Faculty of Humanities and the Arts & Science program

Malikca Lawrence holds strong enthusiasm for building community and dedication for empowering and supporting equity and inclusion at McMaster. Malikca served as Event Coordinator for Blackspace, Community Events Planning Coordinator of MSU Diversity + Equity Network, and Charity and Wellness Executive Member of the McMaster Association of Caribbean & West Indian Students. Holding multiple executive positions in student organizations, Malikca designed and delivered programming that created safe spaces on campus and advocated for the enhanced experiences of the diverse student population. As Co-President of McMaster’s Black Student Association and Communication Assistant and Student Navigator at McMaster’s Black Student Success Centre, she had the platform to communicate and connect over 400 Black students to resources, opportunities, and support. 

An engaged member of the Greater Hamilton Community, Malikca also volunteered as an academic mentor with Empowerment Squared where she broke down educational, social, and cultural barriers for newcomer, racialized, and marginalized students.   

Danielle Ledden is a passionate linguistics student raised in Toronto, Ontario, on the territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. She is interested in how people use language, both physically and socially. Danielle understands that communication can be complicated, and seeks to empower young voices and help people reach their speech goals through clinical Speech Pathology. She will continue her education along this path after a summer spent volunteering at SickKids hospital. Meanwhile, this spring, after graduating with a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science of Language, her focus turns towards finally beating her older brother in a game of Mario Kart.

My degree is in Cognitive Science of Language, a linguistics program. Linguistics investigates the structure of the world’s languages. For over a century, linguists have attempted to uncover language universals in the sounds we can make, the ways words and sentences are composed, and how meaning is derived. As technology advances, we can begin to identify where in the brain language is processed, work which helps physicians and patients. This intersection with neuroscience is one of linguists’ many interdisciplinary tools. Language, as a key avenue for communication, is intrinsically linked with culture. Historical linguists reveal how language change can uncover the impacts of one culture upon another, in vocabulary, sounds, and even grammar. Sociolinguists investigate how this unfolds in the present day, as well as who it is acceptable to call “dude,” and whether it would be okay for me to like, chill with the formal writing? Linguistics fascinates me. I am continually impressed by the breadth of language research and its applications. As I pursue speech pathology, I am grateful to researchers, whose work informs the best practices for helping people reach their speech goals. In particular, I am grateful to the growing field of bilingual research for redefining what language milestones look like for bilingual children. I am excited to see how linguistics develops and changes, knowing that language always will. 

Ella has involved herself in various facets of her Arts and Science community including co-producing the program musical, acting as a teaching assistant for the Arts and Science statistics course and representing fourth years on the Society of Arts and Science Students.  

Ella competed with the McMaster varsity squash team and acted as the liaison between her team and the McMaster Athletics Staff, playing a major role in facilitating the team’s off court training. 

From 2021 to 2024, Ella was co-president of the McMaster German Cultural Club. In this position, Ella organized events for exchange students and local students alike, aiming to foster relationships amongst those interested in German culture.  

Ella has just completed her Honours of Arts & Science & Anthropology degree and will be pursuing osteoarchaeological studies this summer in the Basque territories. 

Noah Ripstein is graduating with a combined Honours in Arts & Science and PNB (Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour), with a Minor in Math. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Statistics, where he hopes to further engage his understanding of the inextricability of the Arts and Sciences when pursuing sensitive questions about how to understand our world. 

Noah held a USRA in summer 2022, during which he conducted bioethics research which engaged challenging questions about agency and responsibility in patients with dementia. This past year, he concluded a Computational Neuroscience & Computer Vision research project which investigated the mathematical underpinnings of human sensory perception and learning. He is a founder of the McMaster Information Theory Association, a club which focuses on small-group discussions at the intersection of Statistics and Computer Science.  

Noah loves hiking, canoeing, reading, travel and spending time with friends. He has worked as a wilderness canoe-tripping guide in Algonquin Park and as a hospital volunteer. This summer, he is working as a Software Developer with the RBC Amplify Program. 

Danielle Ledden is a passionate linguistics student raised in Toronto, Ontario, on the territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. She is interested in how people use language, both physically and socially. Danielle understands that communication can be complicated, and seeks to empower young voices and help people reach their speech goals through clinical Speech Pathology. She will continue her education along this path after a summer spent volunteering at SickKids hospital. Meanwhile, this spring, after graduating with a Honours Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science of Language, her focus turns towards finally beating her older brother in a game of Mario Kart.  

Carly Roulston completed her Honours Cognitive Science of Language degree at McMaster University. Her desire to improve quality of life for all populations led to her pursuit of various volunteer opportunities throughout her undergraduate career, including work with adults and children. 

In the 2022-23 school year, Carly participated in MacChangers co-curricular program, working on a community-based project alongside a small group of students. This project focused on proposing equitable employment practices confronting workplace stigma and narrative surrounding disability and mental health. 

Carly hopes to use the qualities she has gained through her undergraduate experience and continue to improve quality of life by pursuing her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at McMaster University. She would like to thank her family, friends, professors, and colleagues for their continuous support throughout her undergraduate career. 

Morley Rivard completed her Honours Cognitive Science of Language degree at McMaster University and will be pursuing a Master of Clinical Science in the Speech-Language Pathology Program at Western University.

Morley is a Research Assistant in the Phonetics Lab at ARiEAL Research Centre where she assists with various projects and previously completed her independent study investigating speech production in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Throughout her undergraduate degree, Morley has been involved in the McMaster Autism Assistance Program, participating as a mentor for the highschool mentorship program and serving as an executive team member.

Morley is passionate about the impact of communication on independence, self-expression, agency, and relationships. Throughout her undergraduate career, Morley volunteered at the SLP clinic, Oxford Speech Plus, where she assisted with early language, literacy, and social skills group programs. She has also volunteered as an elementary school tutor for Youth Assisting Youth. Morley currently works as an Inclusion Facilitator with the City of Hamilton, planning and facilitating recreational programming and inclusive accommodations for participants with disabilities.

After Dr. Kenneth Blackwell completed his bachelor’s degree in 1966 at the University of Victoria, he travelled to Wales with the plan of compiling a bibliography of Nobel laureate, philosopher, mathematician and peace activist, Bertrand Russell. When they met, Russell was impressed and invited Dr. Blackwell to catalogue his personal library. Later, Russell’s literary agent enlisted Dr. Blackwell’s assistance in documenting the full Russell archive. That work set the stage for the sale of the archive and when McMaster University purchased the high-profile scholarly resource in 1968, Dr. Blackwell joined the staff at McMaster as the Russell archivist, a post he would hold for nearly three decades during which time he would also become an associate member of McMaster’s Department of Philosophy. In his nominal retirement, Dr. Blackwell remains active in the Bertrand Russell Research Centre.

While working at McMaster, Dr. Blackwell earned a Master of Library Science from Western University, an MA in philosophy from McMaster and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Guelph. His doctoral thesis The Spinozistic Ethics of Bertrand Russell is one of five books he has authored, co-authored or co-edited about Russell. He co-founded The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, established Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies and was the textual editor for the Bertrand Russell Editorial Project.