TEACHING

 


 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR STUDENTS REQUESTING TO GET INTO MY CLASSES

I cannot consider or respond to requests to force register you into one of my classes or put you on a waitlist. In past years I recieved several hundred such requests, and it is impossible to respond to each one individually. There is no waitlist, but inevitably spots open up the first week or two of the semester, as some students enrol in more classes than they want, and drop a class or two, or realize that the timing of a class inteferes with another obligation. It is your job to monitor classes you want and act quickly when an opening appears. I hope this doesn't sound negative; I wish everyone could get into all the classes they'd like to attend. I hope you find classes that broaden your horizons and have a meaningful impact on your life. I only write letters of recommendation for students who take my advanced PSYO480N course, or work with me as an honours student, paid research assistant, or volunteer in my lab. By the way, I love hearing from former students!

 


 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR STUDENTS CONSIDERING WORKING WITH ME

I am eager to work with graduate and undergraduate students. If you are an A+ student with at least some undergraduate training in the sciences + some kind of training or hobby in the arts, I welcome hearing from you!

Graduate Student Applicants: I welcome your application to the Psychological Science or Digital Humanities IGS Progrmam if (a) in addition to the above criteria you are (a) familiar with my research group's projects and publications, and (b) have related interests and expertise, as well as (ideally) ideas for how to contribute. We do not meet over zoom before you apply. All applications with my name as supervisor will be considered. Note: Do NOT send inquiries about graduate school that you are sending out in bulk to multiple professors, with CV attached. They will not be read, nor responded to, and I don't open attachments from people I don't know. I do not supervise random projects on creativity unless they relate to and build upon my research program, and do not supervise projects that focus the CONTENT of culture; our work on culture focuses on in what sense culture evolves. Graduate student applicants are expected to be familiar with my research program, have read some of our papers, and have ideas about how to build on and contribute to it, as well as relevant expertise. Note that graduate students who work with me are expected to apply for institutional, provincial, and national-level funding that they are eligible for. (This expectation is less applicable for students who are working on a specific project that the lab has funding for).

Undergraduate Student Applicants: To ensure that I have sufficient time for students, I only accept one honours student per academic year. I no longer accept directed study student applications. I may consider taking on additional undergraduate projects if they are co-supervised by one of my advanced graduate students. If you want to volunteer in my lab, the best way to do so is to contact one of my graduate students and see if they need help with anything.

 


 

COURSES TOUGHT

Courses I teach more regularly are in bold.

  • PSYO 121: Introduction to Personal Functioning
  • PSYO 317: Psychology of Creativity
  • PSYO 362 (formerly 380A): Psychology of Humour
  • PSYO 380W: Psychology of Language
  • PSYO 380B: Evolution of Human Cognition
  • PSYO 480N / 508A: Advanced Special Topics - Creativity
  • IGS 501A: Theories and Methods in Research on Concepts (Graduate level)
  • IGS 509C: Creativity, Complexity, and Evolution (Graduate level)
  • IGS 559F: Mind and Culture (Graduate level)
  • IGS 620D: Psychology of Creativity (Graduate level)
  • IGS 620M: Advanced Psychology of Creativity (Graduate level)

 

  


STUDENTS I HAVE OR AM CURRENTLY SUPERVISING

Undergradiate Students (Partial list)

  • Patrick Agnimal (Research Assistant on Tech Lineages Project, 2025)
  • Morgyn Ahlefeld (Honours student, 2019-2020)
  • Alexander Argatoff (Research Assistant on Tech Lineages Project, 2024)
  • Daniel Beltran (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Nicole Carbert (NSERC USRA Student, 2014)
  • Lucius Chia (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Beck Corkle (Research Assistant, 2025)
  • Netra Davar (Research Assistant, 2022-23)
  • Nathan Dhaliwal (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Jillian Dicker (Directed Study Student, 2009)
  • Mark Eyjolfson (Honours Student, 2006)
  • Celine Formosa (Directed Study Student, 2011)
  • Conner Gibbs (Directed Study Student, 2020)
  • Madeleine Henderson (Honours Student, 2011)
  • Sally Hike (Honours student, 2019-2020)
  • Eva Illion(Directed Study Student, 2024; Honours student, 2025-2026)
  • Ashna Jassi (Directed Study Student, Spring 2012)
  • Khushi Jain (Direct Studies Student, 2023)
  • Shangzhen Li (Research Assistant on Tech Lineages Project, 2025)
  • Peyton Lynch (Research Assistant, 2022-23)
  • Alexandra Maland (Directed Studies Student, 2017; NSERC USRA Student, 2018)
  • Emily Mayzes (Research Assistant, 2021-23)
  • Justin Ng (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Annette Nicoletti-Carriere (Research Assistant, 2021-22)
  • Sean Riley (Directed Study Student, 2010-11)
  • Cosette Robertson (Direct Studies Student and Research Assistant, 2022-23)
  • Adam Saab (Directed Study Student, 2006-07)
  • Jasmine Schwartz (Honours Student, Graduated 2012)
  • Victoria Scotney (NSERC USRA Student, 2017)
  • Tara Scouller (NSERC URA Student, 20009)
  • Phillip Shifflet (NSERC URA Student, 2020)
  • Samantha Thompson (NSERC USRA student, 2016)
  • Simon Tseng (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Laura McKeel Viciana (Research Assistant on Tech Lineages Project, 2025)
  • Catherine Wang (Honours Student, UBC Vancouver Campus, Graduated 2013)
  • Sara Weaver (Directed Study Student, 2007)
  • Sarah Weissmeyer (Directed Study Student, 2017)
  • Ashley Whidden (Directed Study Student, 2007)
  • Aarohi Yarov (Undergraduate Research Award recipient, Summer 2023)

Graduate Students

  • Iana Bashmakova (Ph.D. Student, 2024 - Present)
  • Tanisha Chawla (Ph.D. Student, 2025 - Present)
  • Kirthana Ganesh (Ph.D. student, 2019 - 2025)
  • Isabel Gomez (M.A. student in DAHU Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Graduated 2023)
  • Odessy Liu (Co-supervised with Kyong Yoon; M.A. Student in DAHU Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Graduated 2025)
  • Murad Mithani (Ph.D. Student; Graduated 2012; Rensselaer Polytechnic University, co-supervised with Jonathan O'Brien)
  • Sophie Morin (Co-supervised with Jean-Marc Robert, Polytechnique, MontrĂ©al; Ph.D. Student, Graduated 2016)
  • Abhishek Rakshit (MA Student in DAHU Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Graduated in 2025)
  • Apara Ranjan (Ph.D. Student; Graduated 2014; Former postdoctoral fellow at Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence; Currently employed at Google Research)
  • Maryam Saberi (Co-supervised with Steve DiPaola, Simon Fraser University, Ph.D. student, Graduated 2016)
  • Peder Sande (Co-supervised with Lara Boyd, UBC Vancouver; M.A. Student; Graduated 2017)
  • Touba Sheikhshab (Ph.D. Student in DAHU Interdisciplinary Studies Program, 2024 - Present)
  • Marina Wang (co-supervised with Elena Nicoladis) (Graduate Student in Psychology, 2024 - Present)
  • Member of Graduate Supervisory Committee of: Christopher Anderson (Current Graduate Student), Ahlem Bavi (Current Graduate Student), Stan Chung (Graduated 2014), Jon Corbett (Graduated 2015), Maxine Crawford (Graduated 2013), Antonio Fadda (Graduated 2017), Yujie Gao (Graduated 2023), Luke Kerman (Graduated 2014), Holli-Anne Passmore (Graduated 2015), Freeda Wilson (Graduated 2009), Megumi Yamamoto (Current Graduate Student)
  • University Examiner or External Examiner for: Steven Defehr (Graduated 2020), Lorna Green (Graduated 2021), Emerald Holt (Graduated 2021)

Postdoctoral Fellows

  • Christina Bonney (2009)