Meet the recipients of the 2026 FASS teaching awards

Aaron Hoffman

Political Science

Aaron M. Hoffman is professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Hoffman is an expert on international security issues, focusing on the scientific study of strategy, emotions and mass media in terrorism, counter-terrorism, and foreign policy. In 2025, he published a book with University of Michigan Press on terrorism and counterterrorism reporting, entitled The Terrorism News Beat: Professionalism, Profit, and the Press. He is currently working on understanding the reasons Canada and Europe are trying to insulate NATO and the system of free trade from pressures the US is placing on those institutions. Hoffman teaches classes at all levels of instruction, is an enthusiastic user of classroom simulations, and is especially fond of writing courses. In 2017, Hoffman won the Kenneth T. Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award when he was a faculty member at Purdue University.

Bryan Myles

Indigenous Studies

Bryan Myles is a settler scholar from Treaty 4 territory in Southern Saskatchewan who has been living as an uninvited relative on Coast Salish territory since 2009. He received his BA Anthropology from the University of Regina in 2006, MA Anthropology from Carleton University in 2008, and completed an interdisciplinary (INS) PhD (Communications, Art, and Technology) at SFU in 2022. 

Myles has taught in the Department of Indigenous Studies since 2018. He has designed and delivered courses on Indigenous art and belongings, digital heritage, and cultural heritage stewardship, and has a depth of experience teaching Introductory INDG courses. He also has over fifteen years of experience in the GLAM sector serving in several administrative roles at SFU’s Bill Reid Centre; a small heritage focused initiative that operated between 2005 and 2025. Myles has also co-facilitated SFU’s RESPECT Program since it launched in 2024.

Myles' teaching and academic interests focus on anticolonial methodologies, material culture, visual culture, and the intersections of new media and Indigenous cultural heritage. 

Cornel Bogle

English

Cornel Bogle is an assistant professor of English at Simon Fraser University. His research and teaching span Caribbean and Black diasporic literature and culture, life writing, creative writing, and approaches to race, gender, and sexuality. His scholarship has appeared in Canadian Literature, Studies in Canadian Literature, TOPIA, Anthurium, sx salon, and edited collections including the Routledge Handbook of Caribbean Studies and the Bloomsbury Handbook of Poetics, Gender, and Sexuality. He is a poet, with work published in Brick, Arc Poetry Magazine, and PREE: Caribbean Writing. His editorial work includes co-editing the special issue “Recognition and Recovery of Caribbean Canadian Cultural Production” for Canada and Beyond and editing the fortieth-anniversary issue of the Journal of West Indian Literature, where he serves as Associate Editor and Book Reviews Editor. Across his scholarship, poetry, editing, and teaching, Bogle is committed to expanding how Caribbean and Black cultural production is studied, preserved, and taught.

Holly Andersen

Philosophy

Holly K. Andersen is a professor of Philosophy at SFU. She has a BSc in Physics and a minor in Mathematics from Montana State University, an MSc from the London School of Economics in Philosophy of the Natural Sciences, and a PhD from the History and Philosophy of Science department at the University of Pittsburgh. She works on philosophical issues related to the sciences, especially methodological and conceptual refinements over time in theoretical settings. She has published on causation, explanation, mechanisms, and the experience of time. Her historical work draws out trajectories by which current scientific topics developed into their contemporary forms. Recently, she has published on values-related issues that arise when institutionalized academic science intersects with other knowledge systems, including the kinds of epistemic injustices these may involve, and ways to target these injustices with principles from transformative justice applied to knowledge practices and products. She loves scifi/fantasy that explores philosophical issues.

Shannon Linning

Criminology

An associate professor in SFU’s School of Criminology, her main research interests are in place-based crime prevention and problem-oriented policing. Her newest co-authored book, Cutting Crime Using the Rule of the Few, explores how police can partner with property owners to suppress crime opportunities at and around their properties. Linning teaches courses in place-based crime prevention, police strategies and problem solving, community criminology, research methods, and spatial-temporal criminology. In the classroom, she works to connect with students and create a safe learning environment that fosters student engagement. She also prioritizes teaching students research skills that help them think critically about information. Linning enjoys mentoring honours and graduate students. She also teaches a writing workshop that she developed for students and faculty in the School of Criminology. She earned a PhD from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from SFU.

Leah Shipton

Public Policy

Leah Shipton is a Term Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy. Her research examines how state and non-state actors shape health systems and policy processes with the goal of improving health equity by identifying strengthened models and practices of governance. Her current research program explores these dynamics in the areas of pandemic governance, health care privatization, and local production of health products. Trained in political science and public health, her research advances debates in the fields of international relations, public policy, global health, and health policy and systems research. Her research-informed health advocacy has been recognized with a Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada. Shipton enjoys bringing her interdisciplinary training to the classroom, where she teaches public policy, policy analysis, qualitative and mixed methods research, and health policy courses to SFU’s dynamic and civic-minded undergraduate and graduate student body. 

Troy Boucher

Psychology

Troy Boucher is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology and member of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Lab (ADDL) at SFU. His research focuses on the lived experiences of Autistic adults and decolonizing research and clinical practice. Boucher is a citizen of the Métis Nation British Columbia and he teaches PSYC 391 – Indigenous Peoples and Psychology. This course examines how colonialism shapes the well-being of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and students learn about Indigenous perspectives on wellness and research methods. Boucher brings together research, Indigenous voices, storytelling, history, and contemporary events to make these connections tangible for students. His teaching emphasizes cultural humility and curiosity, with regular opportunities for students to explore their assumptions and reflect on how their perspectives change throughout the course. Boucher hopes students leave his classroom better prepared to identify bias and inequity in psychological research and practice, and to think critically about their own role within the discipline.

Jeff Hsieh

Economics

Jeff Hsieh earned both his BA and MA in Economics from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan and completed his PhD in Economics at Simon Fraser University in 2026. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Economics at National Tsing Hua University. His teaching philosophy is to present himself as more of a mentor. He is passionate about helping students truly understand economic concepts by focusing on the “why” behind the methods, rather than just memorizing formulas. With extensive experience in teaching writing courses and workshops, Hsieh also emphasizes the importance of clearly communicating complex ideas, especially when speaking to people outside the field. He believes that critical thinking, logical reasoning, and effective communication are essential components of an undergraduate education and future professional success.

Hsieh's research focuses on consumer demand and applied econometrics. He is particularly interested in using structural models and modern, computationally intensive methods to analyze large datasets and address important economic questions. His recent work develops new methodologies that leverage large-scale consumer purchase data to measure the cost-of-living faced by individual consumers.