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
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.
Anderson, L. Mark School of Music Piano, Piano Pedagogy
Anderson, Kristin Siwan Vancouver School of Economics Micro-level institutions, role of gender, studies of rural governments
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 of mind
Baada, Jemima Department of Geography intersections of gender, climate change, migration, health and development equity

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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: Addictive Behaviors
UBC Author(s): Luke Clark (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 03064603
Volume: 148
Publication Date: January 2024

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Publication: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
UBC Author(s): Kristin Laurin (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00221031
Volume: 110
Publication Date: January 2024

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Publication: World Development
UBC Author(s): Milind Kandlikar (School of Public Policy / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 0305750X
Volume: 173
Publication Date: January 2024

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
UBC Author(s): Jane Hamlin (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00220965
Volume: 237
Publication Date: January 2024

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Publication: Neuropsychologia
UBC Author(s): James Enns (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00283932
Volume: 191
Publication Date: 15 December 2023

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Publication: Social Science and Medicine
UBC Author(s): Hannah Kia (Social Work / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 02779536
Volume: 339
Publication Date: December 2023

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Publication: Journal of Econometrics
UBC Author(s): Kyungchul Song (Economics / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 03044076
Volume: 237
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Annals of Epidemiology
UBC Author(s): Qiang Fu (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 10472797
Volume: 88
Page Range: 23-29
Publication Date: December 2023

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Publication: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
UBC Author(s): Trevor Barnes (Geography / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00202754
Volume: 48
Page Range: 686-689
Publication Date: December 2023

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Publication: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
UBC Author(s): Connor Kerns (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01623257
Volume: 53
Page Range: 4577-4590
Publication Date: December 2023

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Publication: Social Forces
UBC Author(s): Yue Qian (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00377732
Volume: 102
Page Range: 609-632
Publication Date: 1 December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Social Forces
UBC Author(s): Ethan Raker (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 00377732
Volume: 102
Page Range: 430-453
Publication Date: 1 December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
UBC Author(s): Connor Kerns (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01623257
Volume: 53
Page Range: 4711-4718
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Luke Clark (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Biological Invasions
UBC Author(s): Jennifer Williams (Geography / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 13873547
Volume: 25
Page Range: 3805-3822
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Environmental Research Letters
UBC Author(s): Naomi Beth Schwartz (Geography / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 18
Publication Date: 1 December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Psychiatry Research
UBC Author(s): Joelle LeMoult (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 01651781
Volume: 330
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Extractive Industries and Society
UBC Author(s): Nadja Kunz (School of Public Policy / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 2214790X
Volume: 16
Publication Date: December 2023

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Publication: Scientific Reports
UBC Author(s): Alan Forbes Kingstone (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Nature Communications
UBC Author(s): Simon Donner (Geography / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Critical Care
UBC Author(s): Noah Silverberg (Psychology / Faculty of Arts)
ISSN: 13648535
Volume: 27
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Scientific Reports
UBC Author(s): Marton Soskuthy (Linguistics / Faculty of Arts), Bryan Gick (Linguistics / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: BMC Public Health
UBC Author(s): Lindsey Richardson (Sociology / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 23
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication
Publication: Scientific Reports
UBC Author(s): Marton Soskuthy (Linguistics / Faculty of Arts), Bryan Gick (Linguistics / Faculty of Arts)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: December 2023

View Publication

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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. Ducharme explored various methods of integrating music composition and music technology. His thesis piece, CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background), leveraged data on the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation of the Universe to create a musical work for chamber sextet, with live electronics and interactive video. Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition (DMA)
2023 Dr. Al-Ghorani studied spatiotemporal variations in sediment transport at watershed and channel scales.Though sediment reduction measures focus more on upland soil conservation, she found that local channel conditions should also be considered when mitigating the negative impacts of excess sediment caused by unavoidable climate and landuse changes. Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD)
2023 Dr. Moore developed a philosophical account of truth that combines insights from formal semantics and current theories of reference, and then defended his account against rivals that seek to trivialize the philosophy of truth. He subsequently applied his theory to address the question of how thinking in terms of truth can aid philosophical inquiry. Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy (PhD)
2023 Dr. GermAnn did an ethnography in Thailand about a demon. Through this character he discovered how personal relationships to Thai traditions were being renegotiated within a growing generational divide marking the rise of an alternative understanding of the demon and an alternative form of Thai identity resistant to authoritarian structures of power Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Press examined the role of persuasion in medical settings and scientific writing. She showed how a patient's positionality can impact how that person is treated in medical encounters, and how discrimination can lead to differential health outcomes. Her research shows the value of applying narrative and rhetorical approaches to health studies. Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD)
2023 Dr. Zhumatova developed a policy index that measures the scope of mainstreaming, a policy of immigrant integration, across European states. She used the index and other data to examine if mainstreaming helps immigrants find employment. Her research contributes to a better understanding of whether immigrant integration policies work. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD)
2023 Dr. Huijsmans investigated a set of small words with grammatical functions in ?ay?aj u¸Ym (Comox-Sliammon; Central Salish). These encode information about utterance type, source of evidence, speaker certainty, and broader discourse context. This research contributes to documentation available to future language learners, teachers, and researchers. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Mukherji shows how the entry of immigrants in the local labour markets can impact market institutions like unions. He also examines how economic conditions both in their source economy and in the market of entry can affect their labour supply decisions. Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD)
2023 Foreign investment can benefit the recipient economy. Dr. Burzo examined empirically the political and economic aspects that influence the destination of foreign investments. His findings contribute to policy discussions on the redefinition of the international investment regime, particularly in relation to developing countries. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD)
2023 Dr. Angsongna's work explored the word structure and the sound system of Dagaare, a language spoken in northwestern Ghana. His research showed how words are formed and how they differ in the expression of grammatical meanings. This research contributes to the documentation of the language and to the development of linguistic theory. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)

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