LA&PS Interim Dean
Kathryn McPherson
I am thrilled to join LA&PS as interim dean and to work alongside such a dynamic and diverse community of students, faculty and staff. With over 100 certificates and programs to choose from, you can build your degree in a learning environment that is flexible, inclusive and adaptable— because here at LA&PS, it’s not just about earning a degree, but about forging a path that’s uniquely yours.
About the Interim Dean
Dr. Kathryn McPherson was recently appointed as interim dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). One of the largest and most diverse Faculties in Canada, LA&PS is home to approximately 600 full-time faculty members, 400 staff and more than 19,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
Dr. McPherson is a feminist historian of women, work, health and sport, with a focus on the history of nursing. She holds degrees from the University of Winnipeg (BA Hons), Dalhousie (MA) and Simon Fraser University (PhD). Since her 1996 monograph Bedside Matters: The Transformation of Canadian Nursing, Dr. McPherson has continued to publish on elements of nursing history, gender and colonialism, women and botany and global sport. She brings with her over 30-years of service at York University, where she has held numerous leadership roles, including Chair of the School of Women’s Studies, Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History and Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Most recently, Dr. McPherson served as Chair of the Department of History and co-led York U Forward Action Plan Project #3 on Redesigning the Undergraduate Degree Framework.
Invite the Dean
Would you like the dean to attend an event you are hosting? Where possible, please consult with Debra Bisram at debrab@yorku.ca regarding the Dean's availability before solidifying the date of your event, and prior to submitting your request.
Dean’s Circle of Student Scholars
The highest-achieving students in the Faculty of LA&PS are given the opportunity to become more engaged in the York community and develop leadership skills as part of the Dean’s Circle of Student Scholars. You’re automatically invited to the Dean’s Circle if you are a high school student who with an average of 90% or higher or a current student enrolled in 12 credits or more and maintaining at least an overall 8.0 GPA.
Associate Deans
Maggie Quirt
Associate Dean, Programs
Professor Quirt is a former chair of the LA&PS Academic Policy and Planning Committee (APPC), and the LA&PS Committee on Curriculum, Curricular Policy, and Standards (CCPS), and is a member of the Indigenous Council Curriculum Development Subcommittee. She also served as Undergraduate Program Director in the Department of Equity Studies from 2020-21. In addition to her service to the University, she was a member of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Race Relations for the City of Markham from 2010-2016, and currently serves on the Harmony and Peacebuilding Advisory Group, a committee of York Region residents. Her research explores political apologies, commemoration, and reparations in settler state Canada.
Michele Johnson
Associate Dean, Students
Professor Johnson holds a BA. Hons, M.Phil. (U.W.I.), M.A and Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University and has taught in the Department of History at York University since July 2002. Prior to teaching at York, Professor Johnson taught at the University of West Indies (Mona) from 1994 – 2002. She has served the York community in a variety of capacities, including as the coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Programme, as York’s affirmative action officer, and as the director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas (2013-2018). Her research interests and publications reflect Jamaican cultural history, and the histories of gender relations, race/racialization, labour, domestic slavery, and domestic service in Jamaica and Canada.
Neil Buckley
Associate Dean, Teaching & Learning
Professor Buckley is an Associate Professor with the Department of Economics. He joined York University in 2005, and before taking on the role of Associate Dean, he served as the Undergraduate Program Director in the department from 2012 to 2023. He holds an M.A. in Economics from Queen’s University and a B.Arts Sc. and Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University. Prof. Buckley is passionate about teaching and learning, experiential education, and helping to lead programs focused on student success. He has proudly collaborated on exciting initiatives in LA&PS such as the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program and the Student Numeracy Assistance Centre at Keele (SNACK). His research examines areas where private and public interests intersect, with a focus on behavioural investigations of public vs. private health care finance and the tragedy of the commons.
As Associate Dean, Prof. Buckley’s Teaching and Learning portfolio supports the Faculty in areas such as pedagogy and academic integrity, student success related to numeracy, and experiential education and co-op.
M. J. (Maria João) Maciel Jorge
Associate Dean, Global & Community Engagement
Professor M. J. Maciel Jorge is a first-generation scholar. Her research focuses on Spanish and Portuguese early modern literatures, colonial and new world encounters, and Portuguese island culture and literature. She’s interested in exploring the intersections between creativity and historical, social, class, gender and racial issues that shape the human experience. As a creative writer she is guided by the principle that fiction can serve as a tool for awareness and empathy. Her recent book of essays The Hyphen and other Thoughts from the In-Between focuses on the immigrant experience with insights that address hyphenated identity, navigating between two disparate worlds, finding oneself in the in-between while delving deeper into cultural reciprocity through kindness and empathy.
As Associate Dean of Global and Community Engagement, Professor Maciel Jorge serves the Faculty in supporting international students, access and bridging programs, Summer study abroad opportunities as well as various engagements with local and global communities. Professor Maciel Jorge leads the Faculty’s efforts for internationalization through the establishment of mutually beneficial global partnerships and collaborative activities that provide added value to students and faculty members. By showcasing the global research and teaching expertise of LA&PS members, AD Maciel Jorge is connecting with like-minded partners worldwide and exploring pioneering approaches and innovative programming including various transnational education opportunities.
Ravi de Costa
Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies
Professor de Costa emigrated to Canada from Australia in 2002 to take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition at McMaster University. Prior to joining York in 2007, he also taught at Trent University in the Department of Political Studies. He is an active member of the York community, as Chair of the President’s Sustainability Council, and acting director of Las Nubes Project. His work has focused on the institutional and cultural contexts of Indigenous-settler relations in Australia and Canada, with publications on treaty-making processes, and on truth and reconciliation. He has held three Social Science and Humanities Research Council Standard (SSHRC) grants to examine the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
David Mutimer
Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs
Professor Mutimer holds a BA. Hons, M.A and Ph.D. in Political Science, is a professor of International Politics, and was most recently Chair of the Department of Politics at York University. His research considers issues of contemporary international security through critical social theory, and investigates the reproduction of international politics in popular culture. Much of that work has focused on weapons proliferation as a reconfigured security concern in the post-Cold War era, and has tried to open possibilities for alternative means of thinking about the security problems related to arms more generally. More recently, he has turned his attention to the politics of militarization in Canadian society as a cause and consequence of the wars we have joined in the past twenty years.