GradCast

GraduatedLife is a GradCast series where we interview graduates of some of Western's graduate programs.In this instalment of GraduatedLife, Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview Professor Joel Faflak, a faculty member in Western's English and Writing Studies Department.  In their conversation, Joel recounts his graduate studies under Professor Ross Woodman (1922 – 2014), a charismatic scholar with an interest in Romanticism and in William Blake, specifically.  This was matched by Woodman's interest in the arts and in spirituality.  Joel's doctoral co-supervisor was Professor Tilottama Rajan, FRSC, who is still teaching at Western.  Also of personal importance for Joel was Ross' wife, Marion (1928 – 2018), an author with an interest in psychology.  Topics discussed include Mary Shelley, the Literary Canon, the Bible, Shakespeare, the Gothic Revival, Tony Kushner, Emily St. John Mandel, and London Regionalism – the artistic movement that was centred around London from the late 1950s through the '80s, in which "the ordinary" (London, Ontario) became the extraordinary.  In that spirit, Joel advocates for retrieving a sense of wonder and awe, as part of university life.Joel received Full Professor status in 2013 and, more recently, was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2025. Congratulations, Dr. Joel Faflak, FRSC!In other good news, this is Ryan's first time appearing on GradCast since his convocation ceremony on Wednesday, October 21, at which he received his Doctor of Musical Arts, in Performance. Congratulations, Dr. Ryan Baxter, DMA!
Recorded on Monday, October 26, 2026
Produced by Mark C. Ambrogio
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this episode, hosts Maris Schneider and Kuljeet Chohan chat with Victoria Kata, a Master’s student in the Chemistry Department. Victoria studies how a peptide, a small protein that is similar to the proteins in our bodies, move. She does so by tracking how the peptide's mass changes as it breaks its hydrogen bonds and binds to another hydrogen isotope, deuterium. Victoria is passionate about the foundational chemistry of the hydrogen-deuterium exchange of peptides and ultimately what that tells us about the movement of peptides talking about how this work could inform future pharmacological research. Join us as we learn about the wiggle and jiggle of peptides!
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026.
Produced by Anika Bushra
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (produced by WhiteHot)

In this episode of GradCast, hosts Anthony Cruz and Rafaela Platkin are joined by Kat Newman-Seymour, a PhD student in Western's Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies. In their PhD research, Kat examines the experiences of transgender people in Houston, Texas, and Toronto, Ontario, as they navigate climate change and environmental conditions. Their research draws parallels between environmental racism and the comparatively less well-studied experiences of transgender individuals. Kat draws on ideas such as minority stress theory, environmental justice, and queer and trans ecologies. Listen to learn more!
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, October 27th, 2026.
Produced by Anika Bushra
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Kuljeet Chohan and Mark Ambrogio interview Ehsan Ur Rahman Mohammed, a PhD candidate in Computer Science. In their conversation, Kuljeet and Mark explore Ehsan's interest in "adversarial robustness," which relates to how well an AI model performs at object recognition and image generation.
A graduate of India's Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science, Ehsan did his master's research at the University of Windsor.  In their conversation, Ehsan discusses his affection for both Windsor and London, his attention to public policy surrounding AI, and the many interests that enrich his graduate experience.
Ehsan serves Western's Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) as the Chair of the Sustainability Committee.
Ehsan's LinkedIn
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, October 20th, 2026.
Produced by Anika Bushra
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (produced by WhiteHot)

We often assume that reality is objective, but as researchers, how do we tackle perceived reality in our subjects? For psychology master’s student Isaac Withers, this is a key question in designing virtual reality (VR) spaces.
Can VR simulate the experience of a psychedelic drug trip in a controlled setting? What is the process of assembling reference material to create such a simulation? 
Isaac, being a proponent of multidisciplinary approaches, divides his research time between the psychedelics work and work on understanding categorization. In the latter research, he probes how our brains learn to place things into categories, and how categorization influences our personal biases.
Listen with Kelly Wang and Victor Lau as they discuss with Isaac about building a graduate journey that emphasizes collaborating with others, learning from many different sources, and overall building a well-rounded life to help diversify thinking in the research space.
Links:
https://mindalab.com/
Recorded on Tuesday, October 13th, 2026.
Produced by Garth Casbourn
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (produced by WhiteHot)

This week, hosts Anthony Cruz and Bruno Mesquita are joined by Sara Varon Echeverri, a PhD student in Western University's Department of Philosophy studying social and scientific problems related to climate change. Enrolled in Western's collaborative specialization in environment and sustainability, Sara is trying to determine the best ways to study climate change that can lead to effective responses from the public.
Sara believes in the importance of bringing people together and was involved in planning the 2026 Rotman Graduate Student Conference, bringing international students to Western to discuss the philosophy of science. In this episode, Sara discusses her research in philosophy and provides tips on how to plan a conference!
Recorded on Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Produced by Ella Siciliano and Anthony Cruz
Theme tune “Feelin Good” provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)