with planning underway to make this ongoing
  • Revised Global Engagement Seminar for alignment with Global Futures in collaboration with Engineering, continuing with cross-faculty instructors, students, and external mentors; Fall 2025 enrollment ~110 students; supported by the Jarislowsky Foundation and the Desmarais Family
  • Offering Collaborative aeronautics program (CAP) options in Psychology and Global Governance masters’ programs
  • Contributed to development and delivery of Engineering’s new collaborative MEng in Health Technologies
  • Redesigned BScFM program (formerly BioTech/CPA) offered by SAF  in collaboration with Science (passed by Senate for launch in Fall 2026)
  • Doubled the SAF Student Venture Fund with new contribution of $1M to invest in start-up ventures, enabling expansion and offering opportunities to students from other faculties
  • Delivered Arts & Business 400 interdisciplinary "Future Cities" capstone course Fall 2024 which was co-developed/co-taught by Economics, Science, Environment faculty
  • Developing undergraduate program in science communication in collaboration between Communication Arts, English and Faculty of Science
  • Advanced teaching methods at Stratford School integrating emerging technologies and robust pedagogical approaches. E.g. Profs Harley, Mäkelä, MacArthur received a UW-LITE grant for "Examining Virtual Reality for Design Education in the Classroom”
  • Developing linguistics minor in collaboration between German, Anthropology, English, Psychology, Philosophy, French, Classics, and Renison
  • Expanding the disciplinarily scope of the Cultural Identities minor (German and Spanish) and building on the success of online CI 100 with more online course options
  • Developing and delivering curriculum for digital arts certificate; Communication Arts, Fine Arts and Renison are participating in this revenue-generating WatSPEED partnership with PG Holding, Saudi Arabia
  • Developing staged play using extended reality media (XR) for winter 2026 Theatre & Performance production directed by Provost’s Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholar co-supervised by faculty in Communication Arts and Computer Science
$1 M Additional funding through SAF Venture Fund
A group of students hold up their award at the Global Engagement Seminar

One of the winning teams from Fall 2025 Global Engagement Summit, which combined 8 capstone courses from across campus with 119 students presenting 24 interdisciplinary projects.

Professionalization

  • Conducted review of academic, administrative, and staffing model under which the Arts & Business program operates with goal to strengthen the program and support for its approx. 1,600 students
  • Collaboration between SAF with Science to merge scientific rigor with a unique business perspective to prepare graduates for careers across a variety of industries where science and business converge
  • Partnership between Stratford School and Danina Kapetanovic (Chief Health Innovation Officer, CareNext Coalition) to explore opportunities for students to build competencies in design for health
  • Developing professional master’s degree in AI, Data, and Decision Making led by Anindya Sen (Economics)
1600 students in Arts and Business program