Faculty updates

FASS accepts that the challenges set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report’s Calls to Action require a multi-faceted, holistic approach to intergenerational change in the academy and continuous collaboration in building new relationships with Indigenous students, faculty and staff and Indigenous communities.

Congratulations to School of Public Policy associate professor Kora DeBeck who has been appointed as an Applied Public Health Chair by CIHR. As one of the twelve researchers from across Canada, DeBeck's research aims to tackle the toxic drug crisis for young people who use drugs in BC.

Media appearances, features, and publications featuring Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty, staff, students, and alumni for January and February 2024.

Congratulations to Marianne Ignace for adding Excellence in Teaching to her many accolades. As an SFU faculty member for three decades, Ignace has gained respect and admiration among her students for her dedication to preserve, teach, and restore Indigenous languages within Indigenous communities.

Global Humanities assistant professor James Horncastle and Criminology professor emeritus Robert Gordon have been awarded the 2023 SFU Newsmaker Awards for their expert media commentary.

Media appearances, mentions, and publications featuring Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty, staff, students, and alumni for November and December 2023.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at Simon Fraser University (SFU) is pleased to welcome Dr. Adrian De Leon as the new 2024-2025 Jack and Nancy Farley Distinguished Visiting Scholar in History.

SFU will soon – for the first time ever – offer Brazilian Portuguese language and Brazilian literature classes. Signed at SFU’s Burnaby campus, the MOU between the Consulate General of Brazil and SFU will bring a specialist in Brazilian Portuguese language, literature, and Brazilian culture to teach new courses to SFU’s undergraduate students. This marks an incredible moment in SFU’s long-standing history of multilingualism.

Gathered in the W.A.C. Bennett Library in early September, the Dr. A.H. Somjee and Dr. Geeta Somjee Professorship in Indian Political Development was launched - a generous gift from Dr. Somjee to the Department of Political Science.

Over 30 instructors from across FASS gathered in early November for the inaugural FASS Teaching Café, an initiative launched to foster conversations on a particular theme related to undergraduate teaching experiences and challenges.

Media appearances, mentions, and publications featuring Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty, staff, students, and alumni for September and October.

English university lecturer Nicky Didicher is making marking a better experience for students and instructors, with support from the team at Transforming Inquiry into Learning and Teaching (TILT).

Media appearances, mentions, and publications featuring Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty, staff, students, and alumni for July and August.

Dr. Ali Bhagat joins SFU’s School of Public Policy this fall, bringing with him a background in the political economy of labour, finance, and racial capitalism. Bhagat will take on two new roles with the school, as an assistant professor and as director of the school’s new minor program, which opens up, for the first time, studies in public policy to undergraduate students.

This year, FASS welcomes 25 new continuing faculty members whose diverse areas of expertise and professional experience will further advance our dedication to teaching and research excellence.

In all, FASS has four new and renewed Canada Research Chairs, one Partnership Development Grant recipient, and eight Insight Grant recipients. From mental health care to sustainability to Indigenous sovereignty and more, FASS researchers stand at the forefront of innovation and knowledge mobilization.

For their exceptional research accomplishments, the university conferred the Distinguished SFU Professorship to FASS professors Kora DeBeck, Krishna Pendakur, and Kendra Strauss.

Michael Hathaway built the cross-disciplinary research project Transnationally Indigenous, supported by a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The Transnationally Indigenous project explores the hidden legacies of a pivotal series of visits from all-Indigenous groups to China in the mid-1970s, including First Nations delegates from British Columbia and Ainu delegates from Japan.

Media appearances, mentions, and publications featuring Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

During a celebratory gathering at the Diamond Family Auditorium, faculty, staff, and alumni from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) came together to reflect on a year of outstanding academic achievements, department highlights, and public outreach.

Congratulations to our FASS faculty who won the 2022 Excellence in Teaching Awards: Danielle Murdoch (Criminology), Yuthika Girme (Psychology), and Amanda Watson (Sociology & Anthropology)!

A big congratulations to FASS faculty and students who earned a Community-Engaged Initiative Award. We are so proud that FASS won four out of five categories!

In recognition of their excellence and innovation in teaching, six FASS faculty members were honoured with the 2022 Cormack Teaching Awards.

Blended (B) might be a relatively new course scheduling option for the university, but it’s already making a big impact on learning and teaching at SFU.

Professor David Cox made sporting history as the first psychologist to be inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the highest sporting honour in BC.

Brianne Kent's studies on how sleep disturbances contribute to the progressive memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease has earned her a Canada Research Chair and $350k in funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF).

Reder shares the story behind the award from the Chetna Association—a group whose work is to raise awareness and promote dialogue about caste-based issues—and the parallels she sees between the evolution of Indigenous and Indian literatures.

Humanities Undergraduate Chair Emily O’Brien received this year’s Cormack Teaching Award in recognition of her “passionate commitment to the importance of liberal arts in the 21st century university.”

FASS Teaching Fellow and History professor Jennifer Spear is working to create more equitable and robust teaching assessment methods.

Congratulations to 2021 Royal Society Fellows from FASS: Jasmina Arifovic (Economics), Catherine Dauvergne (International Studies), Murray Munro (Linguistics), Gerardo Otero (International Studies), and Betty Schellenberg (English).

Five FASS scholars share insights on decolonizing and bringing acts of reconciliation into their classrooms.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at SFU is committed to the principles of Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. September 30 is a day to recognize and commemorate the tragic history and ongoing legacy of residential schools, and to honour their survivors, their families and communities.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) is pleased to congratulate the 2021 recipients of the FASS Dean's Medals. Dean's Medals are given in recognition of academic excellence in research, teaching, and service, with an emphasis on significant contributions while in position in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at SFU.

Dr. Catherine Murray prepares for retirement from her position as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies, for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).

SFU President Emeritus Andrew Petter has received B.C.’s highest civilian honour, the Order of British Columbia, for his leadership and impact on public policy, education, and community engagement.

Eight Simon Fraser University faculty members have been honoured as the 2021 Distinguished SFU Professors. As a joint initiative of SFU’s Vice-President, Academic and Provost and the Vice-President, Research and International, the Distinguished SFU Professor program recognizes SFU research faculty members of distinction who have achieved exceptional performance and distinguished accomplishments relative to their rank and years of service.

A collaboration with Vancouver Public Library, David Lam Centre’s current Chinese/Canadian writing series has run two successful events featuring Chinese writing and is drawing increasing interest, internationally and locally.

Linguistics' Dr. Henny Yeung and co-researchers from UBC and Brock University question how mask-wearing influences children's speech and language development.

In this series we share the reflections of faculty members who are discovering new teaching insights from and about remote teaching. Here’s what Dr. Elena Caselli, a term lecturer of Italian in the department of World Languages and Literatures, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, had to say.

The newest faculty members of FASS are all dynamic educators, excellent researchers who will undoubtedly contribute to and strengthen our already robust academic community.

At the SFU Surrey campus, Rose Baik makes a special effort to help new students joining the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences smoothly transition from high school to university.

The new Director of the French Cohort Program, Rémi Léger, shares some of his insights on the politics of language in Canada and why he’s so passionate about the French Cohort Program.

Increasingly, social scientists are asked to expand their data collection beyond WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is pleased to welcome Dr. Lara Campbell as she begins a three-year term as Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programming, Learning and Teaching, and Student Experience on September 1, 2020.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is pleased to welcome Dr. Mary-Ellen Kelm as she begins a three-year term as Associate Dean, Research & International on September 1, 2020.

Klein sees the nation’s war effort as a helpful and hopeful reminder that in the past, Canadians mobilized in common cause across society to retool our entire economy in the space of a few short years.

Professor Maite Taboada finishes her eight-month term Acting Associate Dean, Research & International for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences on August 31.

After four and a half very busy years, Catherine Murray stepped down as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) on August 31.

On April 30 Lisa Shapiro wrapped up her five-year term as an Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Jen Marchbank had a head start when SFU faculty switched to online instruction in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

SFU political science professor S. Laurel Weldon has studied the impact of women’s movements around the globe and finds they have advanced women’s economic empowerment.

Jen Marchbank’s stellar teaching record has earned the professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies a 2019 SFU Excellence in Teaching Award.

Yuthika Girme and Ryan Fitzgerald, are making the world a better place with their research. Girme studies how to support insecure people to develop satisfying relationships and Fitzgerald’s research reduces errors in eyewitness identifications.

Dr. Bill Krane, former psychology professor, associate dean of arts, chair of the psychology department and associate VP-academic at Simon Fraser University (SFU), has passed away.

It is with great sadness that the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at SFU has learned of the passing of Dr. George F. MacDonald. MacDonald was an adjunct professor in the Departments of Archaeology and Indigenous Studies at SFU.

Last fall, Claire Trépanier retired after 26 years of service with SFU, first as a senior lecturer in the Department of French and then as Director of the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs.

Simon Fraser University’s Department of Philosophy is very pleased to welcome new faculty member Bruno Guindon as a lecturer this term.

Professor Rob Gordon has completed his service as associate dean for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and is returning to Simon Fraser University’s School of Criminology where he served as director for 15 years.

Researcher Alexandra Lysova, an assistant professor in Simon Fraser University’s School of Criminology, wants to involve men in strategies to reduce intimate partner violence.

Reducing the risks of drug use is a life or death matter in British Columbia where 1,535 people died of illicit drug use in 2018. Alissa Greer knows that it will take harm reduction experts to solve the problem, and that those experts are people who use drugs themselves.

Hellenic Studies is very pleased to welcome a new colleague to our team, Dr. James Horncastle, as the inaugural Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations.

Register to vote. That’s Clare McGovern’s message to her students in the Department of Political Science at Simon Fraser University as we near the federal election.

Students are maxed out in Tiffany Muller Myrdahl’s Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies course on gender and the environment, and it’s not due just to the off campus work that many of them take on.

This semester, a new pilot program in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences aims to see faculty engage with students through a revamp of its online course offerings.

In the 1980s Marianne Ignace began audio recording the last generation of storytellers. When a language is lost so are the stories that pass on a people’s lessons about their land and how they live on it.

Nicolas Fillion’s eyes sparkle when he talks about critical thinking even though he knows that it’s not the most popular subject among the many interesting Arts and social science courses on offer. Fillion’s passion for sharing the joys of critical thinking were recognized when the philosophy professor received a 2019 Cormack Teaching Award.

Criminology lecturer Danielle Murdoch’s passion for teaching and the care and effort she puts into her classrooms have been recognized with a 2019 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Cormack Teaching Award.

“The biggest tool students can use to find work in a knowledge-based economy is the ability to read, retain, summarize and report,” says Panos Pappas, a professor in the Department of Linguistics.

Rylan Simpson brings his expertise in extensive police work in a number of communities around the world to his new role as assistant professor in the School of Criminology.

“When I moved to Canada I was amazed by the escalating housing unaffordability in Vancouver,” says Yushu Zhu, one of Simon Fraser University's newest professors. Professor Zhu has been jointly appointed to the Urban Studies Program and the School of Public Policy, both within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Tamir Moustafa has received the Lasting Contribution Award from the Law & Courts Section of American Political Science Association (APSA). Moustafa, a professor of International Studies and Stephen Jarislowsky Chair at SFU, is being honored in recognition of his first book The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is pleased to welcome 15 new faculty members.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is pleased to announce that professor Peter Hall has been appointed as associate dean, strategic academic planning, enrollment and budget for the faculty.

Our highly esteemed and beloved colleague and friend, Sonja Luehrmann, passed away on August 24, 2019, a little over two years after she was diagnosed with cancer. As an Associate Professor in Simon Fraser University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Sonja modeled how to live a life devoted to learning.

Zheng Wu (1960-2019) passed away on August 27 in Victoria, British Columbia after a short period of illness. He was Professor of Gerontology and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Aging and Health at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C.

Assistant professor of psychology Michelle Kline has been awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant worth up to $71,701 for her research project.

Role-playing games where students take on the personas of historical figures have made Diana Solomon’s English literature course Major Authors for Non-Majors a huge hit since she began teaching it in 2017.

The Department of First Nations Studies is excited to announce its newest tenure-track faculty member, Assistant Professor Joyce Schneider (Kicya7), who is passionate about mobilizing Indigenous pedagogies as an all-my-relations approach to reconciling education.

Tamara O’Doherty, who has been teaching at the Department of Criminology since 2003, has become a full-time lecturer.

If you see a woman walking the halls of SFU’s Burnaby campus in an 18th-century skirt and petticoats, it is very likely Nicky Didicher, a Department of English university lecturer who has been awarded a FASS Teaching Fellowship for 2019-20.

Dongwoo Kim will be joining the Department of Economics at Simon Fraser University this July as an assistant professor.

Marianne and Ronald Ignace have been awarded a Governor General Innovation Award for their decades of collaborative research involving Indigenous people and communities.

Betty Schellenberg, professor in the Department of English at SFU, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in the U.K. for her research on women writers in the 18th century.

Battlestar Galactica fan and former culinary student Matthew Sigal shares how inspirational teachers fueled his passion for quantitative methods and data visualization in experimental psychology.

Lara Aknin, social psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychology at SFU, co-authored a chapter in this year’s World Happiness Report discussing which prosocial behaviours promote happiness.

Irene Pang, new assistant professor in SFU's School for International Studies, is a political sociologist whose research interests include labour and rights, with a particular focus on social inequality

David Chariandy, professor in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University and author of the critically acclaimed Soucouyant and Brother, has been awarded the 2019 Windham-Campbell Prize.

SFU research has found that babies' ability to follow adult caregivers' eye behaviour is very similar despite living in disparate societies.

Ann Travers, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, has been awarded a 2018 SFU Excellence in Teaching Award.