News

Christopher Taylor (Department of History) was appointed Black Equity Strategist and Anti-Racism Advisor in the Faculty of Arts by Dean Sheila Ager this fall. The position was established in response to urgent calls for the University and the Faculty to take action against racism, and particularly in this context, anti-Black racism. Dr. Taylor participated in this Q and A to speak about his new role.

Part of Waterloo’s Thrive Week, the inaugural Virtual Conference on Student Mental Health Research includes discussion and research presentations by students, staff and faculty. Not surprisingly, many presenters are from the Department of Psychology and the Centre for Mental Health Research and Treatment (CMHRT).

Our brilliant researchers have done it again. Waterloo is ranked the top comprehensive institution for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants, according to the Maclean’s 2021 rankings. In fact, the University held first place last year and for the majority of years over the past decade. Researchers and staff in the Faculty of Arts play a significant part in this outstanding track record for funding success.

How will the disruptions of 2020 affect children, their development and schooling? Professors Janice Aurini (Sociology and Legal Studies), Dillon Browne (Psychology) and Kristina Llewellyn (Social Development Studies) joined this online community lecture moderated by Sheila Ager, Dean of Arts, to explore social and developmental consequences and how we can avoid exacerbating the effects of the global pandemic. Watch the full event.

On March 6, 2020, Arts hosted its Three Minute Thesis (3MT) faculty-level heat and advanced Psychology PhD candidate Martin Turpin (first place winner and People's Choice winner) and Psychology master's student Sarena (second place winner) to the university-wide finals. While that university-wide final is now being held virtually, this doesn't mean our Arts graduate student competitors don't need your support. 

Janet Jones, a PhD candidate in Philosophy has been recognized for her wonderful dissertation work titled “It Probably Won’t Help Anyway: How Stigma Hurts Health Care Access for Persons with an Addiction” and is the recipient of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her work.

Serena McDiarmid, a PhD candidate in Psychology, has been recognized with the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her incredible research proposal titled “Supporting second language acquisition of Canada’s child refugees: a longitudinal study of risk and protective factors for language learning success.”

When he was an undergraduate in Winnipeg, Harrison Oakes (MA ’16, PhD '20) witnessed the difficulty of promoting change for marginalized groups when he sat in on hearings for Manitoba’s proposed Bill 18. People argued that they couldn’t see how the legislation for anti-bullying to protect LGBTQ+ youth applied to all kids. Seven years later, Oakes’ doctoral research helps to answer that question.

The Faculty of Arts proudly celebrates all graduates (more than 1,400 of them!) who would have been walking across the stage to receive their diploma's this week. As part of our virtual spring 2020 convocation celebrations, we warmly congratulate the distinguished undergraduates recieving top performance awards. 

In our work and interactions, we need to be conscious of and proactively challenge white privilege and colonial structures. We need to continuously strive to create an equal, fair and welcoming learning environment for everyone.