College of Arts and Science welcomes 15 new faculty members

This story has been updated to include two additional faculty members.

Genome evolution, the consequences of crime, the effects of aging on memory and the history of the Métis: these are a few of the research specialties of new faculty members joining the College of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan this year.

Fifteen scholars, researchers and artists have accepted permanent or long-term appointments in eight College of Arts and Science departments in the 2020/21 academic year.

Katherine Collins

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

Dr. Katherine Collins (PhD) graduated from the University of Ottawa with a doctorate in experimental social psychology. She believes that researchers have a responsibility to conduct research that is relevant to socio-cultural issues. Her research centers around issues of language, culture and identity.

Maggie FitzGerald

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Studies

Dr. Maggie FitzGerald (PhD) engages two related areas through her research program. The first focuses on global ethics and international political theory with an emphasis on decolonial ethics, normative and critical international relations theory, and feminist political economy. Her second research strand centres on governing norms and the ways in which institutions and governments are (co)constitutive of values. Linking these two areas of research are feminist political theory and feminist ethics, and particularly the ethics of care.

Jan Gelech

Lecturer, Department of Psychology

Dr. Jan Gelech (PhD) is a graduate of the psychology doctoral program (culture, health and human development stream) at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research interests centre on themes of disability, identity, sexuality, culture and family. She is currently working on a community-based research team exploring the lives of Indigenous families that include children with disabilities and a project on parent-adult child coresidency.

Angela Jaime

Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies

Vice-Dean Indigenous, College of Arts and Science

In her current research and scholarship, Dr. Angela Jaime (PhD) interrogates stereotypes and generalizations of race, culture and gender within education and Indigenous studies. She also promotes social justice through the examination and interrogation of systems of oppression, discrimination and ongoing assimilation of people of color in higher education. She is a member of the Pit River and Valley Maidu Tribes of Northern California and received her PhD (curriculum and instruction, curriculum studies) from Purdue University.

Lingling Jin

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science

In her research, Dr. Lingling Jin (PhD) focuses on computational modelling and prediction of genome evolution through novel approaches based on transposable elements in a single genome, and through reconstruction of ancestral karyotype of extant species. She received her PhD in computer science from the University of Saskatchewan. Jin will be joining the Bioinformatics Lab in the Department of Computer Science.

Timothy Kang

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology

Dr. Timothy Kang (PhD) obtained his doctorate in sociology from the University of Toronto. His research interests are understanding the causes and consequences of crime and contact with the criminal justice system, and how these connect over the life-course.

Martin Kohlberger

Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics

Dr. Martin Kohlberger (PhD) studies linguistic diversity, language contact and language change, especially in the context of South American Indigenous languages. He defended his doctoral dissertation (“A Grammatical Description of Shiwiar”) in 2020 at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Jeffrey Long

Lecturer, Department of Computer Science

Dr. Jeff Long (PhD) obtained his doctorate from the University of Alberta. His research background is in artificial intelligence and creating computer players for traditional games of skill and hidden information. He is also an award-winning teacher in the Department of Computer Science, where he is known as “the Cookie Monster guy” due to the stuffed furry toys that invariably accompany him to his classes.

Randy Morin

Assistant Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies

Randy Morin is from the Big River First Nation on Treaty 6 territory. His western education includes a master’s degree in Indigenous language revitalization from the University of Victoria, while his Cree education consists of a lifetime of traditional Plains Cree teachings. He is an oskāpēwis (Helper) for many people in and around the community and a strong advocate and supporter of teaching the Cree language and culture.

Pierre-François Noppen

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy

Areas of research interest for Dr. Pierre-François Noppen (PhD) include social and political philosophy and the history of European philosophy, with a focus on German social philosophy. He received his PhD from Paris-Sorbonne University in France.

James Reichert

Lecturer, Department of Psychology

Dr. James Reichert (PhD) received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Saskatchewan in 2011. Since then, he has worked as a psychology instructor at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, and as an assistant professor at St. Francis Xavier University. His research interests involve the study of spatial memory in animals and people, and the effects that aging has on the memory process.

Allyson Stevenson

Assistant Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies

Gabriel Dumont Research Chair in Métis Studies

Dr. Allyson Stevenson (PhD) received her doctorate in history from the University of Saskatchewan. Her previous research focused on the Sixties Scoop and the emergence of the Adopt Indian and Métis program. Her book, Intimate Integration: A History of the Sixties Scoop will be published in October 2020 by University of Toronto Press. Her current research interest involves examining the history of the Métis peoples in the 20^th century.

Sherri Swidrovich

Lecturer, Department of Indigenous Studies

Sherri Swidrovich is a First Nations woman and member of Yellow Quill First Nation in Saskatchewan. She is a survivor of the Sixties Scoop and grew up in the foster care system. Swidrovich received her formal education at the University of Saskatchewan, including a master’s degree from the Department of Indigenous Studies. She has spent many years as a sessional lecturer and online facilitator, as well as engaging in class development for the Department of Indigenous Studies. Swidrovich has also taught and served in the Student Academic Centre at First Nations University of Canada.

Deneh'Cho Thompson

Assistant Professor, Department of Drama

Deneh’Cho Thompson is a Dene director, actor, playwright and member of the Pehdzeh ki Nation whose research focuses on the development, naming and centring of Indigenous acting pedagogy and Indigenous dramaturgies. His artistic practice focuses on new play development and Indigenous collaborations while centering the values of reciprocity, respect and reflexivity. He will oversee the wîcêhtowin Theatre Program in the Department of Drama.

Katherine Walker

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Studies

Kathy Walker is nehiyaw from the Okanese First Nation in Treaty 4 territory. Her research is informed by broad work experience in the fields of communications, business and Indigenous policy, and program development. She is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of British Columbia. Walker’s research focuses on the political implications of the intersection of spirituality, gender and land from Cree and Indigenous knowledge systems.

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