Criminology Associate Professors Drs. Amanda McCormick, Zina Lee, and Irwin Cohen completed a report for the Abbotsford Restorative Justice and Advocacy Association that evaluated their program to educate youth about dating violence. McCormick, A.V., Lee, Z. & Cohen, I.M. (2022, December). Evaluation of Project Safe Relationships. University of the Fraser Valley: Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research.
Criminology Assistant Professor Dr. Carlos Ponce was interviewed about the militarization of communities controlled by criminal structures for the electronic newspaper ElSalvador.com.
Criminology Professor Emeritus Yvon Dandurand co-authored a conference proceedings paper. Dao Le Thu & Dandurand, Y. (2022). International Criminal Justice Cooperation in Combating Transnational Crime in ASEAN: Mechanisms, Challenges and Future Prospects. Proceedings of the International Conference on Cooperation Between Vietnam and Southeast Asian Countries in the Fight Against Crime. Hanoi: Hanoi Law University.
He also presented at Hanoi Law University about International Criminal Justice Cooperation in Southeast Asia and has been appointed as a Distinguished International Research Fellow of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice Research, School of Law, Vietnam National University.
Economics
Economics Department Head Dr. Michael Maschek presented on November 10, 2022, at the 10th Annual Conference “Engaging Change” hosted by the Fraser Valley Certified Professional Accountants Association. His lecture “Decision Making Under Economic Uncertainty: Lessons from Research in Behavioural Economics” brought a new perspective on the increased uncertainty and volatility of the current economic climate.
Philosophy
Philosophy Professor Dr. Joseph Carew collaborated in the edited volume of “The Palgrave Schelling Handbook.” He co-wrote the chapter “Introduction to Schelling” and co-edited the chapter “Schelling and Hegel.” Sean J. McGrath, Joseph Carew, and Kyla Bruff, eds. The Palgrave Schelling Handbook. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
Criminology Associate Professor Dr. Jon Heidt wrote an article on cannabis legalization. Heidt, J., & Wheeldon, J. (in press). Blowing in the wind: Cannabis legalization, insiders, and methodological insights from British Columbia. The Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology.
Criminology Professor Emeritus Yvon Dandurand presented at a Canadian Bar Association workshop. Dandurand, Y. (2022, October 26). Access to Justice Pathways: Problem Resolution Routes for People Experiencing Civil and Family Law Problems in British Columbia. Canadian Bar Association workshop on “Access to Justice Research from the Edge,” an event as part of Access to Justice Week Canada.
Economics
Economics Department Head Dr. Michael Maschek was a guest speaker at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Fraser Valley Chartered Professional Accountants Association. He presented on “Decision Making Under Economic Uncertainty: Lessons from Research in Behavioural Economics.”
In September 2022, he also presented at the Friedrich Nietzsche Society Conference at the University of Dundee in Scotland on “Welcome to the Machina: Science as a Form of Life in Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy.”
Philosophy Associate Professor Dr. Anastasia Anderson and Philosophy Department Head Dr. Anna Cook presented at the 2022 BCSSTA (BC Social Studies Teachers’ Association) Conference: Teaching for Inquiry: Philosophy, Pedagogy and Praxis in October 2021. Dr. Anderson presented a workshop session on “Facilitating Philosophical Dialogue in the Classroom.” She also presented alongside Dr. Cook at the conference’s closing plenary.
– Communications Assistant Professor Nicole Stewart published an article titled “Virtual reality, metaverse platforms, and the future of higher education” for Media Development.
Nicole is also attending the National Communication Association’s (NCA) 107th Annual Convention in New Orleans in November, where her co-authored paper (“Dialogues for Equity: Precarious Parent-Scholars in Times of Crisis”) has been selected as a “Top Paper in Ethnography.” She has also been invited to sit on an NCA-organized panel called “LYEDIL: Living Ya DEI Lifestyle in Communication Strengthening a Central PLACE for DEI in Communication Studies.”
She was also recently appointed as the Faculty Ambassador in Canada for the International Association of Media and Communication Researchers (IAMCR) and is launching a new academic podcast called IAMCR and friends.
– Communications Sessional Instructor Dr. Adam Vincent published a new book, “Poetic inquiry: Unearthing the rhizomatic array between art and research”. This book offers a key contribution to the study of poetic inquiry, and in particular, it honours the legacies of those who have made poetic inquiry possible. Vincent’s vision for the future is rooted in equitable, inclusive and diverse applications, and as a result, this book serves as an open invitation to students and scholars alike to take up these practices.
Criminology
– Criminology Assistant Professor Dr. Mark Kersten has contributed two opinion pieces on the war crimes in Ukraine.
– Criminology Associate Professor Dr. Jon Heidt wrote an article on cannabis and criminology. Wheeldon, J., & Heidt, J. (in press). Cannabis and criminology: A history of race, addiction, and inconvenient research. Journal of Criminal Justice.
– Criminology Associate Professor Dr. Kim Polowek was appointed as an Independent Chairperson for the Correctional Service of Canada’s Pacific Institution.
– Dr. Geetanjali Gill, Assistant Professor in Global Development Studies, will present on a panel with NGO Right to Play speakers at the Canadian Conference on Global Health, November 21-23, 2022. The theme is ‘Localizing the development of participatory tools to understand social norms related to gender-based violence amongst adolescents in refugee settings.’
– Political Science Department Head Dr. Edward Akuffo co-published a section titled “Reflections on Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa in the 2020s” in the book “Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa: Panacea or Pandora’s Box?” edited by Nathan Andrews, j. Andrew Grant and Jesse Salah Ovadia.
School of Creative Arts
Canadian Theatre Review | Extractivism and Performance, edited by Kimberly Richards and Heather Davis-Fisch (published in Spring 2020).
– SoCA Director and Theatre Associate Professor Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch received the 2022 Patrick O’Neill Award for best-edited collection of essays from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research. Heather received the award with Kimberly Richards for their issue of Canadian Theatre Review on Extractivism and Performance (published in Spring 2020).
Heather’s chapter, “The Royal Arctic Theatre and the Search for the Franklin Expedition,” was published in the anthology Canadian Performance Documents and Debates: A Sourcebook(University of Alberta Press, 2022).
– SoCA Assistant Professor Aimée Brown completed an artist residency in Sanquhar, Scotland, with the MERZ Gallery in September. The residency focus was responding to place, collage, recorded histories, and the Folklore and Genealogies of Uppermost Nithsdale written by William Wilson in 1904.
Aimée’s artwork ‘Metaphoric Rocks’, which investigates how stones and rock formations are featured in the local geography and folklore, was featured in the MERZ Gallery group exhibition Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale in September 2022.
Aimée is a contributor to the UNESCO publication RisiliArt 100, which was launched at the MONDIACULT 2022 conference, in Mexico City, on September 28, 2022. Collected from panels, debates and conversations between artists and cultural professionals from around the world, the project features 100 recommendations on how to rebuild the creative sector with more resilience and inclusion, gathered through the #ResiliArt.
On October 07, 2022, Aimée was shortlisted for the 2022 Collage Awards in two categories: analogue portfolio and analogue series. The Contemporary Collage Magazine selected the shortlist from over 450 international artists currently engaged with collage as part of their studio practice.
– Theatre Assistant Professor Dr. Anna Griffith received a $10,000 Strategic Innovation Fund grant from UFV for the Creativity Lab for Climate Resilience project. The project, which was developed and implemented with Hannah Celinski, Chantelle Marlor, and student RA Kyla Mitchell-Marquis, brought together UFV students, staff, and faculty from various disciplines, along with members of the community, including local artists, activists, and representatives from Fraser Basin Council, Fraser Valley Nature Conservancy, Abbotsford Arts Council, Fraser Health, the Abbotsford School District, Abbotsford Community Foundation, the Golden Ears Transition Initiative and more. In each of the four Labs, participants worked to develop cohesive, transdisciplinary, and cross-community project ideas to support (Re)Building for Climate Resilience in the Fraser Valley. The projects have been compiled into a “seed bank of ideas” and will be published as part of a research report this fall.
Anna has also received a ROSA award for a research project titled Regenerative Education: Aligning Education for Sustainable Development and Indigenous Pedagogies, to be completed in fall 2022. This project builds on her work related to anti-racism, decolonial pedagogy, and education for sustainable development (ESD). The goals of the project include articulating how ESD can help non-Indigenous faculty and students move into better alignment and understanding of Indigenization efforts through an emphasis on reorienting our relationship with nature.
Anna Griffith is presenting a 45-minute workshop titled “High Impact Inclusion and Sustainability” at the Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education (GCSHE), hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, on October 18, 2022.
Anna is also releasing season 2 of her research podcast Creative Praxis in mid-November. Season 2 features interviews with participants from the Creativity Lab for Climate Resilience. These conversations focus on the bridges and intersections between creativity and sustainability.
– SoCA Assistant Professor Alejandro Yoshizawa and colleague UBC English Assistant Professor Y-Dang Troeung have received a $60,000 Canada Council for the Arts grant for their short film project, set to shoot in early Fall 2022. The film is inspired by the true events of Prof. Troeung’s Cambodian refugee family’s resettlement in Canada in the 1980s, as they negotiate the everyday questions of what it means to survive in a new country, to carry the painful wounds of the past, and to remake a new life as an Asian family in a small town, rural setting. The film will interweave the historic “Easter Epic” hockey game (one of the longest games in NHL playoff history) with the events of April 18th, 1987, as lived by the Cambodian refugee family.
– SoCA Associate Professor Davida Kidd has been invited to have her presentation for IMPACT 12 BRITSOL, The Dark Side of The Digital, “Composite Artifacts and the Cosmonauts of Virtual Synthesis,” screened at the Print in Action Festival in Plymouth this October.
– Visual Arts Associate Professor Grace Tsurumaru participated in a group exhibition titled Piers, curated by Kim Dhillon, an art theorist and award-winning writer of art criticism. Piers showcases contemporary artwork ranging across media by 18 artists spanning generations, nationalities, and backgrounds and explores how artists’ practices change through teaching, learning, and mentorship. The exhibit includes a collection of creative non-fiction, essays, and poetry and is available to view until December 15, 2022, at the Legacy Art Gallery, Victoria.
– SoCA Assistant Professor Melanie Jones was awarded a Research and Creation Grant in the Canada Council Explore and Create Program. The grant was to write the first draft of a short experimental film called “Astronomical Bodies”. The story will explore themes of isolation and human connection through three intertwined character journeys set in the vastness of space.
– Theatre Associate Professor Parjad Sharifi is the winner of the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Outstanding Lighting Design in the Large Budget Division in 2022. This award is for the production of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, directed by the Arts Club Theatre Company, which has also won the Outstanding Production of a Musical this year.
Drawing Tending Tying: An Art and Rope Experiment | Shel Stefan and Sharon Pink
– SoCA Associate Professor Shel Stefan collaborated in a live art performance at the Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago, Illinois, entitled Drawing Tending Tying: an art & rope experiment which was live-streamed from the museum and was recently published. Read more about this performance on the Leather Archives & Museum (LA&M), Instagram and the Chicago Tribune website.
– SoCA Instructor Toni Latour, in collaboration with Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware (Toronto), received $70,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and $15,000 from the BC Arts Council for the creation and exhibition of The Black Lives Matter Memorial Project. They have commissioned an original new piece of classical music composed by Maestro Jason Ikeem Rodgers and performed by Orchestra Noir (Atlanta) for this project.
Presented on global crime at the 32nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, Austria. Jahn, J., & Dandurand, Y. (2022, May 18). The Future of International Cooperation Against Global Crime. 32nd Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Vienna, Austria.
Presented as part of a panel discussion on international cooperation. Dandurand, Y. (2022, June 13). Anticipated Obstacles to Effective International Cooperation in Countering the Use of Information and Communication Technologies for Criminal Purposes. Second intersessional consultations of the Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes, Vienna.
Participated in an expert preparatory roundtable on transnational organized crime, co-hosted by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. Dr. Dandurand spoke about the “Challenges of International Cooperation Against Transnational Organized Crime.”
Philosophy Emeritus Professor Dr. Peter Raabe recently published an essay in the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Science No.1 2022 (Vol.6) pp. 142-179, titled “The Artificial Therapist (AT–version 1.0): Promises and Problems”. The paper was published by the World Scientific Publishing House LTD. through the auspices of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, China.
Modern Languages Department Head Alan Cameron published an open-ed article on The Province website about the current situation in Russia and the tensions caused by Vladimir Putin’s actions towards the unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Criminology Associate Professor Dr. Hayli Millar co-presented with Dr. Satwinder Bains at UFV’s PD Day on the topic of the exploitation of international students and the importance of understanding the unique challenges international students face within and external to the University.
History Assistant Professor Ian Rocksborough-Smith got the lead publication for Reviews in History, about an important book on recent U.S. history, “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership.”
Criminology Associate Professors Dr. Amanda McCormick and Dr. Irwin Cohen published a report on intimate partner violence. McCormick, A., Cohen, I., & Davies, G. (2022, September). “The Complexities of Investigating and Clearing Harassment Related Intimate Partner Violence Files.” University of the Fraser Valley: Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research.
Assistant Professor at the School of Culture, Media and Society and CHASI Faculty Associate Dr. Sarah Beaulieu has published a new article in Historical Archaeology. It focuses on the Morrissey Internment Camp, one of Canada’s 24 World War I internment camps, with the aim of using the material culture record at the camp as a point of access to examine the coping strategies prisoners of war adopted to help mitigate mental-health issues triggered by confinement.
English Associate Professor Dr. Prabhjot Parmar co-authored an article published in the Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies titled “Kisan [Farmers’] Protests in Punjab 1907-2021: A Literary Lineage of Resistance.” Special Edition on Farmers’ Agitation, Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies. 29.1 & 2, Spring/Fall 2022, 163-186.
Dr. Geetanjali Gill, Assistant Professor in Global Development Studies, Catherine Liao, Associate Professor in Nursing, and Sarah N’Gaiwa, Director of Albinism Royal Foundation Sierra Leone, presented their project, “Leaving No One Behind: Empowering Persons with Albinism, particularly women and girls in rural regions of Sierra Leone,” at the Foundation for Innovation and Transformation (FIT) Community of Practice on Gender on July 13, 2022. They have also been invited to present at the ‘Innovation, Research, and Knowledge Exchange session at the Ontario Council of International Cooperation Annual General Meeting, September 22, 2022.
Our office will be using this channel to communicate directly with all faculty members (permanent and sessional) and staff in the College of Arts about academic matters related to the flood as the situation continues to evolve.
For UFV-wide information, please visit UFV Urgent News and see emails from “UFV Info”. You can also sign-up for emergency notifications from UFV to your phone via text, email and voice message.
If you have questions or comments, please send them to Lisa.Matty@ufv.ca. She will redirect as appropriate and one of us, or your Department Head/School Director, will get back to you.
Latest updates as of November 18, 2021 – 9 AM
All classes – face-to-face and virtual – are CANCELLED for the remainder of this week (Wed. Nov. 17, Thurs. Nov. 18, and Fri. Nov. 19). All activities and events scheduled for these days are cancelled. Exams scheduled over these dates are postponed and will be rescheduled.
All assignments are to be paused this week (until Monday, November 22, at the earliest). This includes online quizzes and all other forms of assignments. Please remember that some students have been evacuated and/or do not have power or internet connectivity.
PASS system now monitored over the weekend with added options (“safety risk” and “situational”) in relation to the current situation: Please continue to refer students to PASS as needed. PASS will be monitored on the weekend until further notice. Referral categories have been added to address the current situation. Click here to access PASS.
UFV campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission are safe and buildings remain open to faculty, staff, and students with very limited in-person services on campus including:
Libraries at the Chilliwack and Abbotsford campuses – open 8:30am to 6pm
Office of the Registrar front counter, Abbotsford and Chilliwack – open 9am to 4pm
Until further notice, building hours in Abbotsford and Chilliwack are from 7 am to 6 pm. Mission hours remain 8 am to 4 pm.
Food services will not be available.
The SUS Campus Connector shuttle bus will not be in service.
All other campus services will continue to be offered online until further notice.
Dr. Michael Corman is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social, Cultural and Media Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. Dr. Corman’s research and teaching interests include a variety of topics that intersect with the sociological study of health, illness, and society.
As students embark on their academic journey, it’s not always clear where their degree may lead them or what opportunities they’ll encounter along the way. To learn more about what a Bachelor of Arts degree can offer students, we spoke with Dr. Michael Corman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UFV, about his intriguing career path.
I love teaching. I love being in the classroom. I love seeing my student’s faces. I also love learning from my students. We have an extremely diverse student body here at UFV which is such a huge asset both as fellow students but also as academics and as professors.
I also love research. What I do for a living in terms of research is that I listen to people and I observe people. How cool is that?
What surprises you about your career?
One of the things, I guess is surprising is how diverse my job is. I teach, I work with medical doctors in Ireland, I publish and do research with nurses, I have students who are so interesting and come from different places and I can learn from their lived experiences. So the ever-changing-ness of what I do for a living.
I’ve taught Introduction to Sociology for almost thirteen years now and it’s never the same. I’m never ever bored.
What are the major factors that contributed to your career choice in sociology?
Social change and social justice
How have your personal values impacted your work?
I have been raised to think about social justice, to challenge inequalities and, of course, this is the underpinnings of sociology . . . to make change, to challenge social inequalities, to challenge power relations that benefit the few and the powerful. So, part of my own values made me align with what I do for a living right now, which is to teach sociology.
What is your preferred learning style and why?
I love to be able to put knowledge into practice. So experiential learning. I love listening to profs and reading content but also to be able to apply it.
In terms of my own teaching, putting content into practice is the major “so what” of what I try to do. Trying to teach my students “why does this matter to you.”
I try to engage both as a learner and as a teacher. I try to create an environment in my classroom that is less hierarchical and more conducive to collaboration and discussion so we can learn together.
What makes you feel successful in your work as a sociologist?
Once in a while, I’ll get emails from my students that say, “Mike, it’s your class that encouraged me to do a sociology degree or go on to my Masters or PhD.” And that brings one of the biggest joys to my life.
When did you know that you were good at what you do?
Generally, I think if you like or love what you do, sometimes you can be thought of being good at what you do. But getting feedback from my colleagues and my students to me was that moment where I was like, “I think I’m okay at this.”
So what are you reading right now?
Upstream Medicine. It’s geared towards making change beyond the clinic to making change in society.
Describe a place that impacted you and what was impactful about it?
Doha, Qatar. My first professorship. Being exposed to such diversity and difference. It really hit me in the face and really made me a better sociologist.
When you think of the future, what do you dream of?
I dream of a more equitable society. A society that challenges inequality, challenges racism, classism, sexism and ageism and all these different axes of inequalities that really we’re seeing today but have been underlying and present historically as well.
To me, what I do for a living is ever more important. I see and I hope for a more equitable world based on principles of social justice. A more generous way of organizing society.
Seasonal Sociology announced as a 2021 PROSE Awards finalist
Social, Cultural & Media Studies (SCMS) Professor Emeritus Dr. Elizabeth Dennis recently co-authored a book chapter in Seasonal Sociology with colleague, Alison Thomas, from Douglas College. On January 21, Seasonal Sociology was announced as a 2021 PROSE Awards finalist in the Social Science Textbook category.
The recent CERIC Pulse Survey revealed that 84% of students and clients are perceiving the current pandemic period to be a stressor, while 16% see it as an opportunity. Adapting a career mindset can help students and clients navigate this time of uncertainty by taking stock of valuable skills, and knowledge; reflecting on ways they can leverage their talents to contribute meaningfully; and staying connected with new and current contacts who might be in the know of opportunities.
Being reflective also enhances one’s resilience. In my work with students I employ Nancy Schlossberg’s Transition Theory – specifically, the 4S Model – to inform my coaching questions:
On October 29, students, staff, faculty and community members came together to discuss peacebuilding efforts locally and globally with area directors Cesar Flores and Lizzette Miranda from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
“It’s very important to see faculty, students and people from the community interested in this big topic because there are realities that the world is facing,” said Flores.
As of Friday, September 27, 2019, UFV College of Arts’ new School of Creative Arts (SoCA) has successfully launched.
The new cultural hub was featured in Academica Top Ten and The Abbotsford News. The school combines departments in theatre, visual arts, art history and media arts with the end goal of creating a centre for creative innovation in the Fraser Valley. Dr. Heather Davis-Fisch is the school’s new director. She was previously the department head for the theatre program from 2016-2019.
Dr. Michael Corman is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social, Cultural and Media Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. Dr. Corman’s research and teaching interests include a variety of topics that intersect with the sociological study of health, illness, and society.
Social, Cultural & Media Studies (SCMS) Professor Emeritus Dr. Elizabeth Dennis recently co-authored a book chapter in 
The recent 
On October 29, students, staff, faculty and community members came together to discuss peacebuilding efforts locally and globally with area directors Cesar Flores and Lizzette Miranda from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
As of Friday, September 27, 2019, UFV College of Arts’ new School of Creative Arts (SoCA) has successfully launched.