News

The Government of Canada has just announced 43 Canada Research Chairs (CRC), including Professor Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher of the Faculty of Arts, who holds the CRC in Science, Health, and Technology Communication. Concurrently announced, Mehlenbacher has also won funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support her research infrastructure.

Congratulations to Professor Geoffrey Fong of the Department of Psychology for being appointed Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the nation's highest honours. Fong is the founder and chief principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC project), leading a team of more than 150 researchers across 31 countries covering more than half of the world’s population.

The Faculty of Arts is pleased to partner on a new fundraising initiative in support of research and learning focused on Palestinian peace-building, conflict avoidance, co-existence and cultural understanding.

Over the lockdown(s), the Humanities Theatre in Hagey Hall quietly changed hands from being centrally managed for all its years of operation to Faculty of Arts management. Given its location and name, many might have assumed the theatre had always lived under the administrative umbrella of Arts, but that’s not the case — until now.

It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Linda Carson. Linda was a Continuing Lecturer at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and a wonderful colleague and friend to many in the Faculty of Arts and at the University.

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!

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.