Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Colin MacLeod receives Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Leadership Award

A message from the Faculty of Arts.

Dr. Colin MacLeod, Distinguished Professor Emeritus from the Department of Psychology, has received the 2023 Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Leadership Award from the Psychonomic Society, the major international organization for cognitive psychology. The award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of cognitive psychology and who have demonstrated sustained leadership and service to the discipline. The Society annually recognizes individuals with this award named after one of the founders and the first Chair of the Governing Board.

Throughout his career, MacLeod’s research has emphasized the broad domain of human cognition, with particular focus on the interplay between attention and memory, and the role that learning plays in that interaction. MacLeod has been an integral member of the Psychonomic Society since joining in 1976. He and his students have each year presented their research at the annual meeting of the Society in November. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Society’s journal Memory & Cognition from 2001-2005 and served as an elected member of the Governing Board from 2010 to 2015.  During that time, he was also Chair of the Publications Committee. In that role, he oversaw the Society’s six journals and was in charge of searches for Editor-in-Chief of all of the Society’s journals.

Recipients of the Clifford T. Morgan award have demonstrated a commitment to scientific and methodological rigor in the community of researchers at the forefront of the experimental study of cognition. Recipients also have demonstrated commitment and dedication to developing and advancing the Psychonomic Society in its mission to foster the science of cognition through the communication of basic research in experimental psychology and allied sciences. Awardees are permanently recognized on the Society’s website.

MacLeod was also recognized for his leadership of the Canadian society most closely associated with the Psychonomic Society: the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science for which he served as President in 2009-2010.  That association had previously recognized him with its Richard C. Tees Distinguished Leadership Award in 2017. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016, Dr. MacLeod also received the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Canadian Psychology from the Canadian Psychological Association in 2018.

Waterloo hosts underrepresented future students for overnight campus experience

A message from Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment (MUR).

On July 14 and 15, the Marketing and Undergraduate team hosted 36 prospective students who identify as historically underrepresented, marginalized, or otherwise excluded on campus for a two-day, one-night experience. The students stayed in residence, participated in a lecture and related activity with faculty members, and tried out some of our athletics facilities. Under the night sky, the students learned about astronomy and located stars from our campus observatory, and spent time exploring Kitchener-Waterloo on Saturday before returning to campus to participate in an Amazing Race-style campus tour.  

Community partners and students were incredibly thankful for this event, and everyone involved hopes that we’ll continue to offer this opportunity to prospective students.  

A number of community and campus partners made this event possible. Becca Tanouye, Outreach and Admissions Specialist who works with the Ontario Postsecondary Access and Inclusion Program (OPAIP) grant, aims at creating opportunities that address community needs to help encourage historically underrepresented, marginalized, or otherwise excluded students to access postsecondary education. If you’re interested in working with our local KW community and partnering with Becca, please email her at btanouye@uwaterloo.ca. She is currently looking for content from staff, faculty, and students to be included in her upcoming fall catalogue, which is a selection of free workshops that are offered to local K-12 schools that fall under her umbrella of care. 

August begins, classes end, and other notes

Spring term classes and lectures come to an end today, and exams are right around the corner. Pre-examination study days are set for Wednesday and Thursday, this week, with the examination period set to begin on Friday, August 4. And in the distance, a long weekend beckons.

So, what else is new?

August 1 is Emancipation Day, which also kicks off Emancipation Month in Ontario. "Emancipation Day August 1 and the Emancipation month (August) is a significant occasion for members of Black communities," writes Dr. Christopher Taylor, Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism in a blog post on the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism website. "The day commemorates the abolition of slavery and symbolizes our ongoing struggles for freedom, equality and justice. Canada's acknowledgment of Emancipation Day and Month aligns with the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, which emphasizes the promotion and protection of the human rights of approximately 200 million individuals of African descent in the Americas."

"Emancipation Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is an opportunity for us to reflect on the history of enslavement in Canada. The Slavery Abolition Act came into effect on August 1, 1834, abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire, including what is now Canada. The Act made enslavement officially illegal in all provinces and freed the last remaining enslaved people in Canada."

"The remnants of hundreds of years of enslavement means the racism is still pervasive in present day societies. To make progress in eradicating anti-Black racism, and all other forms of racism and oppression, it is our responsibility to engage in a process of learning and unlearning. This will enable us to uncover the truths surrounding Canada's role in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Emancipation. By acquiring knowledge, we can break down the barriers that hinder our understanding of how anti-Black racism persists and impacts the lives of Black communities today."

Read Dr. Taylor's full statement on the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism's Heritage Month website and check out the Emancipation Month resources that are available.

The Office of Indigenous Relations and the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies in the Faculty of Health are co-hosting a presentation by Bobbie Chew Bigby, a Waterloo postdoctoral fellow today entitled Indigenous Internationalism: Journeys of meaningful connections between Countries, communities, and cultures.

"Beginning by first sharing some personal stories from her background and home base in Oklahoma Indian Country, Bobbie aims to sketch some of the many lines of connection between the lands and communities of the Waterloo area and Oklahoma," says the event's background info. "Turning next to an overview of her learning journey, research trajectory, and recent PhD dissertation, Bobbie will highlight her work documenting Indigenous-led tourism and resurgence across Indigenous Australia and beyond."

Bobbie Chew Bigby is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Based primarily in Oklahoma, she has recently completed her PhD through extended fieldwork at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Nulungu Research Institute in Broome, Western Australia. This doctoral project focused on comparative Indigenous tourism, culture and resurgence. Through the current Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Bobbie has commenced at the University of Waterloo, she is engaged in multiple projects that expand upon themes of Indigenous-led tourism and resurgence, particularly relating to Indigenous-led toxic tourism and Indigenous interpretations of animals and the living world through tourism.

The event takes place today from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in EXP 1689, with a meet and greet scheduled for 3:30 p.m. afterwards.