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The Faculty of Arts at UBC brings together the best of quantitative research, humanistic inquiry, and artistic expression to advance a better world. Graduate students in the Faculty of Arts create and disseminate knowledge in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Creative and Performing Arts through teaching, research, professional practice, artistic production, and performance.

Arts has more than 25 academic departments, institutes, and schools as well as professional programs, more than 15 interdisciplinary programs, a gallery, a museum, theatres, concert venues, and a performing arts centre. Truly unique in its scope, the Faculty of Arts is a dynamic and thriving community of outstanding scholars – both faculty and students. 

Here, our students explore cutting-edge ideas that deepen our understanding of humanity in an age of scientific and technological discovery. Whether Arts scholars work with local communities, or tackle issues such as climate change, world music, or international development, their research has a deep impact on the local and international stage.

The disciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches in our classrooms, labs, and cultural venues inspire students to apply their knowledge both to and beyond their specialization. Using innovation and collaborative learning, our graduate students create rich pathways to knowledge and real connections to global thought leaders.

 

Research Facilities

UBC Library has extensive collections, especially in Arts, and houses Canada’s greatest Asian language library. Arts graduate programs enjoy the use of state-of-the-art laboratories, the world-renowned Museum of Anthropology and the Belkin Contemporary Art Gallery (admission is free for our graduate students). World-class performance spaces include theatres, concert venues and a performing arts centre. 

Since 2001, the Belkin Art Gallery has trained young curators at the graduate level in the Critical and Curatorial Studies program in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory. The Master of Arts program addresses the growing need for curators and critics who have theoretical knowledge and practical experience in analyzing institutions, preparing displays and communicating about contemporary art.

The MOA Centre for Cultural Research (CCR) undertakes research on world arts and cultures, and supports research activities and collaborative partnerships through a number of spaces, including research rooms for collections-based research, an Ethnology Lab, a Conservation Lab, an Oral History and Language Lab supporting audio recording and digitization, a library, an archive, and a Community Lounge for groups engaged in research activities. The CCR includes virtual services supporting collections-based research through the MOA CAT Collections Online site that provides access to the Museum’s collection of approximately 40,000 objects and 80,000 object images, and the Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) that brings together 430,000 object records and associated images from 19 institutions.
 

Research Highlights

The Faculty of Arts at UBC is internationally renowned for research in the social sciences, humanities, professional schools, and creative and performing arts.

As a research-intensive faculty, Arts is a leader in the creation and advancement of knowledge and understanding. Scholars in the Faculty of Arts form cross-disciplinary partnerships, engage in knowledge exchange, and apply their research locally and globally.

Arts faculty members have won Guggenheim Fellowships, Humboldt Fellowships, and major disciplinary awards. We have had 81 faculty members elected to the Royal Society of Canada, and several others win Killam Prizes, Killam Research Fellowships, Emmy Awards, and Order of Canada awards. In addition, Arts faculty members have won countless book prizes, national disciplinary awards, and international disciplinary awards. 

External funding also signifies the research success of our faculty. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the Faculty of Arts received $34.6 million through over 900 research projects. Of seven UBC SSHRC Partnership Grants awarded to-date, six are located in Arts, with a combined investment of $15 million over the term of the grants.

Since the 2011 introduction of the SSHRC Insight Grants and SSHRC Insight Development Grants programs, our faculty’s success rate has remained highly stable, and is consistently higher than the national success rate.

Graduate Degree Programs

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Arts.

 

Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2016 Dr. Shack used administrative data and school-choice programs from British Columbia in order to examine issues relating to the economics of education. Topics studied include how parents learn and make decisions about their children's progress in school, the impact of language immersion programs, and externalities from peers. Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD)
2016 Dr. Danielson investigated how infants use vision to help them learn language. His research demonstrated that before their first birthday, infants have expectations about how sounds from an unfamiliar language should look on the human face. What infants see on a speaking face changes the way that they process language. Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
2016 Dr. Adleman studied the depiction of violence in late twentieth century American novels. He discovered that it was bound up with the rise of electronic media and a perceived crisis in the established order. His research will contribute to our understanding of literary representations of class, race, gender and media. Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD)
2016 Dr. Guo examines how the extensive use of an extraordinary punishment gave rise to the culture of rough justice and significantly transformed the criminal justice system before the advent of Westernization. His research advances our understanding about law and violence in late imperial China. Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)
2016 Dr. Noguchi studied the mechanisms of human language learning. Through a series of laboratory experiments, he demonstrated how humans learn to categorize speech sounds, and how that affects their perception of the speech sounds. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)
2016 Dr. Guo studied how consumers interacted with metal mirrors during Han dynasty China. He argues that these mirrors served as a dominant form of affordable luxury, signaling personal intimacies, monetary wealth, and aesthetic enjoyments. His work increases our historical understanding of early imperial art and economics. Doctor of Philosophy in Art History (PhD)
2016 Dr. Glougie examined how English speakers negotiate information in the context of police interviews. She found that speakers used specific words to propose new information in the dialogue and to mark whether that information should be included in the common understanding. Her research gives insight into how English discourse markers contribute to meaning. Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)
2016 Dr. Roger's research explored why states create highly legalized intergovernmental organizations in some instances and less legalized ones in others. He found that domestic politics within powerful states determine the kind of design that gets chosen, and that the forces at work often produce dysfunctional bodies that fail to address global issues. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD)
2016 Dr. Whaley studied how a selection of Japanese video games simulate and respond to issues of national trauma. While video games are often regarded solely as an entertainment medium, Dr. Whaley argues that specific design strategies promote empathy for real-world victims, teach valuable coping skills, and promote player self-reflection. Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD)
2016 Dr. Chapelas studied conflict arising in response to urban change. She found that residents claim that their physical proximity to new social groups is unsustainable in order to assert their right to a voice in determining the future of their neighborhoods. Her work increases our understanding of how diverse populations negotiate living together. Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD)

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