Julie Hakim-Larson

Children of Arab immigrants caught between two worlds, PhD student finds

Ashley Paterson clearly remembers the first day of one of her classes when all of the students had to say a little about themselves. A boy in the class introduced himself, noted that he was from the Middle East, and added the caveat “And I’m not a terrorist.”

“That’s an example that really highlights the importance of identity,” said Paterson, a PhD student in psychology. “You could see how he was struggling with his cultural identity in a society that so often discriminates against people.”

Psychological services centre to conduct educational assessments of local children

A new program to conduct psycho-educational assessments of local children and adolescents will provide “a gold-standard service,” says the faculty member heading up the project.

“We can take more time with cases,” says Sylvia Voelker, director of the Psychological Services and Research Centre. “We plan to conduct follow-up to see how the recommendations from the assessments are acted on.”