Photo: Martin Dee
Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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.
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.
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.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Arts.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Dr. Troncoso-Valverde studied models of gaming where auctioneers use information about the characteristics of their products to attract buyers. He found that auctioneers release more information when they compete for the same pool of buyers. His findings contribute to our understanding of the role played by information in competitive environments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Hiebert studied the political and aesthetic theory underlying the body of work of George Woodcock, the prolific writer who forged relations between Vancouver and the Dalai Lama in the sixties. The intellectual and geographical mobility of Woodcock is shown essential to the role he played in the formation of Canadian literature as a field. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Zwicker examined the effect of parent-child relationships on stepfamily functioning. With the increasing prevalence of complex family systems in Western society, this research points to important ways in which broad stepfamily dynamics affect the success of remarriages. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Shilliday studied trauma and World War Two in the French contemporary novel. Her research explored the works of World War Two survivors and authors and second-generation writers. Her findings underline the importance of an empathetic engagement with testimony, an aesthetic relationship to the text and a sense of responsibility towards history. | Doctor of Philosophy in French (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Kenyon investigated why some African HIV advocacy groups choose to use the language of human rights. She found this was due to leadership, organizational structure and the belief that rights-based advocacy changes health-seeking behaviour, improving access to care. This research will be useful to those living with and conducting advocacy on HIV. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Lynch explored the re-use of churches as loft apartments in downtown Toronto. The transformation of these former sacred spaces to lofts illustrates the relationships between religious change and new forms of urban development. Beyond their former purpose, church-style lofts represent new secular and economic arrangements in urban landscapes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Cheng's research examined the ways in which individuals pursue and effectively acquire social status. Challenging prior assumptions that demonstrating competence is the only route to the highest status ranks, Dr. Cheng's work revealed that, in fact, intimidation and expertise are equally viable pathways to status and influence among humans. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Siemiatycki examined Vancouver's shift from the resource economy of the 1980s to a consumption economy, defined by business-class immigration, tourism and real estate development. Case studies of the hospitality, legal and video game sectors show this economic shift has left workers and firms in a precarious condition which needs further study. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Deery argues that neither the belief in being free to do otherwise nor the experience of having such freedom is inconsistent with there being just one physically possible future. Drawing on recent work in psychology, Dr. Deery develops a view that preserves our self-image as agents who can navigate among alternative pathways into the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Human examined why the personalities of some individuals are more accurately perceived in first impression situations. She found that well-adjusted individuals are seen more accurately because they behave more in line with their unique personality traits. This research sheds light on the factors that enable us to better understand others. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |