Laurier expert alert: Holiday season and New Year’s

Dec. 16, 2021

Waterloo – Wilfrid Laurier University has experts available to speak about a variety of topics related to the holidays and New Year’s, including the history of holiday celebrations in Canada, tips for sticking to New Year’s resolutions and expectations on parents during the holidays.

Laurier is closed Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, reopening Jan. 3. Please reach out directly to faculty members during this time.

Cynthia Comacchio is a professor in the Department of History. She is an expert on the history of childhood, gender and families in Canada and the social and cultural impacts of war in Canada. She can provide a history of how Canadian families have celebrated the holidays over the years. Contact: ccomacchio@wlu.ca

Kim Dawson, professor of Kinesiology and Physical Education, is an expert on sport psychology, performance and exercise adherence. She has worked with athletes of all types, including Olympic athletes, to prepare them for top performance under pressure. She is available to speak about how to maintain the motivation to stay healthy and reach fitness goals. Contact: kdawson@wlu.ca or 519.807.6653

Michel Desjardins, professor emeritus in Laurier’s Religion and Culture program, is an expert on food, culture and religion. He would be able to comment on the role of feasting during the holidays and throughout the year for many religions. Desjardins is also an expert in Christian origins, including early Christian thinking about the birth, life and death of Jesus. Contact: 250.589.6433 or mdesjardins@wlu.ca

Tom Hazell, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, is studying the ability of exercise intensity to reduce appetite and alter metabolism. He is also studying the potential benefits of exercise intensity such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). He is available to speak about ways to stay healthy and reach fitness goals. Contact: thazell@wlu.ca

Justin Smith, associate professor of Economics at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, is an expert on charitable giving. Smith is available to comment on why people donate, income inequality and donations, and the determinants of charitable donations such as tax price of giving, matching or seed donations and government support for charities. Read more about his research. Contact: jusmith@wlu.ca

Anne Wilson is a professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on how people’s identities shift over time, how people reconstruct the past and envision the future, and how this affects the present. She has studied goal pursuit, personal and collective memories, and beliefs about change and stability, among other topics. Recently, she has been researching political polarization and its impacts on memory.

She is also available to speak about:

• How people set resolutions and why they succeed or fail at these goals. She’s also researched how landmarks, such as New Year’s Day, are symbolic turning points and how this can affect our motivation to make changes. 
• The importance of small daily behaviours (exercise, hobbies, social connections, etc.) in long-term happiness and well-being over big moments, such as life milestones, trips and achieving goals.

Contact: awilson@wlu.ca

Lisa Wood is an associate professor in Youth and Children’s Studies and English. She is an expert on children’s popular culture, marketing and media and is available to speak about gift shopping for children and expectations on parents at Christmas. Contact: lwood@wlu.ca