Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta

06/08/2026

Leading up to Arts Convocation on June 10, we're proud to share stories from the 2026 graduating class 🎓

Figurative artist and BFA grad Daniel Lee Whyte has always used creativity to navigate the world.

Originally a psychology major, Daniel faced the immense pressure of undiagnosed ADHD and a learning disability that made traditional, text-heavy coursework an uphill battle. By pivoting to a path directly aligned with his natural strengths, he found a home in fine arts — a program where neuro-inclusive learning styles and personal narratives thrive.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4ad7klK

Congratulations, Daniel!

Photo: Joy Jia

Art & Design, UAlberta

06/08/2026

Leading up to Arts Convocation on June 10, we're proud to share stories from the 2026 graduating class 🎓

Congratulations, Wiktoria!

06/05/2026

You did it! 🎓 Convocation is right around the corner, and it's time to celebrate! 🎉

Don't leave campus without grabbing something to remember your achievement. The Bookstore has everything you need to commemorate your hard work, from official degree frames 🖼️ to cozy Alumni merch and limited-edition 2026 keychains.

Shop the full collection at the Bookstore (lower-level SUB) & Green + Gold Store (UCommons) or online at uab.ca/GradGifts.

06/03/2026

On any given night at Franks Community Pub, you might find karaoke, comedy or a packed trivia crowd. But increasingly, one of the hottest tickets is a university professor talking about things like sleep, debt, politics or culture, proof that social sciences and humanities research resonates far beyond the classroom when it’s brought into the heart of the community.

To date, Lectures on Tap speakers from Arts have included Cressida Heyes, Katherine Binhammer and Kyler Chittick, all of whom have presented to sold out audiences.

“I think in Edmonton there are lots of people who have no formal affiliation with the university, but are very interested in talking about ideas," says Heyes. "You can’t assume any particular knowledge, but you can assume you have a smart audience."

Read more: https://bit.ly/4ubBzRe

University of Alberta Political Science

06/02/2026

Variations in tone are core features of many of Africa’s more than 2,000 languages and dialects. This aural nuance is the kind of vital data that the text-based large language models of AI have been slow to accommodate, leaving out most of the world’s oral languages and dialects.

Newly appointed CIFAR AI Chair Ife Adebara, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, is working to change this. Her research aims to incorporate African languages into AI tools like ChatGPT to make them more accessible to users worldwide.

Read more about her work: https://bit.ly/4uOQv9c

06/01/2026

In recognition of National Indigenous History Month, we invite the Arts community to reflect on how we can celebrate and honour the histories, heritages, languages, and diversity of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples through continuous learning and action.

This National Indigenous History Month, we invite you to go beyond the land acknowledgement and take some time to understand your relationship to the land, treaties, and to the Indigenous communities near you.

Across the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, along with FNS, we take our commitment to treaty and to the 94 Calls to Action seriously and make it a priority not just in June, but year-round.

This , we're amplifying First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices and taking some time to ground ourselves on the land in which we're situated.

05/29/2026

This , we're proud to highlight the work of Dr. Xiaoyun Wang, a researcher in applied linguistics and postdoctoral fellow in the University of Alberta Department of East Asian Studies who is uncovering how people across various cultures anticipate others’ needs in everyday interactions and use their own body language to offer help.

Through her project "An Eye on Help," Wang is using cutting-edge, wearable eye-tracking glasses to study how native Mandarin speakers, heritage learners, and second-language learners interact in real-time. By filming participants doing everyday tasks (assembling IKEA furniture), her research explores the split-second, non-verbal cues—like eye contact, gestures, and body language—we use to offer support across cultures.

Wang’s work at the U of A’s Chinese Multimodality Lab will help bridge cultural gaps, inform language educators, and provide vital insights to immigrant-serving agencies across Canada.

Read more about her research here: https://bit.ly/4feJ8D5

05/28/2026

This , we're celebrating the international collaboration and innovation of the Hollywood Kyoto project.

When Kyoto’s historic Toei Studio Park—the birthplace of thousands of iconic samurai films and TV shows—announced it was tearing down its classic sets, U of A researchers including Geoffrey Rockwell and Eric Kaltman from the Media and Technology Studies UAlberta program stepped in.

Partnering with Ritsumeikan University and supported by the Prince Takamado Japan Centre, a multidisciplinary team used advanced photogrammetry and gaming engines to recreate the park as a fully accessible, 3D web experience.

Thanks to digital humanities, this incredible piece of global cinema history won't be lost to the wrecking ball.

Read the full story: https://bit.ly/4a2OpKn

How U of A digital humanities and computing science researchers are helping preserve Japanese film history and a cherished film landmark in Kyoto.

05/27/2026

05/25/2026

Meet Jacqueline Comer, the English alumna and self-professed ‘word nerd’ who is revolutionizing AI safety.

The power of words, specifically the power of words to build and destroy, brought Comer to her current role as founder and chief product officer with Areto Labs, a start-up company that uses machine-learning AI software to defend people and brands against large-scale digital threats.

Co-founded by fellow alumna Lana Cuthbertson and Kasey Machin, Areto’s global clients include sports organizations, publishers, governments and private citizens.

Read more: https://bit.ly/43uEs4G