Meet UFV Arts

Dr. Wade Deisman is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), where he also holds a faculty appointment in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. A service-centred leader with a passion for creative innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, he is deeply to devoted to systemic transformation within and beyond the university.

A long-standing advocate for education within carceral contexts, Dr. Deisman is currently spearheading a national initiative entitled "A Classroom in Every Prison". The project aims to connect every correctional institution in Canada with a post-secondary partner by 2030. Dr. Deisman’s research spans the fields of security and intelligence, surveillance studies, critical criminology, and the sociology of punishment. He has played a leadership role in national research initiatives focused on security and social justice, including the Surveillance Camera Awareness Network (SCAN), based at Queen's University, and the National Security Working Group (NSWG) at the University of Ottawa. His current writing projects include Awaken Your Inner Criminologist—a public-facing book that invites readers to critically examine the forces shaping their views on crime and punishment—and The Antifascist Armory, a multimedia project that anatomizes the rhetorical and affective strategies of rage-driven populism.

At UFV, Dr. Deisman is also recognized for his contributions to academic integrity, collegial governance, and curriculum transformation. His approach to academic leadership foregrounds care, clarity, and coherence—especially in times of institutional and societal transition.

When free from the snares of institutional planning, policy development, or public scholarship, Dr. Deisman devotes himself to his family: his children, Jack and Annie; two cats, Belle and Bruder; and Spock, their mirthful and mischievous Siberian Husky.