News

Distinguished Professor Emerita Wendy Mitchinson of the Department of History died on October 23, 2021. A pioneering women’s historian, she joined the University of Waterloo with tenure in 1985 and held the Canada Research Chair in Gender and Medical History from 2006 to 2013.

“Wendy was a trailblazer and valued colleague,” says Professor Dan Gorman, Department of History chair. “Her legacy is apparent in the many graduate students with whom she worked, and who are now pursuing careers both outside and within the academy.”

Completing a doctoral degree is a monumental accomplishment, and significant academic milestone. After putting in the time attending seminars, writing exams, TAing, RAing, teaching courses, conducting research and participating in the dissertation defense, the long awaited moment has arrived—degree completion. On behalf of the Faculty of Arts, congratulations to our newest cohort of Doctors of Philosophy!

Congratulations to Professor Naila Keleta-Mae on winning funding from the Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF-RE ) for her five-year research project, Freedom in Black Expressive Culture.

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.