Photo: Martin Dee
Applicants to master’s and doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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.
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.
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.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Arts.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dr. Togman's research provides us with an in depth and historical account of why governments tried to control the growth and decline of their populations. His research illuminates how we have linked childbirth to issues of poverty, war and wealth for the last three hundred years. This knowledge will have an impact on future policymakers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hall examined the psychological barriers to women's success in science and engineering workplaces. He found that accepting workplace conversations with male colleagues were key predictors in lowering gender stereotyping and burnout for women. This research furthers our understanding of how to increase women's success in male dominated careers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Liang investigated the relationship between liberal trade policies and the domestic employment of workers. She found that opening up trade induces workers to change jobs and encourages firms to adjust hiring. These studies have important policy implications on issues about globalization and labor distribution. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Through the concepts of 'learnscapes', Dr. Gugganig investigated the diverse forms that education takes across three different contexts on the island of Kaua'i. Her work increases our understanding of indigenous education, knowledge production on land, public understanding of science, and how these processes and institutions co-evolve in the notion of education. | Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Fobear examined the settlement experiences of LGBT refugees in North America. Her work contributes a queer perspective to refugee settlement that unsettles homonational narratives of Canada as a safe haven and the Western discourses surrounding "saving" LGBT refugees. | Doctor of Philosophy in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. McNamara examined how culture and cognition sculpt psychology across development. Norms prohibiting mental state inference lead Fijian adults to punish accidents more than Westerners, while children in Fiji and Canada show similar intent focus. Therefore, mental state reasoning may emerge early and differentiate based on culture into adulthood. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Maity studied the situation of women and a historically marginalized group called the Scheduled Tribes in India. She found that women's participation in workfare and historic property rights enhance women's and children's well-being at present. Her research shows the need to improve healthcare delivery to reduce health inequality faced by tribes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Frey investigated the relationship between poverty reduction policies and local politics in Brazil. His research shows that cash transfer programs can effectively empower the poor, reducing their vulnerability to vote buying, and also create incentives for politicians to increase the provision of public goods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Davidson's work focused on the effects of disturbances, such as wildfires and large floods, on mountain rivers. She developed numerical models to predict the effects of these events on stream dynamics and fish habitat. Her work is now being used in hazard prediction and management. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Guiry studied the historical implications of animal trade and husbandry. His research showed how dietary analyses at the atomic level can be used to reveal new insights into the social and economic roles of domesticated animal species in colonial trade systems of North America and Australia. | Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology (PhD) |