Timeline

This page provides a timeline of the project's inception, development and projects.

September 22, 2021 - CAS Lab convenes a number of centres, institutes, and networks to host a "journal club" discussion on the stewardship of global collective behavior

September 13, 2021 - Maya Lalji and Martina Ye (4995F/4996G practicum placement students) begin working on a literature review exploring the intersection of complexity theory and anti-racism, anti-hate initatives

August 16, 2021 - Jonathan De Souza, Katherine Lawless, and James Shelley present at the Western Research 2021 Virtual Conference

June 9, 2021 - School of Post-Graduate Studies 9105L CEL team begins work on a cluster analysis of faculty members working in the area of complexity and teams.

March 22, 2021 - CAS Lab Lightning Talks (Winter Term 2021)

March 19, 2021 - Western News publishes Creating connections: Western’s complexity science research hub

December 4, 2020 - 4300F CEL student team finishes healthcare and medicine literature review

November 30, 2020 - 4400y Scholar's Electives Program CEL team begins developing an actor map of the CAS Lab "ecosystem" to identify areas of shared interest among faculty members

November 30, 2020 - The first phase of faculty mapping at Western wraps up, having identified 70 faculty members with interest or background integrating complexity and system theory in research

October 29, 2020 - 4995F Practicum students reinitiate faculty mapping project for the remaining departments at Western University

October 7, 2020 - 4300F CEL student team begins healthcare and medicine literature review project

October 2, 2020 - 4920F CEL student team begins biology and ecology literature review project

September 22, 2020 - 4995F Practicum students begin research towards designing an on-boarding orientation module for future students

August 25, 2020 - The CAS Lab formally expresses interest in membership in the nascent Canadian Network for Complex Systems (CNCS), led by Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI)

April 20, 2020 - The cas.uwo.ca website goes live

April 8, 2020 - Another informal information session is held (via Zoom) with interested faculty members

March 16, 2020 - Taylor Labadie and Alisha Singh's practicum placement terms are cut short due to COVID-19

March 9, 2020 - Another informal 'drop-in' conversation is held at the Grad Club, to share information about the project and connect with interested faculty

February 27, 2020 - Taylor Labadie and Alisha Singh begin following up on expressions of interest with a form for affiliation with the CAS Lab

February 21, 2020 - Development begins on the cas.uwo.ca site

January 9, 2020 - Alisha Singh, a fourth year health studies practicum placement student, joins the CAS mapping project

October 31, 2019 - Western Research staff indicate their interest to collaborate in the project

September 19, 2019 - Taylor Labadie, a fourth year health studies practicum placement student, begins a two-term placement, mapping faculty interest and expertise in CAS across Western

September 9, 2019 - A small group of four meet at the Grad Club to discuss the idea

July 18, 2019 - A rough draft overview of the initiative circulates among the group; staff at Research Western receive the draft document for input and consideration

July 3, 2019 - After several informal conversations about the idea, James Shelley initiates an email thread with four faculty members, synthesizing a vision for a trans-faculty network at Western for complexity science research

The 'Prequel'

Prior to the inception of the CAS Lab, complexity and systems thinking was alive and well here at Western. Below we document some of this 'precursor' activity around complexity science at Western before the formation of the lab.

April 2014 - Vivian Rambihar et al publish a letter titled Age of Complexity in Canadian Family Physician

February 11, 2005 - Vivian Rambihar, Sherryn Rambihar and Vanessa Rambihar release the beta version of their book titled Tsunami Chaos and Global Heart: using complexity science to rethink and make a better world

Summer 1999 - Vivian Rambihar et al publish Chaos 2000: A New Science of Nursing for the New Millennium in Complexity and Chaos in Nursing