Experts to examine systemic problems, make evidence-based recommendations
A research team led by a University of Alberta scholar has received nearly $2.5 million in new federal funding for a national research project aimed at reforming the Canadian justice system. The team, headed by sociologist Sandra Bucerius and including the United Way and academic experts on the court and prison systems from across Canada, was awarded a Partnership Grant from…
Through engineering, Portia Rayner discovered her calling as an experimenter, innovator and leader
Portia Rayner describes her University of Alberta engineering degree as a seismic “shift in mentality.” At first, she wasn’t at all sure engineering was the right program for her. She had once wanted to be a veterinarian, and later thought chemistry or pharmacology would be a better fit. “You always hear those stories of the…
Assisting landmark Indigenous cases, Anita Cardinal-Stewart graduates with even stronger passion
The caption on her junior-high yearbook photo reads, “Dreams of being a lawyer or an actress.” That was when Anita Cardinal-Stewart was full of hope, and anything seemed possible. But that hope evaporated through her teen years growing up in the Woodland Cree First Nation in northern Alberta. “I started to see how hard it…
Age of Enlightenment partly responsible for the destructive colonial logic that has wreaked so much havoc among Indigenous peoples
There is a wisdom principle known as wâhkôhtowin underpinning how Cree peoples fundamentally see the world. Literally, it means kinship but refers more widely to the interconnectedness of human beings with each other and with all other forms of life. According to Dwayne Donald – freshly appointed Canada Research Chair in reimagining teacher education with…
U of A engineering students beat out 3M and others with an invention that lets patients know when to seek care
Three University of Alberta engineering students have developed a mobile app that tracks the progress of a healing wound. The app calculates whether treatments are working as they should based on descriptions of size, depth and shape along with more subjective impressions of pain and irritation, says programmer Connor Povoledo. Accurate tracking can predict infection…
The only professor in academia working on deaf education
There is a fierce debate raging in the deaf community. Many audiologists believe sign language is obsolete, recommending instead that deaf children rely exclusively on technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids. Sign language, they contend, interferes with learning to speak. Joanne Weber argues the whole dispute is absurd and unnecessary. The first Canada Research Chair in…
Gordon Hirabayashi took a principled stand against the internment of Japanese Americans
When Japanese Americans were evacuated from the West Coast and sent to internment camps during the Second World War, Gordon Hirabayashi refused to comply. Acting on the courage of moral conviction, the Quaker pacifist instead turned himself in to the FBI, prepared to challenge the unjust executive order and take the case as far as…
After escaping from Afghanistan, Aftikhar Mominzada feels an obligation to create opportunities for others
It was the worst case of bad timing. Aftikhar Mominzada was elated after graduating from the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, India, in the spring of 2021. When he started the academy’s international baccalaureate program in middle school, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, freeing him from the parochial religious education he was likely to receive…
Studying the history of law in Iran might help point the way to improving legal systems in the West
You might be tempted to think Jairan Gahan’s interest in the legal history of sex in Iran is purely academic. She is most fascinated by the early 20th century, following Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906, when the country was drafting its criminal code. How could that possibly be relevant to life in the modern state, especially…
The province has the resources, infrastructure and workforce to produce the clean energy source
On the path to a decarbonized future, Alberta could become a global leader in the export of hydrogen. Amit Kumar, who advised the provincial government in developing its Hydrogen Roadmap, says the province is already well ahead of the production game, having developed large-scale hydrogen infrastructure and expertise for the oil sands industry. Alberta is, in…
A research team led by a University of Alberta scholar has received nearly $2.5 million in new federal funding for a national research project aimed at reforming the Canadian justice system. The team, headed by sociologist Sandra Bucerius and including the United Way and academic experts on the court and prison systems from across Canada, was awarded a Partnership Grant from…
