Arts and Humanities

UBC study finds siblings of problem gamblers also impulsive, prone to risk-taking

Biological siblings of people with gambling disorder also display markers of increased impulsivity and risk-taking, according to a new UBC psychology study. The findings, published today in Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest people with gambling disorder – a psychiatric term for serious gambling problems – may have pre-existing genetic vulnerabilities to the illness.

Oct 9, 2019

UBC experts on British Supreme Court ruling, climate report

Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament was illegal.

Sep 24, 2019

UBC experts on national pharmacare, Thomas Cook and coral bleaching

The Liberals are promising to take the next steps toward a national pharmacare program.

Sep 23, 2019

Social media platforms are expected to play a major role in political participation in the federal election come October.

Big data project to investigate online abuse of candidates during federal election

With a federal election approaching, Canadians are bracing for an uptick in political chatter on social media. So are university researchers from around the world.

Sep 18, 2019

Gregg Gardner, the Diamond Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics, pauses during a dig with student Maya Porebska-Smith at an archeological field school at Horvat Midras, Israel, in 2018.

Diamond Foundation donates $1M to support Jewish studies at UBC

A $1 million donation from the Diamond Foundation to the University of British Columbia will expand Jewish studies programming in the classroom and beyond the UBC campus.

Sep 17, 2019

Beyond Meat's Beyond Burger as seen in a grocery store.

Beyond Meat elevates veggie burgers’ taste, but what about nutrition?

California-based Beyond Meat calls its Beyond Burger and other vegan ‘meat’ products the future of protein. We asked registered dietitian Gail Hammond of UBC’s faculty of land and food systems about the nutrition consumers are getting from the Beyond Burger and its competitors.

Sep 13, 2019

UBC experts on vaping concerns

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified more than 450 possible cases of lung disease associated with vaping, spanning 33 states.

Sep 11, 2019

UBC experts on Canadian federal election

UBC experts are available to comment on election issues.

Sep 11, 2019

Having the freedom to move around their neighbourhoods on their own helps give children the confidence they need to navigate the world.

Benefits of letting children run free far outweigh the risks

This physical inactivity crisis owes a lot to the decline in children’s independent mobility, which is the subject of a new documentary called Running Free: Children’s Independent Mobility from UBC’s school of kinesiology.

Sep 10, 2019

UBC experts on U.K. political upheaval

Political uncertainty continues in the U.K., with the British prime minister’s own MPs voting against him in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Sep 4, 2019

Canadian children’s diet quality during school hours improves over 11-year period

Surveys taken 11 years apart show a 13 per cent improvement in the quality of foods consumed by Canadian children during school hours, a new University of B.C. study has found.

Aug 26, 2019

Hiring committees that don’t believe in gender bias promote fewer women

Is gender bias in hiring really a thing? Opinions vary, but a new study by a UBC psychologist and researchers in France reveals that hiring committees who denied it’s a problem were less likely to promote women.

Aug 26, 2019

UBC experts on B.C. teachers and provincial government bargaining

Today, the B.C. Teachers Federation — which represents 43,000 teachers — will meet with the provincial government for eight days of mediation in an effort to determine a new collective agreement.

Aug 21, 2019

UBC experts on back-to-school season

UBC experts are available to comment on various school- and education-related topics as children and families begin another school year.

Aug 20, 2019

UBC experts on Hong Kong protests, mass shootings, SNC-Lavalin

The federal ethics commissioner says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contravened a section of the Conflict of Interest Act by pressuring former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

Aug 15, 2019

UBC experts on ethics commissioner’s report on SNC-Lavalin

Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said today that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contravened a section of the Conflict of Interest Act by pressuring former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. UBC experts are available to comment.

Aug 14, 2019

A Guide for the Naive Homosexual, a 1971 pamphlet authored by Vancouverite Roedy Green, which invites interested Vancouver visitors to come over to the author’s address for a cup of tea and a chat.

Secret love letters and languages: UBC exhibit offers Pride Week history lesson

As love notes go, this one might seem rather ordinary: “My beloved darling, I never forget you. I think about you every day.” But what if you found out it was a secret message from 1902 in France, written in code between two women?

Jul 29, 2019

Boris Johnson will be Britain's next prime minister. Credit: Flickr/Foreign Office

UBC experts on Boris Johnson becoming U.K.’s next prime minister

Boris Johnson will replace Theresa May as prime minister after winning the Conservative Party leadership on Tuesday. UBC experts are available to comment.

Jul 23, 2019

The study found that farmers in areas with greater biodiversity took less of an income hit from droughts than their peers who farmed amid less biodiversity. Credit: Sandy Zebua

Natural biodiversity protects rural farmers’ incomes from tropical weather shocks

A big data study covering more than 7,500 households across 23 tropical countries shows that natural biodiversity could be effective insurance for rural farmers against drought and other weather-related shocks.

Jun 27, 2019

Music students do better in school than non-musical peers

High school students who take music courses score significantly better on math, science and English exams than their non-musical peers, according to a new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Jun 24, 2019