Meet Associate Dean Janet Shuh (School of Social and Life Sciences)
Photo: Janet Shuh
Prior to joining Sheridan as a faculty member in 2004, Janet held successive corporate policy roles within the Ontario Public Service, lastly serving as the Executive Policy Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Corrections and Community Safety. After eight years teaching theoretical and applied criminology at Sheridan, Janet transitioned into her current Associate Dean role where she provides academic leadership to the General Arts and Science Program and social and life sciences faculty and curriculum. Janet has a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Arts from the Interdisciplinary School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.
As an engaged member of the Sheridan community, Janet provides leadership on various committees, including: Administrative Policy, Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, Senate Academic Policy, and the Student Success and Advancement. Janet is passionate about promoting academic integrity at Sheridan and beyond. She is an active member of the International Centre for Academic Integrity (ICAI), in addition to the recently formed Canadian and Ontario AI Consortiums. Janet has presented at numerous AI conferences specifically on the role that policy can play as one tool to shift academic culture. Janet’s PhD research, at the University of Toronto (OISE), will explore the theoretical and practical connections between the commodification of knowledge and academic integrity.
Janet is the current Chair of the Ontario Colleges Liberal Arts and Sciences Council (OCLASC) where she supports provincial efforts and strategies to further General Arts and Science programs and liberal studies curriculum across the province. When not at Sheridan Janet loves to cook, spend time with her two children and pug Lucy, “be” in nature, hike, paddle and beachcomb.
Janet Shuh answers Alchemy’s Proust Questionnaire:
Favourite virtue: Kindness – there should be more of it in the world.
Most overrated virtue: Prudence – drives ego and self-inflatedness.
Most important lesson I learned in kindergarten: Never let a guinea pig out of its cage. A friend and I decided to take Bert and Ernie, the resident Kindergarten pets, out for a carpet play. Ernie went missing – never to be found. What would Bert do without Ernie?
Most important lesson I’ve learned this year: Always, no matter what, make time for those you love. It will charge you up for interacting with those who you don’t love.
My favourite qualities in a student: Inquisitiveness, a yearning to know more.
My favourite qualities in a teacher: Inspirational, passionate and leaderful.
Moment in my life I’d like to re-live: Placing 2nd, in the coxed four, for Leander Boat Club at the Schoolboy Regatta.
My idea of perfect happiness: Spending time with three (or four) generations of my family on the shores of Lake Huron.
My idea of complete misery: Playing video games in a dark, dingy basement.
In my opinion the secret to success is: Build, and invest in, strong working relationships.
My favourite word: Sunshine.
My least favourite word: Hate.
My favourite quotation, motto, or phrase: None – I generally dislike repeating others as it feels disingenuous to me.
The word/phrase/expression I overuse in life: “Pick your battles” – it’s pragmatic but unfortunate advice.
If I weren’t a teacher/administrator I’d be: A real estate agent in NYC.
The talent or skill I wish I had: The ability to play the violin – well.
A country/place I’d like to visit: Anywhere in Scandinavia – maybe Finland or Sweden?
On my bucket list: Travel the world.
My favourite food/meal: Lobster … need I say more?
My favourite painter/artist: Monet and Rothko.
My favourite singer/musician and song: Blue Rodeo – “By the Side of the Road.” This song was played on special request, from my significant other, at a Massey Hall Blue Rodeo concert. Lead singer Jim Cuddy prefaced the request, commenting that he had “never heard of anyone having this song as their first at a wedding … but what a rocking wedding that must have been!”
My guilty TV/film/gaming pleasure: Mad Men, even in syndication if that is all I can get.
