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The Faculty of Arts at UBC brings together the best of quantitative research, humanistic inquiry, and artistic expression to advance a better world. Graduate students in the Faculty of Arts create and disseminate knowledge in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Creative and Performing Arts through teaching, research, professional practice, artistic production, and performance.

Arts has more than 25 academic departments, institutes, and schools as well as professional programs, more than 15 interdisciplinary programs, a gallery, a museum, theatres, concert venues, and a performing arts centre. Truly unique in its scope, the Faculty of Arts is a dynamic and thriving community of outstanding scholars – both faculty and students. 

Here, our students explore cutting-edge ideas that deepen our understanding of humanity in an age of scientific and technological discovery. Whether Arts scholars work with local communities, or tackle issues such as climate change, world music, or international development, their research has a deep impact on the local and international stage.

The disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches in our classrooms, labs, and cultural venues inspire students to apply their knowledge both to and beyond their specialization. Using innovation and collaborative learning, our graduate students create rich pathways to knowledge and real connections to global thought leaders.

 

Research Facilities

UBC Library has extensive collections, especially in Arts, and houses Canada’s greatest Asian language library. Arts graduate programs enjoy the use of state-of-the-art laboratories, the world-renowned Museum of Anthropology and the Belkin Contemporary Art Gallery (admission is free for our graduate students). World-class performance spaces include theatres, concert venues and a performing arts centre. 

Since 2001, the Belkin Art Gallery has trained young curators at the graduate level in the Critical and Curatorial Studies program in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory. The Master of Arts program addresses the growing need for curators and critics who have theoretical knowledge and practical experience in analyzing institutions, preparing displays and communicating about contemporary art.

The MOA Centre for Cultural Research (CCR) undertakes research on world arts and cultures, and supports research activities and collaborative partnerships through a number of spaces, including research rooms for collections-based research, an Ethnology Lab, a Conservation Lab, an Oral History and Language Lab supporting audio recording and digitization, a library, an archive, and a Community Lounge for groups engaged in research activities. The CCR includes virtual services supporting collections-based research through the MOA CAT Collections Online site that provides access to the Museum’s collection of approximately 40,000 objects and 80,000 object images, and the Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) that brings together 430,000 object records and associated images from 19 institutions.
 

Research Highlights

The Faculty of Arts at UBC is internationally renowned for research in the social sciences, humanities, professional schools, and creative and performing arts.

As a research-intensive faculty, Arts is a leader in the creation and advancement of knowledge and understanding. Scholars in the Faculty of Arts form cross-disciplinary partnerships, engage in knowledge exchange, and apply their research locally and globally.

Arts faculty members have won Guggenheim Fellowships, Humboldt Fellowships, and major disciplinary awards. We have had 81 faculty members elected to the Royal Society of Canada, and several others win Killam Prizes, Killam Research Fellowships, Emmy Awards, and Order of Canada awards. In addition, Arts faculty members have won countless book prizes, national disciplinary awards, and international disciplinary awards. 

External funding also signifies the research success of our faculty. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the Faculty of Arts received $34.6 million through over 900 research projects. Of seven UBC SSHRC Partnership Grants awarded to-date, six are located in Arts, with a combined investment of $15 million over the term of the grants.

Since the 2011 introduction of the SSHRC Insight Grants and SSHRC Insight Development Grants programs, our faculty’s success rate has remained highly stable, and is consistently higher than the national success rate.

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
Name Academic Unit(s) Research Interests
Abdul-Mageed, Muhammad Department of Linguistics Artificial intelligence (AI); Deep Learning; Natural Language Processing; Machine Learning; Computational Linguistics; Social Media Mining; Arabic
Abedinifard, Mostafa Department of Asian Studies Literature and literary studies; modern Iran; Iranian/Persianate studies through fiction, drama, poetry, cinema, andnonfiction
Abrutyn, Seth Department of Sociology Social theory; Sociological Theory; Suicide; Social Solidarity/Morality; Emotions/Microsociology; Medical/Mental Health; youth
Adriasola Munoz, Ignacio Alberto Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory investigates responses by artists and intellectuals to the crisis of aesthetic and political representation triggered by the failed protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty of 1960, and in particular their reliance on depictions of the sexual and geographical margins in their articulation of an aesthetics of political disaffection.
Afsahi, Afsoun Department of Political Science Democratic theory and practice, Gender in politics, Challenges, opportunities, and best methods of inclusion, Representation of marginalized communities in democratic decision-making processes
Ahmed, Rumee Department of Asian Studies Islamic studies; Human rights, justice, and ethical issues; Islam; Muslims; Religion; Law; Theology; ethics; Philosophy
Al-Kassim, Dina Department of English Language and Literatures Critical identity, ethnic and race studies; English language; Gender, sexuality and education; Human rights, justice, and ethical issues; anti-colonial; Artistic and Literary Movements, Schools and Styles; Artistic and Literary Theories; Arts and Cultural Traditions; Arts, Literature and Subjectivity; comparative literature: Arabic, English, French; feminist; Gender Relationship; Identity and Transnationality; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; postcolonial; psychoanalysis; queer theory; sexuality; Subjectivity
Al-Solaylee, Kamal School of Journalism, Writing, and Media Literary nonfiction, Race and representation, Migration studies
Alaica, Aleksa Department of Anthropology Other agricultural sciences; Archaeology; human-animal interactions; Moche Perceptions and Use of Animals; Food Security and Interregional Interaction during Wari State Expansion; Colonization, Diet and Animal Management
Alden, Lynn Department of Psychology Cognitive processes in the anxiety disorders, Social Anxiety Disorder, adult-onset Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, cognitive-behavior therapy
Alford-Duguid, Dominic Department of Philosophy Philosophy; Philosophy of mind/cognitive science; Philosophy of Language
Alvarez Moreno, Raul Department of French, Hispanic & Italian Studies Literary or Artistic Works Analysis; Artistic and Literary Movements, Schools and Styles; Artistic and Literary Theories; Literary or Artistic Work Dissemination or Reception Contexts; Language, Knowledge, Significance and Thought Building; Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Literature and Culture (Celestina, picaresque novel, short story); Economy and Medieval Literature and Culture; Visual Culture in Medieval and Early Modern Spain; Relations between Language and Ideology; travel writing
Amijee, Fatema Department of Philosophy Metaphysics; Modern Philosophy; feminist philosophy; History of Analytic Philosophy
An, Ji-yoon Department of Asian Studies
Anderson, L. Mark School of Music Piano, Piano Pedagogy
Anderson, Siwan Vancouver School of Economics Micro-level institutions, role of gender, studies of rural governments
Anderson, Scott Allen Department of Philosophy intersection of ethics and social and political philosophy, largely focused on how to use and regulate power, coercion, and social norms; action theory and moral psychology, privacy, and problems related to the intensification of technology and information.
Anger, Suzy Department of English Language and Literatures Victorian Literature, Literature and Philosophy, Victorian Literature and Psychology, Victorian Literature and Science, Hermeneutics
Antwi, Phanuel Department of English Language and Literatures critical black studies; settler colonial studies; black Atlantic and diaspora studies; Canadian literature and culture since 1830; critical race, gender, and sexuality studies; and material cultures;
Arefin, Mohammed Department of Geography Human geography; History of sciences and technology (except medicine and health care); urban geography; discard studies; urban political ecology; Environmental justice; waste; sanitation; geographical political economy
Arneil, Barbara Department of Political Science Identity politics, history of political thought
Averill, Gage Haitian music, barbershop harmony, sound, music and power, music and politics, Caribbean music, steelband, ethnomusicology, world music, Ethnomusicology, Haiti, Haitian diaspora, American Popular Culture, Trinidad and Tobago, and Traditional Irish Music
Ayan, Irem Department of French, Hispanic & Italian Studies French language; Sociology of translation and interpreting; Gender and work exploitation; Emotional labour and work alienation; Fictional representations of translators and interpreters
Ayars, Alisabeth Department of Philosophy Ethics, Metaethics, Metaphysics, Moral Psychology, Epistemology, Cognitive Science
Aydede, Murat Department of Philosophy Philosophy; Philosophy of Mind

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Open Research Positions

This list of possible research projects is non-exhaustive. It only shows positions that are specifically advertised in the G+PS website.

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Arts.

 

Publication: Neuropsychologia
UBC Author(s): James Enns (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00283932
Volume: 198
Publication Date: 6 June 2024

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Publication: American Anthropologist
UBC Author(s): Dylan Robinson (Music, School of / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00027294
Volume: 126
Page Range: 233-247
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: Infant Behavior and Development
UBC Author(s): Janet Werker (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01636383
Volume: 75
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: Social Forces
UBC Author(s): Christopher Childress (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00377732
Volume: 102
Page Range: 1582-1607
Publication Date: 1 June 2024

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Publication: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
UBC Author(s): Lauren Emberson (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00220965
Volume: 242
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: SSM - Qualitative Research in Health
UBC Author(s): Hannah Kia (Social Work / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 5
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: Food Ethics
UBC Author(s): Heidi Evans (History / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 9
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: Geoforum
UBC Author(s): Geraldine Pratt (Geography / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00167185
Volume: 151
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Journal of Clinical Psychology
UBC Author(s): Paul Hewitt (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00219762
Volume: 80
Page Range: 945-967
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
UBC Author(s): Lynn Alden (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 02713586
Volume: 67
Page Range: 387-441
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Neurobiology of Stress
UBC Author(s): Stanley Bogdan Floresco (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 30
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities
UBC Author(s): Timothy Stainton (Social Work / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 13602322
Volume: 37
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
UBC Author(s): Christiane Hoppmann (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01461672
Volume: 50
Page Range: 733-749
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Journal of Economic Theory
UBC Author(s): Sergei Severinov (Economics / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00220531
Volume: 217
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: European Journal of Neuroscience
UBC Author(s): Catharine Winstanley (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 0953816X
Volume: 59
Page Range: 1621-1637
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Global Studies Quarterly
UBC Author(s): Kristen Hopewell (School of Public Policy / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 4
Publication Date: 1 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Youth and Adolescence
UBC Author(s): Amori Mikami (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00472891
Volume: 53
Page Range: 784-798
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Perception
UBC Author(s): Alan Forbes Kingstone (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 03010066
Volume: 53
Page Range: 287-290
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Adolescence
UBC Author(s): Joelle LeMoult (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01401971
Volume: 96
Page Range: 645-658
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: International Journal of Drug Policy
UBC Author(s): Lindsey Richardson (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 09553959
Volume: 126
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Clinical Psychology Review
UBC Author(s): Lynn Alden (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 02727358
Volume: 109
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Psychological Research
UBC Author(s): Daniela Palombo (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 03400727
Volume: 88
Page Range: 974-986
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: PLoS Medicine
UBC Author(s): Eric Kim (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 15491277
Volume: 21
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Nature Ecology and Evolution
UBC Author(s): Navin Ramankutty (School of Public Policy / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 8
Page Range: 752-760
Publication Date: April 2024

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Publication: Global Social Policy
UBC Author(s): Tara Cookson (School of Public Policy / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 14680181
Volume: 24
Page Range: 25-45
Publication Date: April 2024

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Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2023 Dr. Johnson examined the political history of evolutionary biology in England, Europe, and Russia in the nineteenth century. While Social Darwinism has been analyzed as a political application of evolutionary thought, Dr. Johnson argues that this perspective arose in opposition to what he identifies as Socialist Darwinism. Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nutini examined the association of self-compassion with emotional and biological markers of stress in youth. Evidence showed that greater self-compassion was associated with less negative emotions across a variety of stressors. Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Salles advanced the documentation of Pirahã, a vulnerable language spoken in the Amazon, and contributed to destigmatizing a non-standard dialect of Brazilian Portuguese. Her work also provided a fresh take on a long-standing puzzle in the field of linguistics, by proposing that nouns can be licensed by categories other than articles. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)
2023 There are many unsolvable debates in the world. How do we use the Internet to make sense of them? Dr. Novin researched how biases on the Internet influenced student inquiries, search strategies, and decisions. He documented the cognitive methods participants used to counter biases. This will help educators with teaching critical thinking skills. Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (PhD)
2023 Dr. Ji studies the in-process tensions surrounding boundaries that emerge from and respond to the interplay of difference and sameness, with a particular focus on the transformation of ethnic minority identities in post-socialist China. Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Yan examined the interactions between the Chinese and Spaniards in the Philippines through the creation of a Spanish manuscript, the Boxer Codex (1590s). Her study illuminates the convergence of sixteenth-century book cultures from China and Europe, offering fresh perspectives on the Sino-Hispanic relations in the Spanish colony. Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)
2023 Dr. Ono explored how mothers facing violence navigate child protection and family law systems. Her research uncovered how practices are ideologically-driven by the legal principle best interests of the child, causing more harm to women and children. This contributes to social work by highlighting how texts can be tools of resistance not complicity. Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work (PhD)
2023 Dr. Matavelli examined the role of lack of communication in perpetuating misperceptions about social norms, especifically in the context of masculinity norms. She also investigated the role of norms change, proxied by an election outcome, on violence against women. She then showed that psychedelic intake led people to leave the formal labour market. Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Wang studied the value of Chinese art song to Western vocal pedagogy. He introduced a collection of Chinese art song teaching repertoire and created a new Mandarin IPA system to solve the Mandarin pronunciation difficulty in singing. His study will enable Western educators to incorporate Chinese art songs more effectively into their curricula. Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Instrument (DMA)
2023 Dr. Leischner studied what happens to Indigenous voices when they are recorded and held in museums and archives. Guided by members of the Nuxalk Nation, she found that the collection and stewardship of these recordings overlaps with logics of resource extraction. Her findings emphasize the importance of Indigenous law and anti-extractive research. Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD)

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