HSS at Research Week 2021: A Schedule of Events

Dr. Neil Bose, vice-president (research), has called Research Week “Memorial’s flagship research event.” To be sure you’re not missing where your faculty intersects with Research Week 2021, consult this list of events that directly relate to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Share your work at Research Week 2020

During Research Week 2020 at Memorial University, we again invite you to share your research and research interests with MUN colleagues and stakeholders.

In The Loop: A new HSS newsletter

In The Loop is a new monthly newsletter released by the Dean's Office in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Memorial University. 

HSS Virtual Welcome and Information Session

We look forward to welcoming new students to Memorial University and more importantly, to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences! Getting started can be daunting, but our goal is to provide you with the necessary information to help you build success as a student. That's why we're offering a series of Virtual Welcome and Information Sessions for Fall 2020.

Emergency relief for students in need

The Undergraduate Student Emergency Fund and the SGS Graduate Student Emergency Fund are available to both undergraduate and graduate students on any of Memorial’s campuses.

The 2020 Pratt Lecture

The 2020 Pratt Lecture will be held at LSPU Hall on March 4. This year's lecturer is Mary Dalton: founder of the Sparks Literary Festival, Poet Laureate of St. John's, and author of many fine volumes of poetry.

Galbraith Lecture features HSS faculty and alumnus

The 2019 Galbraith Lecture in Public Policy will feature CTV’s Evan Solomon and present a deep dive into the forces and factors at play in the 2019 federal election and what they say about Canada’s place in the world.

Following the lecture, political science professor Dr. Amanda Bittner will join Mr. Solomon and HSS alumnus political strategist Tim Power on stage for a panel discussion. More on the event here in the Gazette.

What we don't know

Sociologist Rochelle Cote partners with First Light Native Friendship Centre to explore the Indigenous history of St. John's. Read more in the Gazette.

"Fierce and funny"

Heidi Wicks recently received her MA in creative writing. She gives the Memorial University Department of English a shout out: “The support network in our writing community is immense – it’s the reason this place has so many writers and that so many graduates of the MA program get published,” she said.

Read more about Heidi in the Gazette.

Winds of Change

Jessica Hogan has received Memorial's prestigious Rothermere Fellowship to study wind power at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.  

Read more about her and her research in the Gazette.

Mastering change

Political science masters student Cindy Robin is Memorial University of Newfoundland latest Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholar with $21,000 in funding.

Read more about her and her achievement in The Gazette.

Sex Talk

Dr. Kim Tallbear will deliver the 2019 Henrietta Harvey lecture Thursday March 7 at 7 pm. The event will be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/MemorialFacultyHumanitiesSocialSciences/.

Read more about Dr. Tallbear in the Gazette.

Oh me nerves

Sociologist Dr. Nicole Power is a key member of The Healthy Professional Workers (HPW) Partnerships Initiative.

This project aims to understand more about mental health in professional workers across three sectors: dentists, midwives, nurses and physicians in health care; academics and teaching in education; and accountants. Dr. Power is focusing on the mental health of academics.

Read more about her project and how to get involved in the Gazette.

Alumnus of the month - Zaren Healey White (English and gender studies)

Zaren Healey White is a writer, activist and communications professional. She holds a BA (honours) in English, an MA in gender studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an additional MA in English from McGill University. She has worked as a broadcast journalist, a web/social media editor and is currently director of communications for the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Caucus.

"I think the humanities and social sciences teach you how to think, how to learn, how to grapple with and care about different viewpoints and lived experiences."

Read more about Zaren here.

A league of her own

Memorial University professor of creative writing Mary Dalton has been named poet laureate of the City of St. John’s.

Read more in the Gazette.

Vanier Award for Barb Neis

More accolades for Dr. Barb Neis and her work with the On the Move Partnership - details in the Gazette.

Dr. Ailsa Craig named new Associate Dean

Congratulations to Memorial University of Newfoundland's Dr. Ailsa Craig on being named the new Associate Dean of Curriculum and Programs for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dr. Ailsa Craig joined Memorial University Department of Sociology in 2006, and since then has served terms as Undergraduate Coordinator and Department Head. An alumnus of York University (BA 2000), New York University (Phd, 2006) and a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Craig's accomplishments in teaching and mentorship have been recognized with the President's Award for Outstanding Teaching (2016) and through being twice chosen by students to receive the V-day Warrior Award. Combining teaching, research, and community engagement, Dr. Craig's interests are broadly in the areas of culture, inequality, art, and community.

Alumnus of the month - Jeremy Bonia (history)

Entrepreneur, restauranteur, sommelier and history BA Jeremy Bonia is our alumnus of the month for July. His advice for students who are unsure of what to study? "What are you interested in or love to do? Pick courses that follow that path. Do things that interest you and everything else will fall in place."  Read more here.

Researcher of the month - Sarah Gordon (Folklore)

Folklorist Sarah Gordon's research focuses on the creation of place through stories, especially among the Indigenous people of northern Canada. She wants people to know that folklore isn't just about Grimms' fairy tales and your nan's stories. It's new, it’s constantly being created, and it’s adapting to new technologies and communication styles. 

Read more about her and her fascinating research here.

Researcher of the month - John Geck (English)

Medievalist John Geck's current major project in digital humanities is a website called Morrois (the Mapping of Romance Realms and Other Imagined Spaces). His research has taught him that the medieval world was as complex as our world today. Read more about him and his research here.

Researcher of the month - Lynn Gambin (economics)

Dr. Lynn Gambin of the Department of Economics is our researcher of the month. She began teaching at Memorial in 2016 after spending several years in the UK. She has published numerous reports and other outputs, including a variety of studies focusing on the returns to education and training, employer training activity, and sector skills needs. 

She  wants her research to mean something to people or at least go some way in helping to improve people’s lives more widely through providing an evidence base to help in formulating and evaluating policies and programs, and guiding program delivery and finance.

Read more about Dr. Gambin here (including the wierdest place she ever did research).

Researcher of the month - Milorad Nikolic

Everyone should stop what they are doing and start studying classics.  Professor Milo Nikolic is a former engineer who transitioned to classics at the age of 30+. He is working on bringing new perspectives to pressing current problems such as the supply of clean water and environmental degradation and says there is an ancient precedent for almost every modern question we face.

Read  his fascinating story here.

Ethical win

A team of Memorial archaeology students triumphed in a recent ethics competition held in New Orleans as part of the Society for Historical Archaeology's annual general meeting.  Read the whole story in the Gazette.

Land Reform

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is launching another new web series - Researcher of the Month.  Our first researcher to be featured is anthropologist Lincoln Addison, who is studying the gendered and economic impacts of land reform in Zimbabwe.  Read more about Lincoln and his research in the Gazette.

Heaslip pride

Congratulations to Rebecca Ford and Lacy Custance, our Heaslip scholars for 2017 - the largest award for undergraduate students available at Memorial University of Newfoundland.  Read more about them in the Gazette!

An intellectual ferment

The Nexus Centre has been established to foster collaborative and interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences at Memorial University, in the wider academic community and in the public realm.  Read more here.

Christopher Dunn - In Memorium

On November 7, the Canadian political science community and Memorial University lost one of Canada’s foremost scholars in the study of public policy and public administration. Christopher Dunn’s career at Memorial spanned nearly three decades. He developed a reputation for meticulously researched and highly detailed scholarship. His publications about cabinets, deputy ministers, federalism and government have been widely read across Canada. He taught many students over the years and had a significant impact on many young lives.

Honouring a pioneer

Members of the Memorial University community will gather to celebrate the life of Dr. Patrick O’Flaherty on Nov. 8.  Read more about Dr. O'Flaherty here.

Perfect fit

Caitlynn Beckett has just graduated with her MA in geography and is already enrolled in a PhD program here at Memorial.  She is working with Dr. Arn Keeling and her thesis will explore the social costs of mining in Northern Canada. Read more in the Gazette.

Criminal justice

Beverley McLachlin, chief justice of Canada, will deliver the second annual Francis Forbes Law Lecture on Memorial’s St. John’s campus.

She will speak on the topic Canada’s Criminal Justice System in the 21st Century: Addressing the Challenges on Oct. 19.  Read more here.

Strange bedfellows

For those living in the North Atlantic region — such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Scotland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland — oil and tourism often share social and ecological space, but rarely cultural or political space.

Sociologist Dr. Mark Stoddard is interested in when and how contact points emerge.  Read more in the Gazette.

Patrick O'Flaherty

From Dr. Jennifer Lokash:

You may have heard the sad news that our former colleague, Dr. Patrick O'Flaherty, has passed away. A scholar first of Samuel Johnson and then of Newfoundland Literature--an area of study that he is largely responsible for establishing--Patrick was an engaged teacher, researcher, creative writer, and member of our department for more than three decades and has contributed immeasurably to the intellectual life of the community both within and beyond Memorial. He was a brilliant, incisive, loyal colleague and mentor, and a steady and rational defender of our department and our discipline through some challenging years. The significance of his seminal study of Newfoundland Literature, The Rock Observed, as well his three volume history of the province, cannot be overstated. He has also likely set a record as one of the most prolific, scholarly, and creative retirees at Memorial, having published three new books in the last year alone. 

I know you will join me in sending our best wishes and condolences to Dr. O'Flaherty's family and friends during this difficult time. 

Here is the oration that Shane O'Dea wrote and delivered on the occasion of Dr. O'Flaherty's honourary doctorate in 2011: 

http://www.mun.ca/gazette/issues/vol43no15/oflaherty_oration.php#.WZXk

New dean appointed

The search committee for the role of dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has completed its work and recommended Dr. Jennifer Simpson for the position.  She will begin her five-year term on October 1, 2017.  Read more about Dr. Simpson here.

Alumnus of the month - Shelley Smith

From Queen’s Cove, Trinity Bay, a community of less than 100 people, Shelley Smith was the first person from her home town to earn a university degree. A graduate of Memorial with a BA Honours in sociology and anthropology, Shelley became the university's first chief information officer in 2014.

Read more about her here.

Grad student of the month - Natasha Farrell

Natasha Farrell is completing a master's degree in French studies at Memorial. She finds the learning environment at Memorial incredibly supportive. "Whether it is teaching, working on committees, or participating in clubs and societies, Memorial offers diverse opportunities to prepare students for successful completion of graduate school and transitioning to rewarding careers."  Read more about Natasha here.

Grad student of the month

Monica Engel is originally from Brazil. She received a MSc degree in geography from Memorial and has now returned to complete a PhD investigating the relationship between people and the sea.  She considers herself to be a social science conservationist.  Read more about Monica here.

Alumnus of the month

Stephen Lee of Mallard Cottage is our alumnus of the month. The history major turned sommelier/restauranteur/entrepreneur used creativity to apply his degree to long-term success. For him, a BA is "invaluable." Read more about his journey (and how his history background gave him an understanding of the world of wine) here.

Grad student of the month

Post-traumatic stress isn't a new thing. Our graduate student of the month Jeffrey Howard from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Classics is currently combing through ancient Roman historical writings such as Livy, seeking evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among ancient Roman soldiers. He's also a teacher at Waterford Valley High School.  Read more about his grad experience here.

Simultanous studies

Students with a strong interest in arts and science no longer have to choose between the two degrees.

Memorial’s Senate recently approved a proposal from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences for a new joint degree program.

More details here.

International BA approved

The only one of its kind in Atlantic Canada, Memorial’s new international bachelor of arts (iBA) combines study outside of Canada or work-abroad experience with language courses and internationally oriented studies to better train students for a future in the global workforce. Read more about the iBA here.

Detective stories

Like detectives, graduate students sift through mountains of evidence and use their finely tuned powers of observation to answer questions and come to conclusions.

Now an award-winning teacher Sonja Boon has taken that comparison one step further.

Read more here.

SPARKS Festival postponed due to weather conditions

The eighth annual SPARKS Literary Festival will take now take place Sunday February 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Suncor Energy Hall, School of Music. 

Further details and a complete schedule can be found at www.hss.mun.ca/sparks. 

Aid exchange

Dr. Liam Swiss, a Memorial University sociology professor who researches the political sociology of foreign aid and international development, is spending the 2016-17 academic year at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg /Centre for Global Cooperation Research in Duisburg, Germany.

Read more about what he and his colleagues are working on in the Gazette.

President's Award for Public Engagement Partnerships

Two projects based in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences were honored this week as they were named the winners of the 2016 President’s Award for Public Engagement Partnerships. 

Nobel of the North

For the second time in three years, Dr. Trevor Bell has been honoured with the coveted Arctic Inspiration Prize (AIP), becoming the only person from Memorial University to receive the accolade twice. Read more here.

Rock Star

Heavy metal and American popular music. Folklore studies. Ethnomusicology.

Those are the diverse, and interconnected, research areas of Memorial’s newest Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC). Read more about Dr. Harris Berger in the Gazette.

Grad student of the month

Grad student of the month Elahe Nezhadhossein is a PhD candidate in sociology who is studying the women’s participation in social movements and their representation on media, under the supervision of sociologist Dr. Mark Stoddart.

Read more here.

Alumnus of the month

Our alumnus of the month for November is Ken O'Brien, chief municipal planner for the City of St. John's. After dropping out of engineering and switching to physics he discovered religious studies. He has a BA in religious studies from Memorial and a master of urban and regional planning degree from Queen's University.

Read more about him here.

Social science fundamental to success of Ocean Frontier Institute

Protecting marine life, promoting sustainable resource development and addressing issues around climate change aren’t the only things that add up to safe and sustainable ocean development.

Coastal communities are also a fundamental part of the equation that will be addressed by the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI).

Read more about Ratana Chuenpagdee's role in the OFI here.

Alumnus of the month - Trent McClelland

Comedian Trent McClelland is our alumnus of the month for October. Coincidentally he's also performing at Memorial for one night only on Oct. 16. Read our interview with him and then get your tickets here.

Trudeau's choice

A Memorial University student joins 14 other young Canadians as the first members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Youth Council.

Donovan Taplin is a fourth year folklore and communications studies major in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

See https://gazette.mun.ca/student-life/trudeaus-choice/ and 

https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/prime-ministers-youth-council.html for more info.

New Faculty profile

Each month we will be profiling a new member of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.  This month our subject is Dr. Karine Abadie from the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

Alumni of the month

Lynn Hammond is an executive consultant with her company High Stakes Strategy & Communications in St. John’s, NL.  She is also a political science grad and our faculty's alumnus of the month for September.  Read more about Lynn here and discover why she feels that success comes from the choices that you make, not the piece of paper on your wall.

Alumni of the month - Dan Meades

Our alumni for the month for August is Dan Meades, the provincial coordinator of the Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, an organization that supports shelters for women and children fleeing violence in Newfoundland and Labrador. Dan is also the co-founder and creator of The Third Place Tonic, a company that manufactures small batch artisanal tonic water and ships it through Canada. More‪#‎entrepreneurism‬ and ‪#‎engagement‬ from HSS/Arts alumni Memorial University Alumni

Jean Briggs

Dr. Jean Briggs, Professor Emerita of the Department of Anthropology, passed away in the early hours of July 27, 2016. An official announcement describing funeral arrangements will appear later this week on Newsline.

http://www.mun.ca/hss/news.php?id=3248

Dialect Atlas honoured

At a ceremony held at Halifax’s Canadian Museum of Immigration on July 13, four members of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences were honoured by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

Atlas honoured

At a ceremony held at Halifax’s Canadian Museum of Immigration on July 13, four members of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences were honoured by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

Read the whole story here.

Visceral connection

History student Lauren Lambe has only visited Beaumont-Hamel once—as a member of Shallaway—but the visceral connection she felt to the site is fundamental to her current academic work at Memorial.

New courses!

Students interested in learning about Irish language and culture should be ready to experience the luck of the Irish starting in Fall 2016.

Alumnus of the month - Charli Junker

Did you think entrepreneurs only came out of business schools? Iinterior designer (and entrepreneur) Charli Junker's story will change your mind for good.

Grad student of the month - Emma Lang

To graduate student Emma Lang, history has always been alive, with a soundtrack, images, smells and a connection to the modern world. 

Archaeology student receives Killam Fellowship

Fourth year archaeology student Alicia Morry is one of Memorial’s 2016 Killam Fellows.

Ms. Morry, who is also working on a bachelor of science in earth sciences, has just begun a semester at the University of Washington.

Eye on the prize

For Josh Smee, it’s the chance of a lifetime to shine the spotlight on his research.

Student storyteller in the spotlight

A student from the Department of Gender Studies is one of the 25 finalists in this year's Storytellers Challenge, sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). 

Canadian politics and democracy in an age of image control

The pursuit of political power is strategic as never before.

Peering into the past

You’ve probably heard of people reading used tealeaves to predict the future, but one Memorial researcher is using seashells to peer into the past.

Learning and losing language

All language is inextricably tied to culture. In the case of Aboriginal culture, the loss of language becomes a loss of laws, literature, songs, proverbs, wisdom, cures, prayers, an entire way of life. And so the loss becomes a loss for us all.

Dark experience of Labrador Inuit family focus of upcoming event

The curiosity of culture and repatriation of human remains are the focus of a special discussion next week highlighting a tragic chapter in Labrador’s rich history.

Delivering the low down on comprehensive exams

Francesca Boschetti is a PhD Candidate in the Department of English in the Faculty of Arts. She has an MA in English (MUN), an MA in Modern European and American Languages and Literatures, and a BA (Hons) in Modern Foreign Languages (University of Eastern Piedmont). She is originally from Italy, and her research areas include Canadian immigrant literature, postcolonial and transnational theories, and foreign language teaching.

Seventh SPARKS a smash

For the seventh year in a row, the annual SPARKS Literary Festival which took place Sunday Jan. 31, 2016, delivered powerful readings, big book sales, and large crowds to the School of Music’s Suncor Energy Hall.

"My arts degree has allowed me to be a physician with a deeper understanding of humanity"

Mari-Lynne Sinnott is a two-time graduate of Memorial University. In 2009 she was a proud recipient of a Bachelor of Arts with honours in political science and French. From there she entered Memorial’s Medical School, and graduated in 2009 with her MD. 

Early in 2016 she announced that establishment of a downtown health clinic focused on women's health and that of the LBGTQ community.

She's our alumnus of the month for February.

Lecture series on legal issues initiated

The inaugural lecture of a new series on the law in Newfoundland and Labrador will launch at Memorial on Jan. 25.

Creative writing class results in Racket

Eleven writers from a Memorial University creative writing class got more than they bargained for when they signed up for a 2012 class taught by acclaimed novelist and short story writer Lisa Moore.

Gold star for instructor

Shannon Webb-Campbell, a per course instructor in Memorial’s English department, has just received a major accolade from Halifax’s weekly alternative newspaper The Coast.

A reading by Fred Stenson

Memorial University’s Department of English is pleased to announce that it will be hosting an evening with award-winning, bestselling Canadian writer, Fred Stenson.

Degree decisions? Arts has a map for that

By anyone’s standards, fulfilling the requirements for an undergraduate degree program can be complicated. Figuring out what classes to take and when can be daunting.  Add a variety of program offerings and the ever-increasing demands on students for extracurricular involvement and career paths, and the road to graduation can get even more bumpy.

Love books? So do we - let's swap!

Yes it's back!  Our semi-annual book swap featuring all genres - academic, YA, childrens, non fiction, fiction, poetry, illustrated, etc.  Bring a book (or books) to swap or a pay-what-you-can donation. 

Provincial leaders debate sponsored by CARE

Provincial political party leaders will take part in a pre-election debate on the St. John’s campus of Memorial University on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

How climate change became controversial

Long-time climate watcher and a founder of environmental sociology, sociologist Dr. Riley E. Dunlap will give the 2015 Henrietta Harvey Lecture at Memorial University on Thursday Oct. 1.

The hard work of democracy explored

With provincial and federal elections looming and Canada’s democracy recently being given a “C” grade in a report by a respected non-profit think tank, an upcoming initiative at Memorial, sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada (Atlantic) and CBC Ideas couldn’t be more timely.

Graduate student of the month

The Faculty of Arts has just launched a new weekly web feature - the graduate student of the month.

Student jobs in Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is hiring two graduate students to support its Arts/COASTS initiatives. 

Fertile ground for food research

Dr. Lynne Phillips thinks a lot about food.

The Dean of Arts is the chair of FARM (Food Advocacy Research at Memorial), a pan-university working group looking at the various dimensions of food studies. 

Sharing archival secrets

The Maritime History Archive is partnering with the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives and The Rooms to create the third in a series of informational videos for archive workers. 

Lost (and found) in translation

Not surprisingly, it’s difficult to find an accurate translation of the word “mummers” in Chinese.  

That slight hiccup in understanding occurred during folklorist Dr. Gerald Pocius’s recent trip to Guizhou province, in the southwest of China.

A taste of research

By the end of 2020, Memorial aims to be recognized as one of the most student-friendly research universities in Canada. The university hopes to achieve this by engaging not only graduate students, but undergraduate students as well, in research programs where they will gain valuable skills and build meaningful relationships with experienced researchers in their fields.

Alumna named Trudeau scholar

Faculty of Arts alumna Erin Aylward has been named a  Trudeau Foundation Scholar

For Erin Aylward, it’s a “game changer.”

“I was elated when I got the call and could feel the adrenaline just coursing through my body,” she said.

The power of metaphor

Graduate student Alexandra Gilbert has had quite a year. She spent the 2014-15 academic year as the president of the Graduate Students Union (GSU), received several prizes for her writing, published seven poems (including one in The Fiddlehead, Canada’s longest living literary journal), and she has the end of her PhD thesis in sight.

Graduate students to participate in social sciences and humanities national events

Two graduate students from Memorial University have been selected to participate in upcoming Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) events in the nation’s capital this month.

Future full of promise

Before stepping across the stage at the St. John’s convocation ceremony, Faculty of Arts grad Stephanie Tucker has already landed her first full time job, as a communications and marketing  coordinator for the Conservation Corps, Newfoundland and Labrador (CCNL).

A conversation with arts grad Mark O'Brien

Arts grad Mark O'Brien, BA '10, recently received an Alumni Tribute Award, which is presented to graduates 35 years of age or younger who’ve demonstrated exceptional distinction or contribution in a chosen field of endeavour. 

A new chapter for ISER Books

ISER Books, the publishing division of the Institute of Social and Economic Research in the Faculty of Arts, has launched a completely revamped and  improved website.  And it’s a whole new world for ISER Books.

Arts perspectives on ISIS

Barely a day goes by when mention of ISIS doesn’t make our news feeds.  But what are the ramifications of the current situation unfolding in the Middle East and how did this dangerous situation develop in the first place?

Positive Footprint

When arts student Bethany Downer became inspired to start a non-profit organization while attending the 2014 Impact Youth for Sustainability conference in Guelph, Ont., she couldn’t have anticipated the impact her decision would have.

Congratulations to Jenny Higgins!

Jenny Higgins, a writer and researcher at the Maritime History Archive, received a 2015 Atlantic Book Award at last night's ceremony in Halifax. 

Master's student named finalist in Storytellers challenge

Joshua Smee, a political science master’s student from the Faculty of Arts, has been named a finalist in the 2015 Storytellers challenge.

ARTS alumnus wins Winterset Award

Megan Coles, an alumna of the Faculty of Arts, was named the winner of the 2014 BMO Winterset Award at a recent ceremony at Government House in St. John's.

Memorial sociologist co-organizes Write2Know Campaign

Memorial University sociologist Dr. Max Liboiron is a co-organizer (with York University's Dr. Natasha Myers) of the recently launched national initiative Write2@Know, a letter-writing campaign mobilizing the public to ask federal scientists and Ministers about the results of the government’s environmental monitoring and scientific research programs.

Geography department launches research report

The Department of Geography is pleased to announce the production of their second annual Research Report, sharing the exciting research happening in the department with the wider university community and beyond!

Public policy certificate to address demand

Memorial University’s Faculty of Arts is launching a new certificate program in public policy.

The sober second thought of sociology

As the most recent recipient of the Canadian Sociological Association’s Early Investigator Award, it’s not surprising that Dr. Mark Stoddart comes across as a hard worker. A really hard worker.

New Jarislowsky chair introduced to Memorial community

Dr. Tony Fang is the newly appointed Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Cultural and Economic Transformation at Memorial.

The (new) BA is better

Memorial University’s Faculty of Arts is implementing a revised core curriculum for the Bachelor of Arts, following approval from the Senate of Memorial University on January 13.

Reading for the New Year

The fourth edition of Books@MUN, a digital magazine produced by the Faculty of Arts, is now available at www.arts.mun.ca/books/.

Alumnus traces mummering traditions in new book

Twenty years ago Dale Jarvis (MA’01) began a new chapter in his life, moving from his native Ontario to St. John’s to study folklore. His plan was to stay only two years – two decades later he has entrenched himself in the province. By day he’s the only full-time provincially funded folklorist in Canada, working with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. In his free time, he’s also an entrepreneur, storyteller, active volunteer and author releasing his latest book Any Mummers ’Lowed In?: Christmas Mummering Traditions in Newfoundland and Labrador this fall. 

Rare photos on exhibit

A unique collection of photographs is currently on exhibit on the 3^rd floor of the Queen Elizabeth II Library.

E. Mary Schwall: Traveller, Mission Volunteer and Amateur Photographer is a series of black and white photographs taken in the summers of 1913 and 1915 when Mary Schwall was a volunteer for the Grenfell Mission.

Arts alumna Alan Doyle wows the crowd at Affinity Dinner

Arts alumna Alan Doyle was one of the featured guests at the 14th annual Ottawa Affinity Dinner on Nov. 20 at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier.

Special topics course on Canada's future

Collaborate with Canada's top minds and students across the country to shape the future.

Bringing Home Animals - A symposium and book launch

The Department of Anthropology has organized a symposium to be held on Friday November 14 to mark the occasion of the publication of the revised, second edition of Dr. Adrian Tanner’s ethnographic study Bringing Home Animals: Mistissini Hunters of Northern Quebec (ISER Books, 2014). 

Rare syndrome no impediment to graduation

Graduation is a special time for many of us. This year, for the Rabbani family, it was perhaps a little more special than most.

Ibrahim Rabbini, who graduated with a BA in philosophy at Memorial’s fall 2014 convocation ceremonies, suffers from a rare genetic condition known as 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome that affects 1 in 4000 people.

Faculty of Arts participates in panel on reproductive choice

Memorial’s Counselling Centre will host an upcoming panel discussion focusing on reproductive choice in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Participants will include Rolanda Ryan and Karen Brown from the Athena Health Centre; Alicia Cox, executive director, NL Sexual Health Centre; Courtney Jones of Memorial Women's Resource Centre; and Dr. Vicki Hallett of the Department of Gender Studies in the Faculty of Arts.

Caribbean coral reef inhabitants critical in determining future of reefs

Memorial University geographer Dr. Evan Edinger is involved in a research project out of the University of Exeter that has found species that live in and erode coral reefs will play a major role in determining the future of reefs.

FARM hosts panel for World Food Month

The Food Advocacy Research Network at Memorial (FARM) is celebrating World Food Month with a discussion on October 22 focused on the future of Newfoundland and Labrador’s food system.

Designing NL Food Futures: A Roundtable Discussion will feature speakers from various areas of NL’s food system who will share their own visions of what our food system will be or should look like by the year 2025.

Foodways field school

The Departments of Folklore and Geography in the Faculty of Arts will be offering a new field course at the Harlow Campus during Intersession 2015 (mid-May to late June 2015). "Consuming Cultures: from field to plate" is comprised of four courses taught by Dr. Diane Tye (Department of Folklore) and Dr. Charles Mather (Department of Geography) that will explore the cultural, political and social aspects of food in England.

Sessions about UArctic

Two concurrent information sessions about UArctic will take place at Memorial University on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014. 

Saving the CBC: A Public Forum

A discussion scheduled for this Friday October 3 will speak to the crisis in public broadcasting facing Canada.

Changes in Dean of Arts office

Dr. Carrie Dyck, associate dean (research and graduate studies) in the Faculty of Arts has been named associate vice-president (research) pro tempore.  This appointment is expected to last four months.

Dr. Sean Cadigan, a professor in the Department of History, has agreed to replace Dr. Dyck as associate dean of research and graduate studies in the Faculty of Arts. 

Dr. Cadigan can be reached at scadigan@mun.ca or 864-4440.

The fluid field of petroculture

Oil is everywhere. 

It's in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the roads we drive on, and the buildings we live in. 

Its production employs us. Its sale sustains our booming economy. Our lives, our cities, our world are shaped by oil, from the arrangement of streets to the arrangement of geopolitics.

Much is made of the economic, environmental, and political consequences of our oiliness, but what of the cultural and social consequences?

A Conversation with Edward Riche

St. John’s writer Edward Riche has been named the 2014 writer-in-residence in the Department of English Language and Literature. He writes for radio, television, film, theatre and has published three novels. He has received the Thomas Head Raddall Award for his 2004 novel Nine Planets.

The House that Elke Saved

Tai Chi, a small one-legged chicken, is the first to greet visitors to Points East, the 124-year-old, yellow- and green-trimmed heritage house a Memorial alumna has given a new lease on life.

Tucked away on a narrow road on the northeast side of Pouch Cove, the charming two-storey is more than just Dr. Elke Dettmer's home – it is also her livelihood

Talking to Strangers

A professor of folklore and the organizer of the third annual folklore graduate field school is a believer of experiential learning – and in folklore that means getting out in the community and asking questions.

Dr. Ronald Rompkey,1943-2014

It is with great sadness that the Faculty of Arts marks the passing of one of our finest teachers and researchers. Dr. Ronald Rompkey passed away Thursday July 31 after a difficult battle with motor neuron disease.

Colony of Avalon recognized by Faculty of Arts

The Colony of Avalon Foundation has been named the 2014 recipient of the Faculty of Arts' Newfoundland and Labrador Community Research Engagement Award.

Nominated by Dr. Barry Gaulton, the Colony of Avalon Foundation was cited for the two decades of close collaboration and partnership its volunteer members have enjoyed with faculty members in the Department of Archaeology. 

Students use video games for charitable cause

Imagine being able to watch a telethon that used a stream of video games to raise money for charity. When you turn on the monitor, you watch a screen that is split into two—one with all your favourite video games, and the other featuring a cast of real people that you see fight over the course of a weekend to raise money for an awesome cause. Well that’s exactly what a student society at Memorial University is doing in July. 

RNC constable receives medal of excellence

RNC Constable Marina Carbonelli was the recipient of the 2014 University Medal of Academic Excellence for Police Studies at the recent convocation ceremonies.

Irish Travellers: Nomads No More - A film screening, discussion and Q&A

In the early '70s, anthropologists George and Sharon Gmelch (University of San Francisco) lived for one year in a barrel top wagon with travellers on a halting site in Dublin. Four decades later they returned to Ireland with an archive of photos to find the people they once knew to learn what has happened in their lives in the intervening years.

Creative writing trumps medical research for English student

Mona’a Malik was in grade five when she realized she wanted to be a writer but it was only after attending graduate school in immunology that she realized her future happiness depended on focusing on her creative side.

Congratulations to the Class of 2014

On Tuesday May 27, arts students will cross the stage at the St. John's Arts & Culture Centre to receive their Bachelor and Masters of Arts.  Congratulations to you all on reaching this milestone!  Nicole Wilson will be among those graduating on May 27 with her MA in anthropology.

Knowledge mobilization is On the Move: Faculty of Arts research project forges ground-breaking partnership with Canada's public broadcaster

Mobilizing knowledge effectively can present a significant challenge for many researchers and many universities. Even for projects that have very practical implications for people and communities, it is not always easy to get good research out there. Memorial’s On the Move Partnership, led by Dr. Barbara Neis of the Department of Sociology, has come up with an innovative solution to the challenge, and forged a unique partnership directly with the long-running CBC Radio documentary program, Ideas.  

Arts student crowd sources to fund appearance at Australia literary festival

A second year Memorial University English student has turned to crowd sourcing to fund an appearance at the Melbourne Emerging Writers Festival in Australia from May 26 to June 6.

Music Making a Difference

Musicians from across campus will take part in the fourth semi-annual Band on the MUN concert on Sunday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the D.F. Cook Recital Hall, School of Music.

Dr. Priscilla Renouf

It is with great sadness that the Faculty of Arts marks the passing of one of our finest teachers and researchers. Archaeologist Dr. Priscilla Renouf passed away Friday April 4 after a long battle with cancer.

Memorial's Arctic pioneer

Dr. Jean Briggs has led the kind of life that a movie could be made of.

Dr. Briggs spent several years early in her anthropological career in two remote Arctic camps, documenting behaviour, language and customs of the Inuit people who lived there. And for three and half decades, while a faculty member at Memorial, she lived happily alone in her home on the Cape Spear peninsula without running water or road access.

Stop telling me what my degree is worth!

Shannon Page is a fourth-year double major in English and classics at Memorial. She thinks it's time to re-evaluate what "practical" means and acknowledge that a university degree is not JUST a path to greater earning potential.

In the name of violence ...

Violence usually tears people apart. But in the case of Memorial’s Faculty of Arts, it’s bringing people together.

ARTS on Violence is the first in what is hoped to be an annual, faculty-wide initiative highlighting some of the exciting research being done by faculty members and graduate students in the Faculty of Arts.

ARTS facing forward

In honour of Face Forward: Memorial Up North, we've dipped into our arts news archives for a selection of stories on our past northern projects.  

$1.3 million to social sciences research

Researchers in the Faculties of Arts, Science and Business Administration and School of Music have earned a combined $1,350,552 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

New arts award acknowledges contribution of communities to research

Mamu Tshishkutmashutau / Innu Education (MTIE), the Labrador Innu school board, was recently honoured as the first recipient of the Faculty of Arts Newfoundland and Labrador Community Research Engagement Award.

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