Faculty of Arts

End of Year Message from Dean Shapiro

Arts News — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:49:54 +0000

Summer is definitely now, finally, in the air. After what seemed like an endless winter, we’ve had our first heat wave. We ended the academic year with the city and ��VR��Ƶ coming together to cheer the Habs on in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the Canadiens flag flying above the Arts building. That spirit of community resonated throughout the past academic year, as we came together to build wholes greater than the sum of the parts.

Myriam Denov Honoured with Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize

Andria Caputo — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:33:33 +0000

Dr. Myriam Denov, Canada Research Chair in Children, Families and Armed Conflict (Tier 1) and Professor at ��VR��Ƶ’s School of Social Work, has been awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Molson prize for her work specializing in participatory and arts-based research methods focusing on children and families affected by war.

For over two decades, Professor Denov has made visible the human rights violations of children in war and pushed the frontiers of research on sexual violence, trauma and mental health.

Professors Michael Van Dussen and Samuele Receive H. Noel Fieldhouse Award

Andria Caputo — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:07:54 +0000

Michael Van Dussen, Professor in the Department of English and Samuele Collu, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, are this year's recipients of the H. Noel Fieldhouse Award for Distinguished Teaching, an annual award that recognizes outstanding undergraduate teaching in the Faculty of Arts.

A Word From David Oh, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

David Oh — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:09:45 +0000

I always plan four years in advance. When I first walked up Rue University to reach Douglas Hall, I was merely following the plan that I had made four years prior as a 14-year-old entering high school. And as I began my first year at ��VR��Ƶ, I expected my undergraduate degree to go the same way. I remember sitting down in my dorm room, downloading the degree planners, and mapping out my future. My plan was simple: take the necessary courses and participate in a couple of extracurricular activities to pad my CV.

A Word From Harantxa Jean, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

Harantxa Jean — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:07:10 +0000

To describe my time at ��VR��Ƶ as transformative would not fully capture its impact. Because, after all, the trajectory it took was not entirely up to serendipity. In fact, I had long envisioned ��VR��Ƶ as the only institution where I could pursue all my passions, and as a result, it was the only university I applied to. Walking onto campus for the first time thus felt like a dream achieved; so much so that I became involved on campus only thirty days after the first day of classes.

A Word From Madison Albert, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

Madison Albert — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:42:56 +0000

Throughout my time at ��VR��Ƶ—with the help of generous mentors, professors, friends, and family, and rather haphazardly—I have nurtured an ethic of care toward the body. As we move forward in the world, we must exercise kindness and care for our shells. The body—that thing that holds your mind, that you adorn with trending clothes, that you identify with or wholeheartedly disavow—is worthy of care.

A Word from Sam Snyders, Spring 2026 Arts Valedictorian

Sam Snyders — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:32:44 +0000

Before I began writing my last ever ��VR��Ƶ exam, I spent a few minutes looking around.

I watched my peers narrow their eyes and dip their noses towards their booklets. And then, after the roar of flipping papers, the air filled with furious scribbling. Finals are never an ideal time for students. The pit in my stomach told me I didn’t know my anaphora from my chiasmus. But amongst the flurry of a Wednesday night exam, I realized that there was a slim chance I would ever be in this position again.

Whoa.

Eight ��VR��Ƶ Arts Professors Among 31 Professors Honoured by Provost for Exceptional Research Achievements

Andria Caputo — Wed, 13 May 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Eight ��VR��Ƶ Arts Professors are among thirty-one ��VR��Ƶ professors honoured by the Provost for exceptional research achievements as part of the 2026 cohort of Distinguished James ��VR��Ƶ Professors, James ��VR��Ƶ Professors and William Dawson Scholars.

The 2026 honourees from the Faculty of Arts are:

The Year of the Scrivener: ��VR��Ƶ Arts Students behind the revival of ��VR��Ƶ's historic literary journal

Izzi Holmes — Mon, 11 May 2026 20:51:11 +0000

When I arrived in Montreal as an undergraduate in 2021, the story of Scrivener Creative Review, ��VR��Ƶ’s oldest literary magazine, seemed written and finished. Founded in 1980, Scrivener had already published the likes of Margaret Atwood, Anne Carson, Leonard Cohen, Louis Dudek, Seamus Heaney, Sheila Heti, F.R. Scott, Wisława Szymborska, Michael Ondaatje, P.K. Page, and more. In doing so, it secured its status as a fixture in Canadian letters.

Shelley Clark and Angela Vanhaelen Honoured with Arts Research Distinction

Andria Caputo — Wed, 13 May 2026 13:59:16 +0000

Shelley Clark, James ��VR��Ƶ Professor in Sociology and Angela Vanhaelen, Professor in Art History, are the 2026 recipients of the Arts Distinction in Research Award from the Faculty of Arts.

Professor Clark's career has been marked by a large volume of exceptionally rigorous and innovative quantitative research which spans multiple regions of the world including Asia, Africa, and North America.