ARTS RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

Vancouver is at risk of becoming a resort city if sky-high real estate values push out industries as well as management and professional talent and their families, according to a Macleans article.

UBC geography professor David Ley notes that much industrial land has already been lost in Vancouver since 1970. False Creek was one of the early cases of conversion of industrial land to housing. If property prices continue to rise, the city might turn over waterfront lands in East Vancouver to residential use, Ley said.

Gift giving makes people happy and could actually be a good way to overcome the holiday blues, according to a new article in Psychology Today. The author described a Harvard-UBC study that assessed individuals who both gave and received money. The researchers found that those who gave were happier, and that they were happier for a longer period of time.

The researchers also discovered that among employees who received bonuses, those who donated some of their bonus money to charity were happier.

A new Guardian article questions the use of virtual reality (VR) tools to deliver immersive journalism.

Some critics say VR can confuse the audience about the authorship and authenticity of the information.

“The pretence of VR is seeing something that actually happened as opposed to something obviously constructed, so authorship is more blurred,” notes Taylor Owen, assistant professor of digital media and global affairs at UBC. “[VR] is a highly constructed environment but the pretence to the viewer is that it isn’t.”

Those who want to deny refuge to Syrians are giving Islamic terrorists another victory, UBC journalism professor Peter Klein says in a Globe and Mail op-ed.

“According to Islamic State propaganda videos, Syrian refugees are seen as the ultimate traitors, worse than Western infidels, since they are abandoning the pure theocratic regime IS is building, for a life of apostasy in Europe and North America,” Klein wrote.

Klein is director of the Global Reporting Centre at UBC, which has launched a project about xenophobia in Europe.

Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel prize for economics, will give the keynote address Friday (Nov. 20) for the Lind Initiative, a dialogue series at UBC.

In a Q&A with the Globe and Mail, Stiglitz talks about how the rules of the market economy have been shaped by societies to serve the interests of the ‘one per cent.’

Canada and Denmark have been locked in a dispute over tiny 1.3km square Hans Island in the Arctic Ocean for decades.

UBC international law professor Michael Byers says the dispute has the potential to cause friction in the future.

UBC professor Dan Hiebert allayed fears about the influx of refugees from Syria, saying Canada has experience in settling large numbers of refugees.

Noting that B.C.’s non-profit settlement sector is very experienced, Hiebert observed: “They have a very large network of volunteers that they call on for these kinds of things. I think that is going to unfold reasonably well.”

Seven modern artists are represented in the new Taiwan art exhibition at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology.

The exhibit includes weaving art, fabric installations and paper cutting art and was curated by socio-cultural anthropologist Fuyubi Nakamura.

(In) visible: The Spiritual World of Taiwan Through Contemporary Art runs through April 3.

UBC professor Julian Dierkes, who specialises in Japan and Mongolia, calls on the new Liberal government to embrace digital diplomacy to support its foreign policy.

Open exchange of views and meaningful social media engagement can “bring foreign affairs, international trade, and development assistance into a fruitful collaboration,” Dierkes wrote.

He adds: “A digital diplomacy strategy has to be led by diplomats, not by communications specialists, though these specialists are essential in providing support for evolving initiatives.”

Joe Henrich from UBC is quoted in an article documenting a study of ideas of fairness in 866 children from the U.S., Canada, India, Mexico, Peru, Senegal and Uganda.

There’s a growing movement to study human behaviour across different cultures and not just in the Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (“WEIRD”) societies, according to the story.

“The study shows that some psychological motivations are exclusive to WEIRD children,” says Henrich. “Of course, it also highlights the need for taking the next step: Researchers need to go beyond merely documenting human psychological diversity and begin to move toward explaining it.”

Political and economic unification of Ireland could boost its GDP by €35.6 billion, according to a US study led by Kurt Hübner, director of the Institute for European Studies at UBC.

The researchers assumed five scenarios that could take place as a result of unification, including the harmonization of tax systems across the island, reduced trade barriers and transport costs, and productivity improvements.

“While these effects occur in a static global economic environment, under ideal political conditions, they underline the potential of political and economic unification when it is supported by smart economic policy,” Hübner said.

Canada needs a fresh new approach to China, say UBC political scientist Paul Evans and University of Toronto professor Wendy Dobson.

They recommend a collaborative approach in economics, including forging a bilateral free-trade agreement and collaborating in energy, natural resources and other initiatives. They also think Canada should deepen partnerships in Asia-Pacific, particularly with Australia, Indonesia and South Korea. A third recommendation is to support Canadian values while helping China build its capabilities.