Brandon University Research

10/09/2026

What does it mean for a democracy to be resilient, and what are we "bouncing back" to? In this episode of Illumination, BU Research's podcast, host Dr. Bernadette Ardelli (Vice-President, Research & Graduate Studies) brings together three Brandon University researchers from political science, sociology, and music to think openly across disciplines about democratic and community resilience.

The conversation explores how communities, institutions, and civic culture shape democratic life. It considers whether resilience means stability or transformation, what pressures democratic systems face today, why trust matters, how disagreement can strengthen democracy, and what role universities can play in supporting it all.

Guests
Dr. Allison McCulloch, Professor, Political Science
Dr. Leon Laidlaw, Assistant Professor, Sociology
Dr. Leanne Zacharias, Dean of Music

Illumination is a podcast from Brandon University. Each episode brings a small group of researchers together to explore a single shared topic, not to present findings or debate, but to think together across disciplines and ways of knowing.

This video was made possible through the Research Support Fund

What does it mean for a democracy to be resilient, and what are we ...

10/08/2026

09/24/2026

https://news.brandonu.ca/2026/09/24/bu-researcher-joins-national-study-on-academic-integrity-and-ai-in-first-year-university-classrooms/

Dr. Gustavo Moura, Director of BU Cares at Brandon University, is part of a national research team that has received $84,600 from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant to study how first-year university students are using tools like ChatGPT and Google Ge...

09/15/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Michelle Lam, selected as a delegate for Science Meets Parliament 2026!

Dr. Lam is a Canada Research Chair in Rural Community-Based Education for Reconciliation and a faculty member in Brandon University's Curriculum and Pedagogy Department. Her work spans community education, rural immigration, identity, anti-racism, and social justice, including projects like the Umbay Nagamon reconciliation circles with Mountain View School Division and anti-racist education video series developed from a survey of 500 Manitobans.

Presented by the Canadian Science Policy Centre and the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, Science Meets Parliament brings emerging research leaders from across Canada to Ottawa for direct dialogue with Parliamentarians. Delegates take part in workshops on science communication and evidence-based policymaking, meet with MPs, senators, and the Chief Science Advisor, observe House and Senate committees, and attend Question Period, in the name of building stronger connections between the scientific and political communities.

Dr. Lam joins a select group of roughly 40 researchers from across the country heading to Parliament Hill this November as part of the program's 6th edition, a fantastic opportunity to bring BU's community-based, reconciliation-focused research to a national policy audience.

Learn more:

The Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC) and the Office of the Chief Science Advisor (OCSA) are pleased to announce the 6th edition of Science Meets Parliament. This program is scheduled to take place in Ottawa November 23-24, 2026, subject to Parliament being in session. Apply Now The deadline

09/15/2026

Dr. Jonathan Allan, former Canada Research Chair in Men and Masculinities, was quoted in this article by Kevin Lincoln in GQ magazine. Dr. Allan's research focuses on men's bodies, sexualities, and reproductive health, and his book Uncut: A Cultural Analysis of the Fo****in traces the cultural and historical meaning behind circumcision, from Renaissance art to today's parenting debates, making him one of the world's leading experts on the subject.

Read the full piece here:

For the first time in a century, nearly less than half of parents are circumcising their newborns. New dad Kevin Lincoln investigates how America’s favorite elective surgery became as debated as childhood vaccines—and considers his own decision.

09/15/2026

As part of the Research Week at Brandon University, we are talking to the three research centers' directors - Dr. Wayne Kelly (Rural Development Institute - RDI), Dr. Gustavo Moura (Centre for Applied Research and Education in Indigenous, Rural and Remote Settings - CARES), and Tracy Young (Centre for Critical Studies of Rural Mental Health - CCSRMH).

On this second episode, we learn more about BU CARES as Dr. Moura shares some insights on how students, faculty, and community can support education research.

Check out BU CARES on https://www.bucares.ca/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJuIwXa810E

As part of the Research Week at Brandon University, we are talking ...

09/14/2026

As part of the Research Week at Brandon University, we are talking to the three research centers' directors - Dr. Wayne Kelly (Rural Development Institute - RDI), Dr. Gustavo Moura (Centre for Applied Research and Education in Indigenous, Rural and Remote Settings - CARES), and Tracy Young (Centre for Critical Studies of Rural Mental Health - CCSRMH).

On this first episode, we learn more about RDI as Dr. Kelly talks about the importance of rurality in community development, community building, and belonging.

As part of the Research Week at Brandon University, we are talking ...

09/02/2026

https://newbooksnetwork.com/ps-burn-after-reading

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08/19/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Susan Chang Su, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Brandon University, on a highly productive faculty mobility visit to the University of Guadalajara in Mexico this spring, supported by the Global Affair Award for Faculty Mobility Building Partnership Program.

Over several weeks, Dr. Chang Su engaged with faculty, students, and researchers across multiple University of Guadalajara campuses, including the University Centre for Health Sciences (CUCS), the campus of Economics and Administration (CUCEA), CUCosta in Puerto Vallarta, CUVALLES, and CULagos. Her visit included research presentations on cross-cultural perfectionism, anxiety, and depression in undergraduate students; the mental health of immigrant mothers of children with developmental disabilities; and employee mental health during COVID-19 through the lens of mattering theory.

She also met with faculty across applied psychology, health sciences, and graduate studies programs to explore future research collaborations, several of which are already taking shape.

This kind of international exchange strengthens BU's research partnerships and opens new doors for cross-cultural collaboration in psychology and mental health research.

08/06/2026

https://news.brandonu.ca/2026/08/06/brandon-university-researcher-contributes-to-national-sshrc-insight-grant-project-on-care-vulnerability-and-francophone-literature/

Brandon University researcher Dr. Dominique Hétu is a co-investigator on a nationally funded research initiative examining how Francophone literature represents care, vulnerability, and human dignity, and how these narratives create space for historically marginalized voices. Dr. Hétu, Associate P...