MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR DIRECTOR, OIS 

Greetings from the Office of Interdiscplinary Studies, and welcome to our Spring 2019 Newsletter.

We made it! The 2018-19 academic year is officially in the books. Special congratulations to all those convocating with degrees this Spring as well as those who already received their parchments in the Fall 2018 ceremony. We wish you the very best in all your future endeavours and hope to see many of you at the Faculty of Arts Garden Party on June 12.

I’d also like to extend a special welcome to Dr. Deb Verhoeven who has joined the University of Alberta as Canada 150 Chair in Gender and Cultural Informatics. Professory Verhoeven is cross appointed to Digital Humanities (in OIS) and to the Department of Women’s Gender Studies. We’re thrilled to have her with us.

We are also bidding sad farewells to some significant leaders in OIS. Barb Baker, our long-standing APO, is transitioning into a new role in the Department of Art and Design; Dr. Maureen Engel is transitioning to a new position at the University of Queensland in Brisbane; and Drs Ryan Dunch (Director of Religious Studies and David Quinter (Graduate Coordinator in Religious Studies) have both completed their administrative terms. Dr. Dunch will be assuming the chairship in the Department of History and Classics. We are sad to see all these amazing colleagues go and wish them all the very best in their new endeavours. Thank you to all!

As we turn our attention to the work of 2019-2020, I see many opportunities for OIS as a site of cross department and cross-faculty collaboration. We look forward to playing a key role as a hub of scholarly and pedagogical activity for the Faculty of Arts. In the meantime, hope you all have a restful and productive summer!

- Nat Hurley

Barb Baker

It is with mixed emotions we would like to congratulate Barb Baker on her new position as Associate Chair with the Department of Art and Design.  She has supported this unit since 2004 in her role of Assistant Director, Administration of OIS. During her time here, Barb has managed many changes to the unit with leadership and grace. Barb will continue to support OIS during the transition.  Thank you Barb, for your leadership and service these many years. It will be a sad day when we finally have to say goodbye!

Ryan Dunch

Ryan Dunch served as the Director of the Program in Religious Studies from 2017 to 2019. Ryan is a specialist in modern Chinese history, particularly Chinese Christianity. He joined the faculty of the University of Alberta in 1998. Previously, he served for six years as Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies and will now begin a new role as the Chair of History and Classics.

Mo Engel

Maureen Engel is currently on sabbatical as an Assistant Professor and Director of Digital Humanities. She has also been the Director of the Canadian Institute for Research Computing in Arts (CIRCA), and a co-investigator on the Edmonton Pipelines | Narrating Digital Urbanisms project. Formally trained as a textual scholar, Mo's background is in cultural studies, queer theory, and feminist theory. She begins a new chapter at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

David Quinter

David has been the  Graduate Coordinator in Religious Studies for the past year. His area of research specialization is East Asian religions, with a focus on medieval Japanese Buddhism. His research examines the interweaving of narratives, rituals, and images in devotional cults and the life portraits of charismatic and other practitioners. He will return to his role as an Associate Professor of East Asian Religions.

The Digital Humanities program is pleased to announce that we will be launching a course-based MA program beginning September 2019

The course-based MA in Digital Humanities consists of 30 credits of course work (10 X 3-credit courses) plus 6 credits of practicum (2 X 3-credit courses) for a total of 36 credits. Learn more HERE.

Changes to the Religious Studies program coming Fall 2019

These changes make the program more flexible, and provide students with more variety and freedom. Students have access to a wide variety of cross-listed courses and we've added new courses. To learn more, please contact our Advisor, Nicola.

Congratulations to all of the convocants from Interdisciplinary Studies programs!

Certificate in Peace and Post-conflict Studies: Jasmina Salazar

Computer Game Development Certificate: Jessica Atamanenko, Michelle Bloniarz, Shelby Carleton, Emily Casavant, Jaehyung Cho, Loic Cremer, Morgan Cselinacz, Alexandrea Czeto, Wang Dong, Borys Fleysher, Alexis Graham, Aidan Herron, Jessica Jayachandran, Benjamin Lavin, Hongyang Liu, Stephen Melvin, Michaela Morrow, Ningwei Xu, YiJi Zhao

Digital Humanities MA: Jocelyn Beyer, Zsolt Vasanyi

Digital Humanities MA/MLIS: Anna Borynec, Laura Gerlitz

International Studies Minor: Benjamin Angus, Gabriela Cea, Hilda Elueme, Abbi Gayle, Jasmina Salazar, Julia Sieben

Religious Studies Major: Malcom Anderson, Mack Harding, Xavier Kolodnicki, Lindi Laursen-Williams, Julee Workun

Religious Studies Minor: Jessica Atamanenko, Lauren Jordan, Ujala Khan, Megan McCaskill, Larissa O’Farrell, Madison Sterling, Evan Truscott

STS Major: Aidan Herron, Aurora Konjolka, Suk Wong

STS Minor: Gabrielle Fournell

Meet one of our students, Aidan Oswald, a BA Honours student in Religious Studies. He recently presented at the Religious Studies Graduate Students' Society Symposium in April, and sits on the executive of the Religious Studies Undergrads Society.  

Read more about Aidan HERE.

Consuming Religion: Food, Drink, and Other Consumables in Religious Traditions - 2019 Religious Studies Graduate Student Society Symposium  

This year's RSGSS event was supported by the Belzberg Jewish Studies fund and included two keynote speakers: Dr. Rachel Berger from Concordia University, Montreal and Dr. Aaron Gross from the University of San Diego.

DiHuCon 2019: Digital Humanities Students’ Association's (DHSA) Annual Conference

This year's theme was Disruption! and focused on scholarly activities that unsettle, deconstruct, and reanimate pressing questions around technology. From video games to virtuality, intersectionality to the internet, DiHuCon 2019 had something for everyone. Featured speakers included Jessie Beier, M.Ed., and Dr. Maureen Engel.

We would like to thank all of the students who served as representatives over the past year and welcome the new executives:

Religious Studies Graduate Student Society: Melody Everest (President), Lea Lavy (Vice President / Treasurer), Michael Gillingham & Diane Fereig (Members at Large).

Digital Humanities Student Association: Cate Peter (President), Schyler Palm (Vice President Internal), Jennifer McDevitt (Vice President Finance), Holly Pickering (SLIS Liason).