Faculty of Social Science at Western University

For generations, stories, knowledge and cultural traditions have been carried through the voices, memories and lived experiences of communities. Today, those stories have a new digital home.

We're proud to celebrate Professor and Chair Lisa Hodgetts from Western University's Faculty of Social Science, whose collaborative research partnership has reached an extraordinary milestone with the launch of the Inuvialuit Living History Project website.

Developed over nine years through a community-led partnership, the project was created alongside the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre, Inuvialuit Communications Society, Simon Fraser University, Ursus Heritage, Parks Canada, and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, with support from two SSHRC Insight Grants.

Rather than telling the story of the Inuvialuit people, the project ensures those stories are shared by the Inuvialuit themselves.

Working as facilitators, Professor Hodgetts and co-project director Natasha Lyons collaborated closely with Cultural Centre staff, Elders and community members from across the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, following their guidance every step of the way. The result is a rich digital resource that celebrates Inuvialuit history, culture and identity from an Inuvialuit perspective.

The website brings together an incredible collection of community-created materials, including videos, photographs, oral histories, audio recordings and historical documents. It also reconnects ancestral belongings housed in museums around the world with the communities and landscapes they came from through an interactive digital map, helping restore important cultural relationships across time and place.

This project is a powerful example of what research can achieve when it is built on trust, respect, long-term collaboration and community leadership. It demonstrates how universities and communities can work together to preserve cultural heritage while making it accessible for future generations.

Congratulations to Professor Lisa Hodgetts and all of the partners whose dedication, knowledge and collaboration made this remarkable achievement possible.

🌐 Explore the Inuvialuit Living History Project: https://inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/
📺 CBC coverage: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7265236
▶️ Inuvialuit Communications Society coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5t0JapWeU

🤫 Okay... we’re opening the files.

Welcome to Social Science Confessions — where we admit the things we probably shouldn't admit.

The forgotten assignments.
The "I'll start tomorrow" promises.
The suspicious amount of time spent making notes look pretty.

Be honest: did you feel a little too seen? 👀

If you've got a confession of your own, feel free to share it with us by DM.

No names. No judgment. Just tell us what happened. 🤫

And who knows... your confession might make it into a future edition.

Meet Our Students: Celebrating Success Stories – Toni Gunton

Toni Gunton, a Bachelor of Arts student in Criminology (3-year program), has turned her passion for justice and the law into a meaningful academic journey at Western University.

From the beginning, Toni was driven by a desire to understand inequality, crime, and the justice system. “In high school, I developed a strong interest in justice and the law,” she shares. “I wanted to better understand inequality, crime, and the factors that shape our justice system.”

Throughout her studies, Toni built strong critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills through the Faculty of Social Science. She emphasizes that one of her biggest takeaways was learning how to evaluate complex ideas rather than simply memorizing content.

A key part of her journey was the support she received through academic advising. During her third year, her advisor helped her carefully review her academic plan and guided her through an important decision about her degree path, giving her confidence in her next steps.

Toni also participated in the Social Science Co-op Program, which allowed her to gain real-world experience while continuing to connect her academic learning to workplace skills.

Beyond the classroom, she took on leadership roles as AVP Internal on the Social Science Student Council and as Wellness Equity Outreach Director with the University Students’ Council, where she supported accessibility and inclusion initiatives.

Her achievements include acceptance to Western Law and receiving the Gold Medal Award for the highest academic standing in her program.

Read her full story here:
https://www.ssc.uwo.ca/meetourstars/celebrating_student_stories_toni_gunton.html

Canada's population is changing—and Western students are helping shape the conversation about what comes next.

As Canada experiences its first recorded annual population decline, researchers are facing an important challenge: how can governments make informed decisions when population and immigration data often arrives years after policies have already changed?

This summer, two outstanding Faculty of Social Science undergraduate students, Aphrodite Podonis and Beniamin Kowal, are working alongside sociology professor Michael Haan through Western University's Undergraduate Summer Research Internships (USRI) program to help answer that question.

Their research is contributing to an ambitious initiative that aims to strengthen Canada's understanding of migration and population trends by building better evidence systems to support smarter immigration policies. The goal is not only to understand who comes to Canada and why they stay, but also how communities—particularly smaller municipalities—can attract and retain newcomers to strengthen local economies and address workforce shortages.

For Aphrodite, the project is deeply personal. This summer she will travel to Greece, where she will interview migration scholars, policymakers and non-governmental organizations to learn from one of the world's most experienced countries in documenting migration. Inspired by her own family's immigration journey from Greece to Canada, she hopes to bring valuable insights back to help improve Canada's immigration research.

Beniamin's story is equally inspiring. Drawing from his Polish-Canadian family history, he is combining sociology with cutting-edge technology by learning web scraping techniques through the University of Essex in the U.K. His work will help researchers gather publicly available information more efficiently, reducing delays and creating a clearer picture of migration trends without identifying individuals.

Their experiences highlight what makes undergraduate research at Western so impactful. Through the USRI program, students don't simply observe research—they become active contributors to projects with the potential to influence public policy, support communities across Canada and create meaningful change.

Research isn't just happening in graduate school. At Western, undergraduate students are already making a difference by asking important questions, embracing innovative technologies and helping build solutions for the future.

Read the full story:
https://news.westernu.ca/2026/08/usri-students-population-research/

We've all been there.

Whether you've survived an all-nighter, sprinted across campus to make it to class, or been stopped in your tracks by one of Western's famous geese, some Social Science experiences are practically a rite of passage.

How many squares can you check off on our Social Science Bingo card?

Tell us your score in the comments (1–16), and tag a classmate who would definitely get Bingo.

Think we missed one? Share your best Social Science experience—we may include it in the next edition!

Groundbreaking research starts with bold questions—and we're proud to see one of our own helping answer them.

🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Lindsay Bodell, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western University's Faculty of Social Science, on receiving funding through the latest Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant competition.

Dr. Bodell's research project, "Using High-Resolution Ecological Momentary Assessment to Measure Subjective Reward Responses and Emotions during Binge Eating," will explore the emotional and psychological experiences that occur during binge eating in real time. By gaining a deeper understanding of these experiences, this research has the potential to improve how eating disorders are understood, assessed and treated, ultimately helping shape better mental health outcomes for individuals and families.

Dr. Bodell is one of 17 Western researchers whose projects received support through this year's CIHR Project Grant competition, bringing nearly $16.3 million in federal research funding to Western University. The funded projects span biomedical, clinical and population health research, advancing discoveries that have the potential to improve lives across Canada.

Research like this demonstrates the vital role psychology plays in addressing complex health challenges. We are proud to celebrate Dr. Bodell's contribution to innovative, evidence-based research that is making a meaningful impact on health and well-being.

Congratulations, Dr. Bodell! 👏

Read more: https://news.westernu.ca/2026/08/western-cihr-project-grant-funding-2026/