College Dean's Message

tân'si, nitôtêmak,

I am happy to welcome Dr. Jared Wesley to his role as Associate Dean, Education. In the One University model, the role of the college ADE is to help faculties work together on issues that are best handled at the college level, while respecting academic leadership within the faculties. This includes supporting new programs, improving shared academic processes and helping students move more easily through their studies. The role is also intended to connect faculty priorities with university-wide services and policies. 

At my suggestion, Jared agreed to “guest write” July’s CSSH newsletter. Below, he outlines what he sees as the clearest opportunities to make this work more useful and more responsive to the needs and wishes of relevant faculty, staff and students within the CSSH faculties.

Pishshapmishko,

Chris Andersen

Special Guest Message

Hello CSSH community,

I’m pleased to have joined the college earlier this month. My goal is to make it easier to develop good ideas, identify and solve shared problems, and create exciting opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate learners. I look forward to working with students, instructors, faculty and staff to promote excellence in our undergraduate and graduate programs.

One of my main priorities involves supporting faculties and departments as they explore new forms of interdisciplinary and community-integrated programming. Many of our students’ most compelling questions span disciplines and stretch beyond our campuses. I’m here to help colleagues identify new ways of delivering courses and micro-learning offerings, navigate governance processes and develop credentials that draw on the remarkable range of expertise and energy across our college and U of A.

A second priority is strengthening our approach to academic integrity in the age of generative AI. These technologies are reshaping our learning environments in new ways every day, revealing the need for clearer expectations, consistency in processes and better supports for both instructors and students. To this end, I am recruiting faculty members to serve on a new College Academic Integrity Panel — a group that will provide advice on developing practical guidelines and resources for instructors and students when it comes to the use of generative AI in coursework. I welcome expressions of interest from colleagues who would like to contribute to this effort.

I also remain focused on bolstering student financial supports and helping them connect their academic work to meaningful opportunities beyond the classroom. This includes expanding access to paid, program-related internship programs while ensuring students are well-supported in pursuing major scholarships and awards. On that note, the College will be hosting a SSHRC Doctoral Award Workshop on August 14, offering students guidance on developing a strong research proposal. Students and supervisors can find more information and register here.

I look forward to working with all of you on these and other initiatives in the years to come. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or suggestions for how we can enhance educational programming across our College.

Dr. Jared Wesley, Associate Dean, Education, CSSH

Office of Access, Community and Belonging & Indigenous Initiatives 

Watch Leadership & Reconciliation, a Fireside Chat

As we prepare for the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6 this August, we invite you to watch Leadership & Reconciliation, hosted by the Peter Lougheed School of Leadership and the Peter Lougheed School of Politics and Democracy. 

Featuring Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, Professor at the University of Toronto and Vice Chair of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Dr. Nykkie Lugosi-Schimpf, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies, in conversation about Indigenous rights, leadership, and Canada's responsibilities through both Indigenous and international perspectives.

Office of Research

Thank You, Peer Reviewers

On behalf of the Office of Research, I would like to publicly thank all colleagues who volunteered their time as peer reviewers and helped make this recent round of SSHRC grants a momentous success. We appreciate your time, dedication and expertise. 

Dr. Temitope Orioloa, Associate Dean, Research

Call for Submission: Celebration of Research

Submissions are being accepted for our annual Celebration of Research, happening Oct. 15. All CSSH faculty and post-docs are invited to showcase their research either with a poster, presentation, art display or demonstration. Please register here before Sept. 4. For more information, contact Oliver Rossier.

College News