Ringers

Linda Dryden has been re-elected chair of UVic’s board of governors. Dryden, a registered nurse, holds a public health nursing diploma from the University of Western Ontario, a diploma in public sector management from UVic, and an MSc in health administration from the University of Colorado. The board’s vice chair is Eric Donald, a UVic alumnus (economics, ’69) and retired banker.

Two UVic faculty members were among the “25 Power Thinkers” lauded in the June 2002 issue of B.C. Business magazine. In the article the magazine sought out ‘focused and directed’ thinkers, listed the reasons they landed on the list and asked each individual when or where they did their best thinking. Dr. Andrew Weaver (earth and ocean sciences) said his best thinking came from “the stimulation of conversation with others” and also just after his kids are asleep and he can rehash ideas. Dr. Harold Coward (retired director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society) said he does his best thinking “every day, seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.” when he goes into his home office and writes, and it may take an entire week to develop two sentences.

Dr. Hossein Nassaji, who recently joined the linguistics department, has been awarded the 21st annual Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize by the Modern Language Association of America. The prize is awarded annually for the best research publication in the field of teaching foreign languages and literature. The prize-winning article, “What’s the Use of Triadic Dialogue?: An Investigation of Teacher-Student Interaction,” was co-authored by Nassaji and Gordon Wells of the University of California, Santa Cruz. It appeared in the journal Applied Linguistics. Triadic dialogue is a method commonly used in the analysis of classroom discourse and involves the three components of initiation, response and follow-up.

Professor emeritus Dr. Marie Campbell has co-authored a book about institutional ethnography—a distinctive methodological approach inspired by one of Canada’s most respected scholars, UVic sociology professor Dr. Dorothy Smith. In Mapping Social Relations: A Primer in Doing Institutional Ethnography Campbell and co-author Dr. Frances Gregor, an associate professor in Dalhousie University’s school of nursing, suggest that institutional ethnographers must adopt a research stance that recognizes that people’s own knowledge and ways of knowing are crucial elements for social action and social analysis.

Dr. Mandeep Dhami, a postdoctoral fellow in the psychology department, has won first prize in the 2001-02 SPSSI Social Issues Dissertation Awards from division nine of the American Psychological Association for her PhD thesis entitled “Bailing and Jailing the Fast and Frugal Way: An Application of Social Judgement Theory and Simple Heuristics to English Magistrates’ Remand Decisions.” Her research demonstrates how science, policy and social issues can be successfully integrated.

The following appointments have been approved by the board of governors: James Anglin, director of the school of child and youth care, for a three-year term; Dr. Nedjib Djilali, part-time director of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems for a five year term; and Dr. Ben Koop, director of the Centre for Biomedical Research (previously the Centre for Environmental Health) for a two-year term. All appointments took effect July 1.

Geography professor Dr. Philip Dearden has edited a book compiled of a selection of papers presented at an academic roundtable on the environment in Thailand, as well as some previously unpublished papers from Thai graduate students. Environmental Protection and Rural Development in Thailand is the 11th publication in a series of studies of contemporary Thailand. “Graduate theses are not easy to access in Thailand, [and] this valuable resource rarely finds its way into scientific journals, often due to the added stress for Thai students in re-writing the thesis to international English standards,” says Dearden. He hopes the book will make current Thai environmental research more easily accessible. UVic has been involved in numerous research and exchange partnerships with Thailand for 15 years.