Arts & Science Program and Faculty of Humanities

Born in Grenada, Jean Augustine immigrated to Canada in 1960 as a teacher in the Canada-Caribbean Domestic Program. She earned her BA at the University of Toronto, then her MEd while teaching with the Toronto Metropolitan Separate School Board. Dr. Augustine helped develop the Toronto Caribbean Carnival in 1967 and Canada’s official multiculturalism policy in 1971. She later served as national president of the Congress for Black Women of Canada and as chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority. 

In 1993, Dr. Augustine became Canada’s first Black female Member of Parliament when she was elected – for the first of four times – by the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding. Over 13 years in Parliament, she served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Minister of Multiculturalism and the Status of Women, chair of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee, chair of the Human Rights Committee, chair of the National Women’s Caucus and Deputy Speaker. Dr. Augustine guided legislation to protect low-income individuals, designate February as Black History Month and establish the Famous Five Monument, the first Parliament Hill statue to feature women. Following her service as an MP, Dr. Augustine became Ontario’s first Fairness Commissioner and she now co-chairs the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women program and remains engaged with the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment. 

The recipient of several honorary degrees, Dr. Augustine is a senior fellow at Massey College and a fellow of Centennial College who has been named to the Women’s Executive Network list of Canada’s Most Powerful Women. Her list of awards also includes the Ontario Volunteer Award, the UNIFOR Nelson Mandela Lifetime Achievement Award, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the University of the West Indies’ Luminary Award. She is a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, a commander of the Order of the British Empire and the subject of the 2022 documentary  Steadfast: The Messenger and the Message. She has also been honoured through the naming of multiple schools and parks in the Greater Toronto Area, along with the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at York University. 

Dr. Ogborn’s course design is characterized by flexibility, self-reflection, and a focus on real-world relevance. His teaching philosophy is transparent and inclusive, fostering a classroom environment that values diverse identities and perspectives. Through personal storytelling and embodied teaching practices, he actively engages students while addressing power, privilege, and identity. His approach encourages students to see learning as a shared, embodied experience, making use of physical spaces, equipment, and hands-on activities. Notably, his incorporation of “Deep Listening” and other innovative practices enriches student engagement by connecting the mind and body to the learning process.

In his commitment to equity, Dr. Ogborn has pioneered alternative grading practices, particularly through specifications grading. This model promotes transparency, reduces stress, and increases creative freedom, allowing students multiple opportunities to improve their work. This approach has received positive feedback from students and is supported by robust quantitative data showing improved student outcomes over time.

Dr. Ogborn’s mentorship is a cornerstone of his teaching philosophy. He has supervised numerous graduate and undergraduate students, guiding them in artistic projects, research, and community engagement. His leadership extends beyond the classroom, as seen in his involvement with the Cybernetic Orchestra and Estuary, platforms that foster collaborative, accessible learning experiences in live coding and generative art.

A dedicated advocate for continuous professional development, Dr. Ogborn has engaged in extensive research on accessible grading practices and their impact on student success. His work in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) aims to expand the use of innovative grading systems and improve accessibility across the educational spectrum.

Amba Mohammed is graduating with an Honours Linguistics degree at McMaster University. Her desire to work in translations has encouraged her fascination with language variation and her passion for language learning. She is particularly sensitive to the knowledge that language use varies from speaker-to-speaker, and her desire to help foster strong communication skills has led to her interest in exploring the nexus between translations and cross-linguistic variation.

Amba is a former participant and prize-winner at the Ontario Japanese Speech Contest (2023). She is also a recipient of the 2025 Humanities USRA, in which she proposed an independent research project which investigated syntactic dialectal variation and change. Amba is also a trainee in the Grammatical Theory Group at ARiEAL Research Centre and has previously completed both a research practicum and an honours thesis investigating Trinidadian English, a dialect of Caribbean English. She has presented her thesis research at the April 2026 Montréal-Ottawa-Toronto-Hamilton (MOTH) Syntax Workshop.

Following her graduation, Amba hopes to use the skills she has gained throughout her undergraduate career to both contribute to individual and societal understanding of the importance of language variation and to empower the voices of others.

Josiah recently completed his Bachelor’s degree in Music (Honours), and will be pursuing an MA in Musicology at the University of Toronto this Fall. He is particularly interested in music of the nineteenth century, historical views and frameworks of music theory, and connections between music and social phenomena.

Josiah was a Teaching Assistant for the course MUSIC 2MT3 since Spring of 2024. He has also been a member of the McMaster University Choir for the last 4 years, and volunteered as a choir librarian and section leader within this time. Josiah also performed classical piano works in the School of the Arts’ various student concerts and performance workshops.

In his spare time, Josiah likes to learn new instruments (currently the french horn), building and flying r/c planes, and assisting with sheep shearing at local farms.

Josiah would like to thank his family and professors for their strong support.

Born in Canada and raised in China, Joseph Tang developed a fascination with understanding differences between societies through language and culture. Joseph is thankful for acquiring a toolkit for systematically analyzing a language through the Honours Linguistics program, which has enabled him to connect more effectively with people who speak different languages. He enjoyed learning French, Russian and American Sign Language at McMaster University and spending study breaks perusing world language materials in Mills Memorial Library, especially sections PG to PL on fourth floor.

With lived experience of the challenges associated with acculturation, Joseph is interested in promoting intercultural communication especially in second language education contexts, by helping immigrants adapt to a host culture and resolve sources of cultural misunderstanding. Joseph hopes to pursue a year of English teaching abroad and a career in English or French language education with cross-cultural students.

Alison Cowie grew up in the UK in the 1960s, when it was unusual for girls to go to University, so she started work as a research laboratory technician straight after school. Alison moved to Canada in 1988 and began working in the Department of Biology at McMaster, first in the research labs then as support for the undergraduate teaching staff. As retirement loomed on the horizon Alison decided to finally get that undergraduate degree that she had missed out on in her 20s and in 2016 enrolled in the Humanities to pursue a degree in Classics, a topic as far removed from science as imaginable. 10 years later she is now graduating with a degree in what is now Greek and Roman Studies.

Now retired Alison spends much of her free time volunteering at the Royal Botanical Gardens and after enjoying the student experience so much is considering whether to try for another degree!

Anna Farley is graduating with a combined Honours degree in Arts & Science and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (PNB). Anna was involved in various aspects of the Arts & Science community including as a Welcome Week Representative, Community Chair, and cast member of the program musical. Another highlight of Anna’s time at McMaster was volunteering in the OPIRG Community Garden.

Within the PNB department, Anna conducted research in the Aquatic Behavioural Ecology Lab for 3 years, including completing her honours thesis. Her research was focused on the round goby, an invasive fish species spreading through the Great Lakes. She also worked as an Introductory Psychology teaching assistant from 2024 to 2026, and acted as a mentor to new students.

This summer Anna is working as a programs assistant at a community farm in Vancouver BC before beginning her Doctor of Optometry at the University of Waterloo in September.

Sunil Wijeysundera is graduating with an Honours Arts and Science degree, with a minor in mathematics. Throughout his degree, he was passionate about questions involving loss and
community building in times of disaster. He plans on following these questions in graduate school after taking a year to work and volunteer.

Throughout his degree, Sunil was invested in new approaches to education, and was part of the 2023 support team for the McMaster Discovery program. Sunil held a USRA in the summer of 2025, where he researched storytelling in mathematics, a topic inspired by his work as the ‘25 and ‘26 Arts and Science calculus TA. His work focused on questions of mentorship and narrative didactics as pathways to making education more accessible.

In first year, Sunil was part of the McMaster varsity ultimate team, before pivoting to competitive climbing. He was delighted to support the Hamilton climbing community through hosting sessions at his climbing wall. Outside of athletics, Sunil is a muralist and graphic designer, and loves reading and hiking.