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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dr. Knight studied the pragmatics of anger in Roman society during the late Republic and early Empire. She illustrated the complex relationship between anger and Roman politics. By focusing on how anger was employed in the professional contexts of the orator and emperor, she enhanced our understanding of the role of emotions in Roman public life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Classics (PhD) |
| 2015 | What would the world be like without things? Dr. Ford spun the impossibility of that question on its head. He surfaced the vital role of the material world at sea in producing oceanic knowledge in the mid- 20th century. Things of the sea turn up in stories, and her study demonstrates how science and narrative have at times been one and the same. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Galizia investigated the role of the liquidation and accumulation of capital in the business cycle, both as a cause of and as an amplifier of booms and busts. This issue has important implications for the appropriate design of government policies aimed at mitigating and preventing recessions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Rogers examined how people form accurate first impressions of others. By studying pairs of people, or dyads, she found that impressions were influenced by the personality of the individuals and the characteristics of the interaction. This shows the importance of the nature of the dyadic interaction in determining the accuracy of first impressions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Forsey analyzed the relationship between New Age spiritualism and 21st century capitalism in the United States. She demonstrated how New Age attitudes about profit-making and work draw on the Hindu doctrines of Karma and Dharma. These attitudes influence a unique form of online entrepreneurship that draws on the virtues of service and generosity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Cosman investigated how cities grow and change with economic activity. He studied the dynamics of the nightlife industry, cross-city differences in housing price growth, and new empirical methods for urban economics research. This research is useful to policymakers seeking to create vibrant cities and understand housing market cycles. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Dominelli studied young women with disordered eating and alcohol use. She applied psychobiological measures to examine their emotional responses, and their ability to regulate these responses. This study refines our understanding of the relationship between emotions and bingeing behaviour and has implications for prevention and treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Tompkins studied commonalities between bipolar and alcohol use disorders. She found that certain aspects of impulsivity play an important role in mediating the relationship between hypomanic personality features and alcohol use. This research supports the idea there may be a common vulnerability to bipolar and alcohol use disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Kushlev examined the psychological consequences of living in a connected wireless world. He showed that smartphones might prevent people from reaping the benefits from their daily social interactions. His findings highlight the importance of developing portable digital devices designed to support our in-person social interactions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Mathes studied European Romantic literature and culture, and the history of aesthetics and feeling. She investigated disappointment as an aesthetic category in poetry and prose. Using affect theory, she explored the historically-specific relationships between Romantic writers, their writings, and the world in which these writings were produced. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |