EDUCATION

Farhad Dastur obtained PhD and MSc degrees in experimental psychology from Dalhousie University and a BSc in psychology from UBC.

 

TEACHING

Farhad has 18 years of teaching experience at KPU, SFU, and WWU. He has taught evolutionary psychology, perception, research methods, animal behaviour, introductory psychology, and cognitive ergonomics. Most recently, he was a co-instructor on KPU’s Interdisciplinary Amazon Field School. Farhad’s teaching goes beyond the classroom and includes presentations in venues such as the KPU/Science World Speaker Series; City of Surrey PechaKucha, and TEDx. These contributions were recognized with a 2006 NISOD Teaching Excellence Award. He is currently the 2018 Teaching Fellow in Experiential Learning.

 

SERVICE

Farhad was a co-founder of the Kwantlen Psychology Society; a founder of the department's newsletter, Synapse; a founder of Psychology’s faculty mentorship program; a faculty leader on the First Year Experience project; and a founder of Connecting Minds, Canada’s national undergraduate research conference in psychology. He is currently leading a university-wide initiative to create an interdisciplinary course on workplace innovation. Beyond the institution, Farhad has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers of Vancouver.

 

RESEARCH

Farhad’s research interests include sensory perception in pregnant women; the determinants of intersection collisions between motorcycles and cars; and the role of anxiety in pattern perception. He is a 2016-18 Research Fellow with the US-based Open Education Group.

 

OPEN EDUCATION

Farhad has taught, advocated, and done research in open education. He has developed open courses for Thompson Rivers University and the OER universitas. He has conducted and presented research on the efficacy of open textbooks and he has published the book chapter, “How to Open an Academic Department” (https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.m).

 

LEADERSHIP

As Dean of Arts, pro temp, Farhad oversaw the amalgamation of Humanities and Social Sciences into the Faculty of Arts. His other leadership positions include Coordinator of Asian Studies, Chair of Psychology, REB Chair, Associate Dean, and Senator. His leadership and interpersonal skills were recognized with a 2008 Exemplary Leader Award from the Chair Academy.