Something's Happening Here
Campus News
Saint Mary’s University is named a top 3 Canadian undergraduate university by Maclean’s
For the second consecutive year, Saint Mary's University has been ranked third in the nation among the Best Primarily Undergraduate Universities in the annual Maclean’s university rankings. The ranking also affirms Saint Mary’s position as the top-ranked primarily undergraduate university in Nova Scotia for the third year in a row.
"I am delighted that Saint Mary's University is again being recognized as a leading institution in our region and in Canada,” says Saint Mary's University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. "We will continue to create the space for possibility for our students, offering our distinctive combination of access to world-class academics and research within an incredibly supportive and vibrant community.”
Academic Advancements
The start of the 2023-24 academic year at Saint Mary's was marked by an atmosphere of rejuvenation and innovation. The Sobey School of Business unveiled its renewed Bachelor of Commerce curriculum, and the Faculty of Arts officially introduced its latest major in Public Humanities and Heritage. Dive into the details to discover more about these noteworthy academic strides.
Business, not as usual
The Sobey School of Business renews its BComm curriculum.
Watch to learn more about the renewed Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) degree
After extensive consultation with students, alumni, business leaders and entrepreneurs, the Sobey School of Business introduced new core courses for the Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) degree. The new curriculum will integrate classes on sustainability, entrepreneurship and operations management. These curriculum additions to the BComm program build on the strong foundations the Sobey School of Business is already known for, such as management, finance and accounting.
"Business is constantly changing, and we have adapted our curriculum to respond to demands from industry and students alike," says Interim Dean Mark Raymond. "Today's students are extremely conscientious and mindful of their place in the world. Here, students learn the fundamentals of good business as well as how to do business for good."
The renewed BComm aims to provide greater opportunities for students like Adrianna Timmons, who will join the workforce in the coming years. Timmons learned about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in her first-year classes and then travelled with her professors to New York to speak at an international conference supported by the United Nations. She is planning a new student society in Halifax to promote sustainable business practices.
"It was eye-opening. There were people from institutions around the world, all dedicated to making a change and developing groundbreaking tools, everything from software to management practices. It really gives me hope for the future."
One of the most unique aspects of the Sobey School of Business BComm program is the extent of customization and flexibility. There is the option to participate in the co-op program, international learning experiences and students can choose majors and minors relevant to them such as marketing, economics and entrepreneurship, integrating elective courses from Arts and Science in everything from Indigenous culture to computing science. The result is a contemporary program that provides students with knowledge and skills to positively impact people, organizations and the planet.
The Sobey School of Business is one of the most highly respected business schools in Canada, one of only seven business schools in Canada and the only school in Atlantic Canada to be awarded accreditation with AACSB and EQUIS–global organizations that conduct rigorous quality reviews of business schools around the world.
Stepping out of the classroom and into history
The new Public Humanities and Heritage major helps students connect with organizations that preserve and present history.
After years of developing and piloting new courses, the Faculty of Arts was thrilled to launch its latest major in the fall of 2023, focused on Public Humanities and Heritage.
The new major offers students a foundational understanding of theory and practice in the core areas of public humanities (archaeology, archive and museum studies, public history, tourism, digital humanities and collections management). Whether in the classroom or field placements, the major aims to provide students with valuable critical thinking, research and writing skills and meaningful historical and cultural literacy.
As one program of only a handful in North America, a unique component of the major is its close ties to industry. Through field placements, students and faculty in the History department work closely with organizations to research and preserve histories. This collaboration between Saint Mary's and industry creates a win-win scenario where expertise, knowledge and hands-on historical learning are applied to have a meaningful impact.
Watch to learn more about the new Public Humanities and Heritage major
In the summer of 2022, Dr. Kirrily Freeman and students in the piloted field placement course supported the Association of Nova Scotia Museums (ANSM) in their work to reconnect material culture housed in museums with their respective cultural communities. A vital part of this work was to help de-colonialize the telling of history across the province. With ANSM, Freeman and students travelled around Nova Scotia to facilitate sessions with cultural groups to listen, learn and discuss how Nova Scotia's museums can correct improperly told histories and work with these groups to tell accurate stories moving forward.
"Restitution of cultural items is a very important issue right now," says Freeman. "Our priority is to make sure that African Nova Scotian, Gaelic, Acadian and Mi'kmaq communities have access to the material culture from their communities that are in our museums. We all benefit from having a fuller, more complete, nuanced, and more comprehensive representation of our past."
For many students like Naomi Kent, this major is helping to broaden her worldview and understanding of why cultural groups must be part of the conversation and presentation of history.
"There's a bigger picture to be told with the artifacts that are in Nova Scotia's collections," says Kent.
Over the past summer, the Public Humanities and Heritage major has supported student field placements at The Loyalist Connections Podcast (which is produced by two Saint Mary's alumni), Municipal Archives, Dartmouth Heritage Museum, Shearwater Aviation Museum, Fort Point Lighthouse in Liverpool, NS Sport Hall of Fame, Ottawa House Museum, Army Museum at the Citadel.
The Public Humanities and Heritage major includes various courses from multiple disciplines in the Faculty of Arts. It prioritizes experiential learning, including placements in museums, archives and heritage sites. Students may major in Public Humanities and Heritage or add it as a second major.
New partnership will support diverse student entrepreneurs
Participants celebrating the first Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) event and the generous gift by TD Bank Group
The Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre at Saint Mary’s University is pleased to announce the launch of the TD Entrepreneurship Inclusion Initiative, which was made possible through the generous gift of $200,000 by the TD Bank Group. This two-year pilot is designed to amplify the support of diverse student entrepreneurs, advance the entrepreneurial mindset and innovate business models.
Michael Sanderson, Director of the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre said, “The TD Entrepreneurship Inclusion Initiative is a significant milestone for our students and the broader entrepreneurial community. This initiative represents an important step towards creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for our students and aspiring entrepreneurs. It aligns perfectly with our mission to foster innovation, diversity and excellence in the entrepreneurial community.”
Renowned author Kim Thúy honoured at Fall convocation
Kim Thúy
Author Kim Thúy received an honorary Doctor of Letters at the university’s Fall convocation. At the ceremony, Thúy shared stories of her family’s arrival to Canada from Vietnam by boat, and the kindness that has helped shape her success. The Vietnamese author has made a significant impact on Canadian literature. Her novel Ru — which translates as "lullaby" in Vietnamese — won the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award and was shortlisted for the New Academy Prize in Literature.
Student team introduces the future of retail with new robot
L-R, Mohammad Rahimipour MSc in Applied Science; Professor Adel Merabet; Lucas Orychock first-year Diploma of Engineering; Uzair Tahir MSc in Applied Science; Abhishek Vijayakumar Latha MSc in Computing and Data Analytics; Francis Kuzhippallil MSc Computing and Data Analytics.
A retail robot has been built by a team of students working with Dr. Adel Merabet. Students from the Masters of Applied Science, Computing and Data Analytics, and Engineering programs have worked together to design a robot that uses machine learning and AI to collect data on customer buying habits and track store shelves, allowing retailers to improve inventory management.
The Saint Mary’s robot is the brainchild of the university’s David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services. It’s just one of several technology-based innovations currently being pioneered at the Centre, all designed to transform our everyday shopping experience.
Saint Mary’s Professor examines virus spread in Nova Scotia
Dr. Yigit Aydede
Understanding how influenza and other viruses such as COVID-19 migrate from one community to the next is key to predicting where disease will spread and determining how to curtail its progress. An article by Saint Mary’s University’s Dr. Yigit Aydede and Jan Ditzen, Free University of Bolzano, published in Scientific Reports unveils a new methodology, one that may assist health officials to both predict where viruses will spread and target interventions to halt them.
The study is hailed by the journal’s editors as the first epidemiological study of its kind because it combines data concerning geographical or spatial spread with temporal spread (incidents over time), as opposed to more common epidemiological studies which examine temporal spread alone.
Impact and inspiration: students attend Michelle Obama talk
Students attend the Michelle Obama pre-event at Saint Mary’s
A diverse group of 200 Saint Mary’s students had the opportunity to attend A Conversation with Michelle Obama, thanks to tickets provided by Chancellor Michael J. Durland BComm'87 DComm'10, former Chancellor Robert P. Kelly BComm'75 DComm'97 and Daniel J. McCarthy BComm'76 DComm'11. The attendees were selected based on nominations from academic Deans, Athletics, Student Affairs and Services, the President's office, the Students' Association and other university departments.
