Arts and Humanities

Helping healthcare workers and local restaurants with one clever idea

UBC international economics student Patrisse Chan has created an online platform that allows Canadians to buy a meal from a local restaurant and have it delivered to staff at a hospital or care home.

May 21, 2020

UBC expert on basic income as a COVID-19 response

COVID-19 has created renewed interest in the idea of a basic income in Canada, but many questions exist about its feasibility, design, and implementation.

May 21, 2020

Second-year law student Kiera Stel works at the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic in downtown Vancouver in February, before the COVID-19 crisis began. Stel and her classmates have continued to serve clients remotely. Credit: Paul Joseph/UBC

UBC law students take extraordinary steps to continue pro bono legal work during outbreak

COVID-19 threatened to end the most valuable work experience 10 UBC law students have ever had.

May 20, 2020

Mai Eagle Speaker. Credit: Paul Joseph/UBC

Indigenous Community Legal Clinic creates change, one file and one student at a time

Eagle Speaker’s sister— little Mya’s mother—was not well, gripped by addiction and the street life of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She turned to the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic for help.

May 19, 2020

UBC economists create tool to measure COVID-19 risk in B.C. jobs

Researchers at the Vancouver School of Economics have created a novel tool to assess the risks and benefits of reopening different sectors of British Columbia’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 19, 2020

How COVID-19 has impacted religious practices

We spoke with UBC anthropology professor Sabina Magliocco, who chairs UBC’s interdisciplinary program in the study of religion, about how COVID-19 is impacting religiosity now, and potentially for the long term.

May 7, 2020

Experts call for more equitable housing policy post-COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, it’s highlighting unique pressures on certain groups like Canada’s seniors, Indigenous communities, and people experiencing homelessness.

Apr 28, 2020

Ava Katz picks up hot meals from the kitchen of the Louis Brier Home in Kerrisdale for delivery to another group home as part of her volunteer work with the Beth Israel Jewish Synagogue. Credit: Paul Joseph/UBC

Kinesiology student squeezes seniors’ errands in between exams

First-year kinesiology student Ava Katz is helping seniors and those who are self-isolating get their groceries and prescriptions — and it all started with a Facebook post.

Apr 27, 2020

We spoke with Bryan Gick, a speech scientist with UBC Language Sciences, about what’s been on his mind since the Prime Minister went viral. Credit: Unsplash

Why ‘speaking moistly’ needs to be taken seriously

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave us all a much-needed laugh when he awkwardly used the phrase “speaking moistly” in response to a recent question about wearing masks.

Apr 17, 2020

Social Distancing in Madison Square by Eden, Janine and Jim from New York City is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The social psychologist’s guide to making people stay home

Relying on people to do the right thing has never been an airtight strategy. Nonetheless, the choices made by individuals will likely have a greater impact than anything else on the success of our response to COVID-19.

Apr 15, 2020

UBC experts on 2020 U.S. presidential election

Bernie Sanders has ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the U.S., leaving incumbent Donald Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden to run for the presidency in November. UBC experts are available to comment.

Apr 8, 2020

Ergonomics is about fitting the task or the work to the person doing the work. Credit: Samule Sun/Unsplash

How to stay comfortable and prevent injury when working from home

Abigail Oveduin leads the ergonomics program for UBC Human Resources, where she is tasked with keeping 16,000 faculty and staff comfortable, productive and injury-free. We asked her what people can do to bring ergonomics into their homes.

Apr 7, 2020

UBC experts on what to read when you’re stuck at home

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced a lot of us out of the daily grind, leaving us with time to re-discover leisurely reading. Fortunately, UBC experts in creative writing and English literature read a lot of books.

Mar 26, 2020

How globalization stoked fear of disease during the Romantic era

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the word “communication” had several meanings. People used it to talk about both media and the spread of disease, as we do today, but also to describe transport—via carriages, canals and shipping.

Mar 25, 2020

UBC health psychologists Anita DeLongis and Nancy Sin have launched a new study that will explore the effects of coronavirus on our mental and physical health. Credit: Iz zy/Unsplash

UBC psychology study to examine how people worldwide cope with COVID-19 outbreak

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted everyone in Canada and around the world. Health officials are asking people to practice social distancing to slow the spread of the virus, and this unprecedented series of events has dramatically changed our social landscape.

Mar 20, 2020

Why we need to live in social quilts, not echo chambers in times of COVID-19

Fake news is a growing phenomenon, and its impact on people, politics and public health, seems greater than ever before. With the advent of social media, misinformation about COVID-19, can reach huge audiences and circulate very quickly.

Mar 19, 2020

Meet the UBC master’s grad who watched Cats four times—all in the name of scholarship

This Saturday, the 40th annual Golden Raspberry Awards, or the Razzies, will honour the worst films of 2019. Jared Aronoff wrote his master’s thesis on bad cinema to earn an M.A. in cinema and media studies from UBC’s department of theatre and film.

Mar 11, 2020

UBC experts on International Women’s Day

UBC experts are available to comment on topics related to International Women’s Day.

Mar 5, 2020

UBC News spoke with Heidi Tworek about the complicated history of race and disease. Credit: Unsplash

When a virus is the cause, racism is often the symptom

A virus is a virus, but humans have a long history of turning their fear of disease into unwarranted panic about people and places.

Feb 25, 2020

Smelling your lover’s shirt could improve your sleep

The scent of a romantic partner can improve sleep, suggests new psychology research from the University of British Columbia.

Feb 13, 2020