Faculty of Arts Awards and Celebration of Excellence 2021

Every year the Faculty of Arts honours a few of its best and brightest at the Faculty of Arts Awards and Celebration of Excellence.

A staple of the academic year, the ceremony is an important opportunity for us to observe the vast scope of teaching and research innovation in this faculty, while also highlighting our strengths of equity, diversity and inclusion.

This year’s awards celebration will take place online on June 17^th from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Let’s reflect on another year of truly remarkable faculty achievements.
 

FACULTY OF ARTS AWARD FOR EQUITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (EDI)

Department of Psychology EDI Committee
The Department of Psychology EDI committee has helped to transform the department’s culture by promoting a heightened awareness of EDI values and making these values a reality in the everyday lives of students, faculty and staff. Among its many important works, the committee has conducted a workshop on EDI considerations in research, developed departmental codes of conduct, created an EDI-focused page on the departmental website and helped to restructure core classes in psychology to recognize and reflect on historical biases and create an educational experience more reflective of EDI values. The committee has been a vigorous champion of EDI values for the department, the university and for the discipline of psychology nationally.

FACULTY OF ARTS AWARD FOR LEADERSHIP IN INTERNATIONALIZATION

Elizabeth Montes Garcés (School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures – SLLLC)
Since joining UCalgary in 2000, Montes Garcés has tirelessly developed and led initiatives to internationalize the university’s Spanish language curriculum, create international collaborations, establish connections with Spanish language programs in Alberta’s school systems and promote overseas mobility for staff and students. 

FACULTY OF ARTS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

Annette Timm (History)
An internationally renowned expert on gender and sexuality in modern German history, Timm has been editor of the revered Journal of the History of Sexuality for over seven years. She was recently commissioned to provide a piece on Sex in Berlin in the Early 20^th Century for the Cambridge World History of Sexualities and she co-curated the very successful TransTrans exhibition at Berlin’s Schwules Museum, a unique show on transatlantic transgender histories. 

FACULTY OF ARTS RESEARCH AWARDS

NEW SCHOLAR RESEARCH AWARD

Naomi Lightman (Sociology)
Lightman has become a leading expert on the challenges immigrant women face in contemporary labour markets. Establishing herself as a respected authority in her field she’s increasingly been recognized and sought out as a public intellectual. She was even cited by Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam for her research on how female caregivers, especially racialized and immigrant workers, are facing greater inequalities and disadvantages than ever, while working under the most dangerous conditions.

ESTABLISHED SCHOLAR RESEARCH AWARD

Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen (Psychology)
A leading maternal and child health researcher in Canada, Tomfohr-Madsen’s work has come to the attention of the New York Times, National Geographic and CBC to name but a few popular media outlets. Within her research she pays great attention to diversity, her scholarship focused frequently on underrepresented communities, including identifying racial and socioeconomic health disparities in pregnancy and the early postpartum period. She also values the presence of individuals from diverse socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds within her lab.

ESTABLISHED SCHOLAR RESEARCH AWARD

Frank Stahnisch (History)
As a historian of medicine and health care, Stahnisch has made a huge impact in his field. His 600-page 2020 book A New Field in Mind: A History of Interdisciplinarity in Early Brain Science is a work of astounding nuance, complexity and specialized knowledge that only he could have produced.  Currently Stahnisch is contributing to the development of a new Science, Technology, Environment and Medicine (STEM) Centre within the venerable Calgary Institute for the Humanities.

COMMUNITY-ENGAGED RESEARCH AWARD

Darin Flynn (SLLLC)
Flynn’s insatiable intellectual curiosity and his remarkable generosity of spirit are expressed frequently in the breadth and depth of his publications, media outreach, workshop leadership and collaborative projects. One focus of his research is in assisting Indigenous peoples who are engaged in documenting and revitalizing their ancestral languages and he undertakes this community outreach tirelessly. Flynn knows how to speak these languages too, and this ability allows him to engage Indigenous communities, which he does with great respect and humility.

FACULTY OF ARTS TEACHING AWARDS

EMERGING TEACHER AWARD

Eleonora Buonocore (SLLLC)
Buonocore has taken teaching and learning in Italian Studies in innovative directions. She’s shown a true commitment to making personal each student’s learning experience, encouraging them to take charge of their own learning in a judgement-free environment, using a spectrum of techniques. Among these are her efforts to teach language in real life contexts that actively engage students, including the use of songs, videos, films, plays and readings.

Angeliki Athanasopoulou (SLLLC)
An engaging teacher who brings passion as well as depth and breadth of knowledge to her courses, Athanasopoulou has shown a tremendous strength of organization which her students greatly appreciate. Her courses are prepared with care and foresight so that students know what to expect. This has been essential to her students’ learning, especially during the pandemic. At the same time, she is flexible and always open to improving student experience, soliciting feedback throughout the term and addressing all concerns. 

ESTABLISHED TEACHER AWARD

Stephen Winters (SLLLC)
Winters makes it a priority to make learning as accessible as possible for students. His lectures strike a balance between technical content delivery offset with real world examples drawn from music and popular culture. As an example, he gives a lecture on how pop star Shaggy modulates his accent for American versus Jamaican audiences. During the pandemic his Zoom lectures have been lively and interactive with much back and forth with students through the chat window.

Paul Chastko (History)
As a senior instructor Chastko teaches more students annually than any other History department member, yet he still makes himself available to any student who expresses an interest in one-on-one assistance. He has consistently been attuned to the fact that students come to us with a range of different skills, backgrounds and needs. One student with learning challenges was deeply appreciative of the option to communicate his findings with a more visual approach, allowing him to bring his strengths to bear.

FACULTY OF ARTS SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR RESPECT AND COMPASSION

Mark Conliffe (SLLLC)
Conliffe came to the University of Calgary in 2017 stepping into a daunting role as the first director of the then newly formed School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures and Cultures. With five divisions, incorporating multiple disciplines and cultures from around the globe – sometimes with conflicting priorities –SLLLC could be challenging to lead. And yet, from the start, Conliffe was a listener, engaging respectfully with every member of the School, responding to problems with wisdom, compassion and kindness. Without a doubt he has improved the quality of work life for everyone in SLLLC.

FACULTY OF ARTS OUTSTANDING STAFF RECOGNITION AWARD

Phuong (Lisa) Nguyen (Psychology)
Nguyen joined the Department of Psychology as an administrative assistant in November 2019 and quickly became a great asset. Her ability to deal with diverse faculty, students and staff in a calm and supportive manner contributes significantly to the department’s smooth functioning. She also supports faculty and students on a daily basis, serving as a Peer Listener with Wellness Services. In this capacity she shows great empathy helping students who are seeking support for personal and academic concerns.

FACULTY OF ARTS AWARD FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Lindsay Tedds (Economics)
As an economist Tedds has sought to make both academic contributions as well as an impact on Canadian policymaking and policy implementation. To this end she makes her research accessible to a broad audience providing new perspectives about current social issues through public engagement. Her work includes writing for such print media outlets as the Globe and Mail and Macleans magazine. She also appears frequently on a number of TV and radio shows and podcasts. She has even appeared before a House of Commons Standing Committee talking about the GST tax credit and the lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of various boutique tax credits.

CELEBRATED ALUMNI AWARDS

Kendra Rogers (BA ’13, Communications)
Rogers is the Head of Insight & Strategy at psLondon, a global creative and brand consultancy in London, U.K., where she is the youngest member of the senior leadership team. She co-chairs the Diversity & Inclusion Committee at psLondon and has guest lectured at the Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia.

Pamela Valentine (B.Sc ’94, M.Sc ’97, PhD, ’02, Psychology)
A former faculty member in the Cumming School of Medicine’s Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Valentine has enjoyed a diverse and impactful career serving as Director (Grants and Awards) at the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. From there she joined Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions where she first served as Vice President (Research and Innovation) before eventually becoming Chief Executive Officer. Since 2018 she has been President & CEO of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

Sarah Damberger (BA ’13, Communications)
Passionate about non-profit work and advocacy in the areas of human rights and social justice, Damberger has been involved with Amnesty International for over 10 years, first during her time in university, where she served as President of the UCalgary chapter. Her intensity and devotion to the organization continued and she has recently been elected as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Amnesty International Canada. She is also a senior consultant with Stack’d Consulting, a boutique management consulting firm focused on human-centric transformation.