UNews - Faculty of Education

Social sciences and humanities researchers secure greater than $1.175 million from SSHRC

trevor.kenney — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:30:55 +0000

The breadth of research excellence at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is reflected in the latest funding announcement from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), with 10 ULethbridge researchers representing four Faculties and one School all earning support for their work.

On behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, announced in Edmonton Tuesday more than $289 million in support for 1,788 social sciences and humanities research projects and partnerships across Canada. The funded projects span a diverse range of topics — including climate change adaptation, economic recovery, social justice and impacts of emerging technologies on society — that will generate new knowledge and enable partnerships to help translate insights into solutions for people and their communities.

“Research in the social sciences and humanities is the cornerstone of a resilient, forward-thinking society,” says Bardeesy. “This announcement reflects our deep commitment to Canadian research. By supporting these projects, we are empowering scholars to develop the vital insights and collaborative solutions needed to build a more resilient, equitable and innovative future for everyone.”

The ULethbridge Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Education, Dhillon School of Business and Faculty of Arts & Science, along with the School of Liberal Education combined to earn $1.175 million in SSHRC funding support through Insight Grants, Insight Development Grants and Partnership Engage Grants.

“This funding announcement really highlights the excellent work being done throughout the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge Vice-President Research. “When students come to study here, they are being educated and work alongside nationally funded researchers across multiple disciplines, many of which lead their fields in research initiatives. Congratulations to those who earned this valuable support from SSHRC for their respective projects.”

McMartin also notes that Faculty of Education Dean, Dr. Lisa Starr’s project, was the top ranked SSHRC project in Canada, followed closely by Faculty of Fine Arts Dean, Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch, and her drama project.

Insight Grants

Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch’s (Drama, $413,116) project addresses the problem of English-Canadian theatre historiography's reliance on textual analysis, scripts, and print documents, which has marginalized historically significant practices, particularly from underrepresented communities. Her research team will partner with galleries, archives, and museums to explore how alternate performance histories emerge from the analysis of archival objects and materials.

Dr. Kaylan Schwarz (Liberal Education, $69,014) is investigating the construction of feminist identities, and the social contexts which inform them. Combining visual methods, participatory methods, and intergenerational approaches, her project seeks to develop understandings of feminist representation and placemaking in the Canadian Prairies.

In Sierra Leone, girls and young women are often trapped in a cycle of dependency, health complications and poverty. Dr. Lisa Starr’s (Education, $368,933) project is aimed at reshaping gender dynamics for young female teachers in Sierra Leone by redistributing resources, expectations and responsibilities among new teachers. The intent is to study the impact of an integrative approach on Gender Transformation in teachers' personal lives and teaching practice, including their sense of professional identity and agency.

Insight Development Grants

Dr. David Balcarras (Philosophy, $26,354) seeks to address a fundamental question in philosophy of language: how words come to have meaning. By combining historical perspective with technical analysis, his project aims to clarify how best to explain the unbounded nature of linguistic meaning in finite human terms. If successful, it promises a deeper understanding of what linguistic meaning really is and how language and thus inquiry itself are possible.

Dr. Katharina Stevens (Philosophy, $41,957) proposes a project that will establish the foundation for developing a normative theory of voice allocation in interpersonal argumentation. Decisions on whom we give voice to argue with us, who we listen to and to whom we respond meaningfully significantly impact the way in which deliberation in the private and civic sphere proceeds. Normative argumentation theory aims to provide guidance to everyday arguers that will enable them to argue well in all senses of the term, and in all contexts.

Dr. Abdlmutaleb Boshanna (Dhillon School of Business, $51,253), whose expertise includes corporate governance, corporate disclosure, sustainability, natural language processing (NLP), textual analysis, and machine learning, proposes a project investigating whether firms use tax sustainability disclosure (TSD) as a strategic communication mechanism to navigate fiscal uncertainty and signal investment intentions after major tax reform.

Dr. Rhiannon Mesler (Dhillon School of Business, $77,198) is delving into the world of AI-mediated systems, noting that everyday customer service decisions — such as refund approvals, late-fee enforcement, fraud flags, and service recovery responses — are increasingly shaped by these systems. The project advances the concept of moral outsourcing: the displacement of responsibility for unfavourable but procedurally defensible outcomes from human decision-makers onto AI systems.

Dr. Monique Giroux (Music, $34,275) is examining intergenerational music teaching and learning through an in-depth qualitative case study of the Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party and Fiddle Camp (KLKP), an intentionally intergenerational, community-centred fiddle camp in Saskatchewan. The central research question asks how intergenerational teaching and learning are enacted at KLKP, and how these practices may support both continued musical engagement and the care and continuity of traditions.

Academic Freedom (AF) is the focus of Dr. Dan O’Donnell’s (English, $75,000) project. Academic Freedom, as it is currently understood from a legal and policy perspective, assumed its current form in statements written in late 1960s and early 1970s. This model has recently struggled to accommodate a broader and more contested set of expectations surrounding freedom of expression and inclusivity — his project proposing to address contemporary questions by contextualizing the debate, intellectually, historically, and from a legal and policy perspective.

Partnership Engage Grant

Dr. Andrea Cuéllar’s (Anthropology, $48,825) and co-applicant Dr. Lars Hallström (Political Science), both with the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, are partnering with the Oldman Watershed Council to co-develop the Socioeconomic Pillar of its updated State of the Watershed assessment. The project will analyze socioeconomic indicators relevant to watershed governance, develop reproducible open-source methods for future assessment updates, and translate the findings into accessible narratives and visualizations. It will also support the development of a First Nations-led framework to guide Watershed assessment. The resulting Socioeconomic Pillar will provide a fuller understanding of the social and economic factors influencing land and water stewardship across the Oldman watershed.

Digital extremism research project receives Canadian Heritage grant

caroline.zentner — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:04:40 +0000

Dr. Amy Mack, an assistant professor of New Media and Canada Research Chair at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and her research team have been awarded a Canadian Heritage grant worth approximately $227,000 to further their research into digital extremism.

The project seeks to understand the rise of disinformation influencers who create and spread online disinformation about gender and sexuality. This content is typically misogynistic, transphobic and homophobic. Mack and her research team, which includes Dr. Emily Gale (Music), Bryn Hewko (New Media), A.J. Lowik (Sociology), Brent Saccucci (Education), ULethbridge students, external collaborators at other universities and non-profit organizations, will also use the media technologies employed by disinformation influencers to counter their rhetoric.

“The disinformation spread about gender and sexuality by social media influencers contributes to a toxic ecosystem that is both harmful and a threat to Canada’s democracy and social cohesion,” says Mack. “In addition to being harmful in its own right, online rhetoric can affect policy and legislation, impact access to health care and educational supports, and most disturbingly, incite offline violence.”

Combatting digital extremism has become increasingly urgent. Evidence shows that young people, especially cisgender boys and men, are at higher risk of becoming radicalized via social media that promotes toxic masculinity influencers who espouse hateful speech and incite violence against women and girls. The content produced by disinformation influencers also increasingly targets young cisgender girls and women.

“This project will add crucial insights into the Canadian context and respond to the needs of frontline workers such as educators, social workers, pro-social influencers and non-profit organizations as they confront increased radicalization of young people in classrooms and communities,” says Mack.

The goals of the research project are to understand why disinformation influencers are so effective at radicalizing young people in Canada, and to use those new media techniques and practices to produce new media outputs that counter disinformation. Working with ULethbridge students, the research team will develop a series of media-based campaigns to counter the disinformation and a guidebook for stakeholders on best practices for producing similar content.

Faculty of Education’s Marynowski says AI can support teachers, not replace them

trevor.kenney — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:44:04 +0000

Technological advances have long impacted classroom learning — remember the onset of the internet and cell phones? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an entirely new animal and with the increase in the prevalence of AI tools to complete tasks that humans used to do; some people are worried that AI will take over their jobs — teachers among them.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Richelle Marynowski (BEd ’94) will examine the exponential growth of AI’s influence in the classroom and how it can be utilized to enhance, rather than replace, the work of teachers. Her PUBlic Professor Series talk, Has AI Made Teachers Obsolete?, takes place Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lodge. Her talk is supported by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Alumni Association and an anonymous donor.

Dr. Richelle Marynowski's PUBlic Professor Series talk is the third of six talks in the series and the last one of the fall semester.

Marynowski asks what many people are thinking, “Why do we need teachers when a chatbot can give me the answers to my questions?”

“Many of us fear new things,” says Marynowski, a professor in the Faculty of Education. “I was very skeptical of AI at first, very, very skeptical, until I was shown the capabilities of AI. It still needs to be controlled or managed by the human, so I don’t see AI as taking over human jobs or human thought. What I see is AI being integrated into the workflow and being leveraged to do jobs more quickly and thoroughly.”

Marynowski says that one of the biggest challenges in education is curtailing burnout for teachers that sees new teachers leaving the profession within the first five years.

“What I hope to see is how teachers can use the power of AI to do some of the heavy lifting in their work, so they’re not abdicating their knowledge to the technology, rather they’re enhancing their knowledge through the technology,” she says. “I’m excited to use the tools that AI can offer to help teachers better their practice as well as the student experience.”

Now a professor who guides the development of new teachers, Marynowski has experience in all aspects of the profession. She began her teaching career in a small rural community in Alberta and then moved to Edmonton. Her K–12 teaching career spanned 17 years and six different schools. She completed a Master of Education in 2001 and a PhD in 2014. She began her career at ULethbridge in 2011 as a lecturer in the Faculty of Education.

Marynowski’s research has focused on mathematics teaching and learning and assessment practices through a lens of teacher professional development. Caring for teachers and their craft has been a focus of all her work. More recently, she co-founded an AI company designed to support the professional practice of teachers while reducing teacher burnout.

The 2025 PUBlic Professor Series has been generously supported by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Senate, Knud Petersen, Dr. Dennis Connolly (LLD ’17), Dave and Kathy Greenwood, Dr. Michelle Helstein, Dr. Digvir and Manju Jayas, Deborah Lucas, and Dr. Dena McMartin.

The annual PUBlic Professor Series lectures spark thought-provoking discussions on the most relevant topics of the day, bringing together a diverse group of experts and researchers from across campus and into the community. Every talk is free of charge. For a look at the full series, visit ulethbridge.ca/research/public-professor.

2025-26 PUBlic Professor Series (remaining schedule)

Has AI Made Teachers Obsolete? — Dr. Richelle Marynowski — Thursday, November 27, 2025 — Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge

From Action to Cognition: How the Body Shapes the Mind — Dr. Claudia Gonzalez, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 — The Owl Acoustic Lounge

Indigenous Childhood Stories Transform Worlds – Want Some? — Dr. Don McIntyre, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 — Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge

Legalized Gambling in Canada: Winners and Losers — Dr. Robert Williams — Thursday, March 26, 2026 — Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers awarded federal research grants worth more than $3 million

caroline.zentner — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:50:59 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are among the successful applicants for federal grants announced by The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health.

The more than $1.3 billion in funding supports over 9,700 researchers and research projects in Canada through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

“From brain plasticity and the mechanism of low-dose radiation to supporting newcomers through mentoring, these grants illustrate the diversity of research being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, vice-president of research. “This funding not only helps established researchers continue their work but also helps our early career researchers build their research programs. Ultimately, our students benefit with increased opportunities to engage in research throughout their post-secondary careers.”

In total, ULethbridge received funding from NSERC for nine Discovery Grants and two Discovery Development Grants. The Discovery Grants will bring in nearly $475,000 a year for the next five years. The research projects include the following:

Dr. Gerlinde Metz (Neuroscience) will receive $96,000 per year for a study looking at the social determinants of experience-dependent brain plasticity.
Dr. Stacey Wetmore (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $89,000 per year for a project involving computer modelling of modified RNA.
Dr. Olga Kovalchuk (Biological Sciences) was awarded $55,000 annually to study the fundamental mechanisms of low-dose radiation.
Dr. Borries Demeler (Chemistry & Biochemistry) is set to receive $47,000 yearly for solution studies of interacting biopolymer systems.
Dr. Hadi Kharaghani (Mathematics & Computer Science) will receive $32,000 a year for his project on special orthogonal matrices.

The remainder of the NSERC recipients are four early career researchers, each of whom received a Discovery Launch Supplement of $12,500 in addition to their Discovery Grant.

Dr. Corina Birghila (Mathematics & Computer Science) was awarded a yearly amount of $31,000 for a project titled Optimal Decision under Uncertainty.
Dr. Jessica Willi (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $44,000 annually for a project on ribosome functions through synthetic biology.
Dr. Vineet Rathod (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $38,000 annually to examine the structure-function relationship of natural and engineered amyloid proteins.
Dr. Dylan Girodat (Chemistry & Biochemistry) will receive $42,000 per year for a project on the structural dynamics of ribosomes during translation.

In addition, Discovery Development Grants, worth $22,000 each, were awarded to Drs. Christopher Hopkinson (Geography & Environment) and Marc Bomhof (Kinesiology and Physical Education).

Hopkinson will use remote sensing to model vegetation and snowpack response to wildland fire in headwater basins.
Bomhof intends to look at the interplay between exercise and dietary factors on appetite regulation.

ULethbridge social science and humanities researchers were awarded $645,000 in SSHRC Insight Grants.

Dr. Daniel O'Donnell (English) will work on a project involving Research Data Management and Research Data Infrastructure by humanities researchers.
Dr. Scott Rathwell (Kinesiology) wants to enhance sport participation, promote physical activity and improve health outcomes for aging adults by establishing a framework for effective sport programming in middle-aged and older adults.

Several ULethbridge researchers are the recipients of Insight Development Grants totalling more than $291,000.

Dr. Toupey Luft (Education) has designed a project to address the gap in understanding how arts-based mentorship may enhance a sense of belonging for newcomer young adults.
Dr. Kenneth Holyoke’s (Geography & Environment) project investigates the nature and scope of climate impacts on the Wolastoqiyik and Wabanaki archaeological record in New Brunswick.
Dr. Justin Raycraft’s (Anthropology) objective in this project is to increase understanding of the social dimensions of human-carnivore coexistence in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania.
Dr. Jeffrey MacCormack (Education) will develop a professional development intervention consisting of a community of practice for teachers and principals where they learn evidence-based practices to support students with profound and multiple disabilities.
Dr. Miranda Leibel (Liberal Education) will examine how the creation and maintenance of postal services are an important component of Canadian state- and nation-building.

Lexia Piccolo honoured with 2025 VandenHoek Schlachter Pride Award

caroline.zentner — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 20:26:54 +0000

Lexia Piccolo’s commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices and supporting mental health has earned her the 2025 VandenHoek Schlachter Pride Award.

A graduate student in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Education, Piccolo’s background in advocacy work has centred on 2SLGBTQ+ youth in her home province of Quebec.

“It’s an incredible honour; it means so much,” Piccolo says. “Receiving the news was so affirming; it just made me feel proud that all the work I’ve done is making a difference. It also motivates me even more to keep building inclusive pathways for people who have been pushed to the margins for so long.”

In what she calls one of her most impactful professional experiences, Piccolo worked as a public consultation coordinator with Youth for Youth Quebec. There, she designed and executed a town hall-style opportunity for youth at a Pride event, creating a safe space for participants to share their experiences and challenges.

“This was done in a rural community, and I think that’s super important because it’s essentially a double minority. Rural communities don’t get enough attention, and neither do youth in the 2SLGBTQ+ community,” she says.

Piccolo also collected survey data on mental health needs and experiences from participants across Quebec.

“My findings showed a real lack of support within community organizations, including schools, and discrimination from older populations,” she recalls. “With these results, I wrote a policy brief called The Importance of School Support on the Mental Health of LGBTQIA2S+ Youth that was published, calling to the government and aimed at informing educational institutions or people working in them on how we can better support youth.”

Now halfway through her Master of Education in Counselling Psychology, Piccolo’s academic work has continued to reflect her passion for advocacy. Her course work explores how adverse childhood experiences can impact the relationships and mental health of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.

She plans to pursue a career as a mental health professional after graduation.

“As someone who has worked directly with Queer youth, especially in the context of mental health and protection services, I’ve seen how systems fail people,” Piccolo says. “Whether it’s a lack of affirming spaces or limited access to mental health care — just not being heard in decisions that directly affect them — I’ve seen how these gaps are real and harmful, so I want to be a part of changing that.”

Piccolo is the second recipient of the VandenHoek Schlachter Pride Award, part of a first-of-its-kind endowment fund established in June 2023 by ULethbridge alumni Dr. Kurt Schlachter (BSc ’00, LLD ’24) and Jason VandenHoek (BMgt ’05). The fund, which was matched by the ULethbridge Board of Governors, aims to celebrate academic achievement, reduce financial barriers, and recognize exceptional contributions to advancing equity and inclusion for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“Lexia embodies the spirit of this award through her passion, courage and unwavering commitment to uplifting 2SLGBTQ+ youth,” says Schlachter. “Her work reminds us that meaningful change happens when we listen deeply, act boldly, and advocate tirelessly. We are honoured to support students like Lexia who are making a profound impact in their communities and beyond.”

“Any work and progress we make is about more than just inclusion — it’s also about safety, respect and dignity,” says Piccolo. “As a Queer woman — I will include myself in this — we’ve often been pushed to the side. But I want to emphasize the message that we are important, and we deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as everybody else.”

The VandenHoek Schlachter Pride Award is an example of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Strategic Plan in action under the strategic direction to Be a Place Where People Aspire to Learn, Work and Contribute. Our people are our greatest strength. We grow a culture rooted in curiosity, respect, access and belonging.

Final PUBlic Professor Series talk of season examines whether reading even matters in today’s world

trevor.kenney — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:53:11 +0000

Dr. Robin Bright (BA '79, BEd '82, MEd '88) has a provocative question — one that belies her standing as an educator and researcher in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Education — Does Reading Even Matter?

The query is, in fact, the title of this month’s PUBlic Professor Series talk, which Bright will deliver on Thursday, March 27, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge (free event, cash bar, light appetizers, open to everyone).

Dr. Robin Bright says the benefits of reading include enhanced brain health and easing stress and anxiety.

“In today’s increasingly fast-paced environment, we tend to consume and create information and entertainment online,” says Bright. “We use Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube, and many others to read. And when we read on those platforms we tend to skim read, look for headlines, stumble upon content, but we seldom read deeply or critically.”

She explains how she has learned through her research that the act of reading a book is not only much more satisfying than the online experience, but also incredibly beneficial with respect to brain health and development.

“In this talk, I will share my research and statistics about reading, how it develops, how it’s taught and all the benefits that reading brings,” she says. “This includes benefits in areas like achievement in school and beyond, brain health, addressing mental health issues like stress and anxiety, and helping to develop empathy.”

Bright’s passion for how children develop as readers and writers began when she was a modern languages undergraduate student and as a student teacher in the Faculty of Education. These experiences led her to a 10-year teaching career, mostly at the grade-one level, and then to choose a life as a researcher, writer and teacher educator working with preservice teachers, practicing teachers, parents, children and colleagues. She is the author of several books on language and literacy development including, most recently, Sometimes Reading is Hard: Using Decoding, Vocabulary, and Comprehension Strategies to Inspire Fluent, Passionate, Lifelong Readers (2021).

This is the last of the six-talk PUBlic Professor Series lectures which feature thought-provoking discussions on the most relevant topics of the day, bringing together a diverse group of experts and researchers from across the ULethbridge campus and into the community. Every talk is free of charge, but registration is required. For those who cannot attend, the talk will be available on the ULethbridge YouTube channel following the presentation.

See more at ulethbridge.ca/research/public-professor.

Toby and Bernadine Boulet champion initiative to support student teachers pursuing rural placements

trevor.kenney — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:43:36 +0000

Retired teachers and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumni Toby (BEd ’89, MEd ’04) and Bernadine (Bernie) (BEd ’88) Boulet are paying it forward by championing the Faculty of Education’s new initiative, Paving Roads to Success – a transformative fundraising campaign that addresses the support needs of third-year student teachers pursuing rural placements.

The Paving Roads to Success campaign aims to reduce financial barriers for student teachers as they travel to and from rural placements.

Bernie and Toby, with over 60 years of combined teaching experience, understand the positive impact student teachers have in rural settings and the financial challenges they face due to additional travel and living expenses with rural placements. They are financially supporting the initiative to help reduce these barriers and empower student teachers to bring quality education to underserved communities across Alberta.

“I taught in Lethbridge, working with student teachers and giving back to the community of education," says Toby. "We need student teachers. They are a massive part of our community, and we recognize that students in rural placements need help financially because they’re paying additional expenses. Supporting our future teachers benefits everyone and we feel as though we have a responsibility to help. It’s what communities do, support each other.”

Doug Checkley, instructor and assistant dean of field experiences, says the support is sorely needed by students, who are facing ever-increasing economic stress, as well as the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s rural partners.

“Our partners now have the opportunity to host third-year student teachers. When students spend a full 16-week practicum in a smaller community, the chances of them looking for employment there greatly increases,” says Checkley. “It’s a win for the students and a win for our rural partners who we are hoping to support in finding new teachers for their communities.”

Bernie knows well how impactful a rural placement can be on a young teacher. Her 36-year career began in a rural setting and imparted experiences she’d never imagined.

“The opportunity I had to be part of a rural community and what I learned about Indigenous culture, I carried with me through my entire career," she says. "In a rural placement, you gain an appreciation of what it’s like to be part of a rural school and understand the impact a school can have when it is the hub of a community.”

Toby and Bernie’s son Logan had his sights set on becoming a teacher before his life was tragically cut short as one of the victims of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash. His short time in Humboldt made an impression upon him and speaks to the power of living in a smaller community.

“He had been registered at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to go into education and was going to be a teacher,” says Toby. “He told me and Bernie, “Humboldt is a nice town; I could teach here. I could live in Humboldt and teach here”.”

Those interested in supporting the Paving Roads to Success campaign can give here.

Master of Education Counselling Psychology seat expansion a boost to mental health profession

trevor.kenney — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 21:02:38 +0000

Graduate students looking to become mental health professionals will have more opportunities to study in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Master of Education Counselling Psychology program thanks to funding support from the Government of Alberta.

The Faculty of Education graduate program is the only route to registration with the College of Alberta Psychologists.

Earlier this fall, the province announced $780,000 of support to add 15 seats over three years to the Faculty of Education’s master’s program. ULethbridge was one of 12 post-secondary schools to receive funding, creating a total of 761 new seats in a variety of programs, including psychiatric nursing, psychology, social work, child and youth care, and addiction counselling.

“Ours is the only graduate program that was funded for seat expansion, which is significant because a graduate degree in counselling psychology is the only pathway to registration with the College of Alberta Psychologists, and demand for admissions to these graduate programs is extremely high,” says Dr. David Slomp, associate dean of graduate studies and research in the Faculty of Education.

The funding will allow the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to add two integral positions in support of the influx of new students — a clinical practicum supervisor and an administrative support for practicum and partnership development. The first cohort of five students has been admitted and will begin their practicum placements in Fall 2025. Additional groups of five students will be admitted in each of the next two admission cycles.

“With a growing need for mental health services, this seat expansion will benefit families across the province,” says Dan Williams, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction. “No matter what part of Alberta someone calls home, they deserve access to consistent, high-quality mental health care. Our government is proud to be working with post-secondary institutions, making sure services are available to Albertans in need.”

Slomp says it is imperative the students have opportunities to participate in high-quality practicum placements. While some of those can be filled on campus, the new positions will assist in cultivating more relationships within the community.

“The clinical practicum supervisor will work within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Counselling Services team to provide supervision for an expanded number of practicum students working within that unit,” he says. “Finding quality practicum placement experiences for students seeking to register as psychologists is becoming increasingly challenging. We have great partners, but we need to do more to enrich those partnerships and to expand the number of counsellors we partner with.”

The Mental Health Professions Enrollment Expansion grant program committed nearly $10 million over three years to create more spaces to train mental health professionals at post-secondary institutions across the province. To learn more, visit the Government of Alberta website.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers to collaborate on projects funded by Partnership Grants

caroline.zentner — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 16:59:54 +0000

Several ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are collaborating on recently announced projects funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grants.

“ULethbridge researchers involved in these projects are contributing their expertise to studies that have an impact across Canada and around the world,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge vice-president research. “Many research projects have an increasingly broad scope and depend on collaborations with researchers at other universities in Canada and abroad. These collaborations transform individual insight into collective knowledge and generate discoveries that a single researcher might not uncover alone.”

Dr. Lisa Starr, dean of the Faculty of Education, and Dr. Kaylan Schwarz, a professor in the School of Liberal Education, are involved in a project called TRANSFORM: Engaging with Young People for Social Change. The project is supported by a $2.5-million Partnership Grant from SSHRC and over $3 million in in-kind and cash contributions from partner universities and organizations.

The project is led by Dr. Claudia Mitchell from McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. The researchers will study how young people are pivotal agents of change in gender equality, particularly through visual arts. Using diverse art forms, such as photography, filmmaking, cellphilming (video shot on a cellphone or tablet camera), performance art and textile production, the TRANSFORM project will empower and champion youth-led agendas for transforming gender norms and inequalities. The study has field sites in Africa, South America and India.

Dr. Olu Awosoga, a Faculty of Health Sciences professor with expertise in quantitative research methods, is a co-applicant on a $2.5 million SSHRC Partnership Grant to improve the well-being of Black children and youth in Canada. The project is led by Dr. Bukola Salami at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary. The project focuses on experiences with the justice system, the education system, the child welfare system and immigration and settlement. Researchers will conduct a national survey focusing on Black children and youth in Canada — the first of its kind — to gather data on the lived experiences of Black youth.

Dr. Leroy Little Bear (BASc (BA’71), DASc ’04), vice-provost of Iniskim Indigenous Relations, is collaborating on a project led by Dr. Shalene Jobin of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. The Critical Approaches to Indigenous Relationality project is supported by a $2.5-million Partnership Grant.

A further project funded by a Partnership Grant and involving ULethbridge researchers is the already announced Gatherings: Archival and Oral Histories of Performance project.

In addition, Dr. Kara Granzow, a sociology professor, is a co-applicant on a SSHRC program called the Reconciliation Network in Response to Call to Action 65 led by Dr. Vanessa Watts at McMaster ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. This joint initiative between the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and SSHRC supports the establishment of a national research program to advance the collective understanding of reconciliation. The project Re-Neighbouring as Reconciliation: Indigenous Stories of Resistance was awarded more than $975,000 over five years.

PUBlic Professor Series talk examines inequity of representation with Dr. Sandra Dixon

trevor.kenney — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 21:06:07 +0000

Dr. Sandra Dixon is a registered psychologist, an award-winning researcher and an associate professor in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Education. She is also a woman of colour in a predominantly white post-secondary landscape where colonial ideas are privileged over alternative ways of knowing and being.

Dr. Sandra Dixon

“Increasing research has shown that racialized faculty members are underrepresented and undervalued in higher education compared to their white peers,” says Dixon, who will speak to this disparity in the next PUBlic Professor Series talk, Owning my Voice and Speaking my Truth in Academic Spaces.

The presentation is Thursday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m., at the Sandman Signature Lodge.

Dixon says that while ULethbridge values its liberal education focus where individuals are expected to foster free inquiry and the critical interpretation of ideas, like many institutions, this expectation is not always translated into transformative and tangible actions.

“My goal for this talk is to identify a strong theoretical framework for us to have meaningful discourse around non-performative actions in higher education so that more voices and experiences can be valued and heard,” she says.

“By taking an action-oriented, accountable stance, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and by extension the broader community, will learn about the importance of championing equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) initiatives that dismantle social injustices instead of embracing a performative allyship position that fails to take a stand against anti-racism and other forms of “isms” in our society.”

Dixon’s research encompasses culturally adapted counselling practices amongst minoritized groups, cultural identity reconstruction and ethno-cultural diversity issues. She has received several awards for her excellence in research, including the 2023 Psychologists’ Association of Alberta Excellence in Teaching Psychology Award, the EDI Scholar Award at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge (2021-2022), and the 2022 People’s Choice Award by the Alberta Black Therapists Network.

This is the fifth of the six-part PUBlic Professor Series of talks. Initiated in 2014, the monthly lecture series is designed to spark thought-provoking discussions and bring a diverse group of experts and researchers from the ULethbridge campus right into the community.

Check out the PUBlic Professor Series web page for the 2023/24 talk schedule, to register for priority seating or to join the series mailing list. View this advance video that discusses the upcoming presentation.

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