News

In his new book Academic Ableism Professor Jay Dolmage (English Language and Literature) notes the progress higher education has made to be more inclusive of people with disabilities. But the book also offers critique after critique of the way colleges [and universities] have ignored or responded inadequately to the needs of many students and professors. Here is an excerpt of a recent Inside Higher Ed interview with Prof. Dolmage.

The Critical Media Lab plays an interesting part in the Grand Philharmonic Choir’s upcoming performance of Handel’s “Messiah” by assisting in the creation of digital projections of an illuminated copy of the St. John’s Bible. Read the story of how old and new media came together, originally published in the Daily Bulletin.

Just a few days ago the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) announced that Vinh Nguyen, professor of Diaspora Literatures at Renison University College and of English in the Faculty of Arts, has won the 2017 Polanyi Prize in Literature. This is the second Polanyi Prize awarded to a professor in Arts, following Chris Eliasmith's (Philosophy, Systems Design Engineering, Computer Science) NSERC Polanyi Prize two years ago.

Congratulations to researchers in the Faculty of Arts who received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants this year. While this news is not actually new internally, the federal government just made the formal announcement of this latest round of grants. So now we have even more to shout out about SSHRC. 

The University of Waterloo is the top “comprehensive” institution for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants once again, according to the latest Maclean’s rankings, after a single year in second place.

Graduate students in the Department of English hosted visiting high school students at the Games Institute in a workshop entitled ’60 Minutes to Save the World’ as a part of the Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC), held in Waterloo last week.

With unanimous approval by Arts Faculty Council, the Faculty of Arts Strategic Plan 2014-19 has been amended to include objectives focused on indigenization in our teaching, research, and outreach. The objectives and actions are part of a growing commitment by this Faculty, and by other areas of the University of Waterloo, along with many post-secondary institutions in the country, to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 2015 final report, specifically the Calls to Action.

Professor of social psychology Geoffrey Fong has received one of Canada’s most distinguished scholarly honours in being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).

During CBC radio's recent Cross Country Checkup discussion on how reading is changing, guest commentator on the program, Christine McWebb, programs director at Stratford Campus and French Studies professor, discussed the different ways in which digital technology affects us. 

A year after it was announced by the Rideau Hall Press Office, professor of history James Walker was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada this past Friday, August 25. The Faculty of Arts warmly congratulations Jim, a widely respected and influential scholar and teacher.