What's Up? in the Department of History

Panning for Gold in Canada's Past

2012-02-10T06:30:00.000-06:00

Awarding-winning author and former journalist Charlotte Gray will be visiting Bill Waiser's new Writing History grad seminar in late February. She will also be giving a lecture, "Panning for Gold in Canada's Past," which anyone can attend!

Date: Monday, February 27
Time: 4:30
Place: Arts 241 (Neatby-Timlin Theatre).

Experiments in Alchemical Knowledge

2012-02-09T20:40:00.001-06:00

Frank Klaassen, in his capacity as President of Societas Magica, organised the society's (and probably the department's) first-ever e-colloquium. Participants from Waterloo, Paris, Cambridge, and Saskatchewan all met by videoconference. Lauren Kassell (Cambridge) spoke on "Thomas Vaughan's Alchemy and the Reform of Ritual Magic in Seventeeth-Century England". It was a fascinating paper that considered Vaughan's reformation of ritual magic in the quest to develop a purer alchemy. This had ties to the wider Protestant reformation, as well as the emerging experimental method.

The e-colloquium was a great way to bring international scholars together inexpensively (and greenly). I declare the experiment a success! Frank promises that there will be more e-colloquiums to come.

15th Annual Swan Colloquium a Great Success!

2012-02-01T20:45:00.000-06:00

By Angela Kalinowski, History Undergraduate Committee Chair

January 20, 2011 marked the 15^th Annual MichaelSwan Colloquium showcasing the work of History and Classical Medieval andRenaissance Studies Honours students. Seventeen students presented short papers from their seniorseminars. With topics ranging frommedieval manuscript studies, to LSD in Saskatchewan, to trench newspapers inWWI, the audience was treated to the wide range of fascinating student work in History and CMRS.

The colloquium was well attended: between twenty and thirty people were in the audience of each of the six sessions! Thanks to the undergraduate and graduatestudents, post doctoral fellows, faculty members and emeriti, including MichaelSwan, and family members, who came out to support the student presenters.

A certain particularly interested audience member!

Events like these require a lot of planning, so many thanksare due to those who worked behind the scenes to make it a success,particularly Ingrid McGregor and Linda Dietz of the History Department, and TerresaAnn Demong and Leland of the Diefenbaker Center.

Finally, warm congratulations to all students whoparticipated in the Swan Colloquium: Jonathan Bramall, Damian Braun, RyanBuhay, Bronwyn Craig, Regan Flaherty, Matthew Kerr, Randall Knight, ChristopherMcGarity, Dallas Posavad, Logan Richards, Amanda Shea, David Seibel, KevinSexsmith, Tyler Reimer, Clare Thomson, Gina Trapp, and Sarah Vela.

The Swans of 2012

Everyone in the audience commented on the uniformly highquality of your papers and your professional comportment. You have completed another step in your degree, and moreimportantly, did a great job! You should be proud of yourselves.

Good News

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's been one of the worst-kept secrets around the department, but I'm finally at liberty to reveal some good news now that OCN has issued the official notice.  Congratulations to Frank Klaassen on his success in the Canadian Foundation for Innovation grant competition! Frank is a co-investigator with Peter Robinson (English) and Brent Nelson (English) on the Textual Communities project.

This grant will in turn support the development of an international website and transcription project on Recipes and Secrets.  More on that later this spring!

Missed Opportunities!

2012-01-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

Our recent alumna Dr. Merle Massie was interviewed Thursday afternoon on CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition to discuss her work on Saskatchewan Ghost Towns. Sounds like it would have been fun!

Alas, I didn't find out in time to give you all a heads-up about this interesting radio interview... and worse yet, there doesn't appear to be a podcast available. But congratulations to Merle -- I hope it went well.

HUSA Movie Night!

2012-01-25T23:16:00.000-06:00

The Annual Michael Swan Honours Colloquium

2012-01-17T23:49:00.001-06:00

The Department's annual colloquium will be held on Friday, January 20th at the newly renovated Diefenbaker Centre (Prairie Room). Our honours students will be presenting their work over the course of the day -- and what a great line up it is! Please feel free to join us: all are welcome to attend

Welcome (9:00-9:05 a.m.)

Session One (9:05—9:40 a.m.)

First Nations’ History

(Ryan Buhay, Chair)

Claire Thomson. “The Cowboy Way: Lakota Ranching and Rodeo Participation at Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan.”

Regan Flaherty. “The Role of Alcohol in Native-Newcomer Relationsin 18^th century IllinoisCountry.”

Session Two (9:45—10:40 a.m.)

Sex, Drugs and Eugenics

(Logan Richards, Chair)

Gina Trapp. “Art in the Time of Aids: Gay Art and GayRights in New York.”

Ryan Buhay. “A Tale of Two Campuses:LSD and the University of Saskatchewan in the 1960s.”

Amanda Shea. “When theConversation Shifts: An Examination of Changing Discourse in the BritishEugenics Review1909-1968.”

Break (10:40 a.m.—11:00 a.m.)

Session Three (11:05 a.m. —12:00Noon)

Conflict and Diplomacy

(Claire Thomson, Chair)

Tyler Reimer. “To Fight a King: Legitimate Violence inthe Magna Carta and deditio.”

Kevin Sexsmith. “The Long and Winding Road to a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

Damian Braun. “The Trent Affair: A Popular Crisis in 19^thcentury Anglo-American Relations.”

Lunch in the Foyer (12:00 Noon—1:00p.m.)

Session Four (1:05—2:00 p.m.)

History of Ideas and Historiography

(Sarah Vela, Chair)

Johnathan Brammall. “Comparative Epistemology: Ockham andAugustine on Knowledge.”

DallasPosavad. “The Venerable Bede: The Intellectual World of a Doctor of theChurch.”

Chris McGarrity. “ThePersistence of Tradition: Why the Tide of the Enlightenment has not Submerged Tradition.”

Session Five (2:05—3:00 p.m.)

The World Wars

(Damian Braun, Chair)

Matthew Kerr. “Turning Points: Intelligence and the Battle of Britain.”

David Siebel. “Trench Newspapers and Canadian Soldiers’culture in WWI.”

Randy Knight. “The American Victory at Midway: FiveFactors.”

Break (3:00—3:15 p.m.)

Session Six (3:15—4:10 p.m.)

Society and Culture in Renaissanceand Early Modern Europe

(Matthew Kerr, Chair )

Bronwyn Craig. “‘Rosemunda Avenges her father’: Paul the Deacon’sAccount of King Alboin in The History of theLombards.”

Sarah Vela. “TheRipley Scroll and Early Modern Alchemical Manuscripts.”

Logan James Richards. “Boccaccio’s Decameron:A Bawdy Picture of Daily Life in Early Renaissance Italy.”

Closing Remarks (4:10-4:20 p.m.)

Fifth Annual After-Colloquium BeverageGathering (at Louis’)

Conference Workshop

2012-01-12T21:37:00.000-06:00

Interested in learning how to apply to give papers at conferences? Write a conference paper? Or what might come afterwards? The History Department is hosting a workshop aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students. Speakers include Merle Massie, Liz Scott, Keith Carlson, Jim Miller, and Simonne Horwitz.

Date: January 13
Time: 1:30-3:30
Place: Grad Commons

As an added incentive: refreshments are provided!

Whiling Away Time

2012-01-05T10:32:00.001-06:00

Before term gets too busy, you might be interested in checking out some top-notch history blogs to while away your time. At the American Historical Association meeting, the winners of the Cliopatria Awards for best history blogging have been announced. There is some great stuff out there!

And if you check out the award-winning group blog Wonders and Marvels, you just might spot a member of our own department.

Richard Gwyn: The Great Canadian Tragedy

2012-01-04T14:25:00.003-06:00

An exciting start to the new year -- Richard Gwyn, author and political columnist, will be speaking on "The Great Canadian Tragedy: John A. vs. Louis Riel" on January 16. For a very lucky few, he will also be visiting Bill Waiser's new graduate class on Writing!

Gwyn is an officer of the order of Canada and author of the award-winning two volume biography of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister.

Date: January 16
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Place: Convocation Hall

A book sale and signing will follow.

Money money money!

2011-11-24T17:49:00.001-06:00

Congratulations are in order for two groups! This month I received the happy news that the Canadian Journal of History (housed in the department) and Geoff Cunfer were successful in their recent research grant applications.

The CJH has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Geoff has received a Research Acceleration Program grant from the university to support his international Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Group.

This just in!

2011-11-23T19:15:00.000-06:00

Simonne Horwitz was heard just this morning speaking about Canadian and South African racial policy on CBC Radio:

http://www.cbc.ca/morningedition/2011/11/23/comparing-apartheid-to-canadas-treatment-of-first-nations/.

It's a great teaser for her lecture on November 29th!

HUSA Movie Night

2011-11-21T20:09:00.001-06:00

The History Undergraduate Students' Association is hosting its first movie night of the year. Come join HUSA for a screening of 300.

Date: Tuesday, November22nd

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Place: Timlin Theatre (Arts 241).

Professor Angela Kalinowski will be providing a special introduction.

If you can't come, "There will be no glory in your sacrifice"! Or something.

HGSC Christmas Party!

2011-11-21T17:09:00.001-06:00

The History Graduate Student Committee is excited to invite you to the HGSC Christmas Party and fundraiser.

When: December 2

Time: 5 p.m.

Where: Grad Commons

Cost: $10 (students) or $15 (faculty and guests)

Banana (Musa coccinea Andr.), c.1885. Credit: Wellcome Library

A Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, a full compliment of sides and desserts as well as vegetarian options will be provided by the HGSC. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for faculty and guests, with faculty tickets including one free drink.

Tickets can be purchased from any member of the HGSC executive (http://www.usask.ca/groups/hgsc/) or from Nadine in Arts 721.

This years' theme is a tropical Christmas, so wear your best (worst) Hawaiian shirt and resort attire. Along with the dinner, activities will include an ornament exchange, photobooth, raffle and signature drinks. If you wish to participate in the ornament exchange, please bring an ornament with you to the party.

For more information see http://www.facebook.com/events/184304951656978/ or contact our social directors, Stephanie Bellissimo and Christian Elcock.

It will be a family friendly event and everyone is welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!

New Solutions for a New Saskatchewan

2011-11-20T21:56:00.001-06:00

Earlier this month, Bill Waiser wrote a commentary on the recent Saskatchewan election. You can check it out at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/new-solutions-for-a-new-saskatchewan/article2229813/.

His main question: is there really a Saskatchewan Advantage?

4th Annual Dave De Brou Memorial Lecture

2011-11-07T16:00:00.000-06:00

The History Department and the History Graduate Students Committee are proud to host the fourth annual Dave De Brou Memorial Lecture.

This annual lecture is a tribute to the late Professor Dave De Brou, who was the head of the History Department.

Our speaker this year will be award winning professor Simonne Horwitz. Dr. Horwitz will be giving the lecture: "Apartheid in a Parka?: A Historical Analysis of the links between Canadian and South African Racial Policy."

Where: Library Theatre, Frances Morrison Library (311 23rd - Street East)
When: Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Time: Doors 6:30 p.m., Lecture 7:00 p.m.
Cost: Free

This event is open to anyone who would like to attend. Beverages and refreshments to follow the lecture.

HUSA and HGSA Halloween Party

2011-10-25T15:56:00.002-06:00

All History grad and undergrad students, postdocs, staff and faculty are welcome to attend!

Date: Friday, October 28
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Grad Commons

Distinguished Chair Celebration

2011-10-23T12:00:00.000-06:00


Bill Waiser, Distinguished Chair

Earlier this month, the Faculty of Arts and Science held a celebration for Bill Waiser and Ron Steer (Chemistry) who had recently been named Distinguished Chairs. As part of the celebration, Bill was expected to explain History to chemists and Ron was to explain Chemistry to historians.

Although the natural division of the room into disciplinary sides, as like gravitated toward like, did not seem to bode well, both speakers eloquently explained the importance of their work and did, in fact, find common ground.

The 'History' Side, amused during Bill's talk

Bill spoke to the need for history in the modern world, particularly in terms of encouraging an engaged citizenry. He discussed the thirst of the general public to know more about their past and the way in which historians constantly revise our understanding of the past as new questions arise. Ron told us that he discovered his subject because he wanted to know what would happen when he shone light on molecules -- and stressed the necessity of continued funding for curiosity-driven research, which is what his own work had always been.

In a week when a local journalist had attacked curiosity-driven humanities research, the emphasis of both speakers on the role of new questions in driving innovation was a particularly welcome message for the audience.

Congratulations to Bill and Ron for being named Distinguished Chairs -- and for their masterful explanations of their work!

Bietenholz Rare Book Collection

2011-10-22T14:00:00.000-06:00

Back in 2009, Peter Bietenholz, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Saskatchewan, and his wife Doris donated their rare books to the Murray Library.

Under the supervision of Special Collections Librarian David Bindle, a McGill MLIS student, Nina Thurlow (B.A. Hons. in CMRS) catalogued the collection as her summer practicum project.

You can check out the collection by visiting the website (http://library2.usask.ca/bietenholz) and, if you want to take a look at any of the books, you can visit the Special Collections Library. The Bietenholz Rare Book Collection is a significant addition to the U of S Special Collections and will prove a valuable resource for students, faculty and visiting researchers alike.

Dr. Chad Gaffield Lecture

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Dr. Chad Gaffield

The department is delighted to welcome Dr. Chad Gaffield (President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), who will be giving a guest lecture on "Learning, the Research T, and EngagedScholarship : How the social sciences and humanities are helpingre-imagine universities in the Digital Age". He describes his presentation:

Universities are among the few institutionsthat can trace their history to the middle ages. One key reason is theirability to adapt their form and content to changing internal and externalforces. This ability is currently beingtested by new insights into pedagogy, new approaches to advancing knowledge andunderstanding about the past and present, and new relationships with the largersociety. Each of these developments is beingenabled, accelerated and influenced by digital technologies, digital contentand digital literacies. If judged by public discussion in societies around theworld, the current result is both promising and worrisome, both inspiring andthreatening. This lecture will briefly describe the profound changes nowunderway on campuses across Canada and will suggest how innovative approachesin the social sciences and humanities hold significant promise for thesuccessful re-imagining of universities in the Digital Age.

All are welcome to attend!

Date: November 1

Time: 4 p.m.

Place: Convocation Hall

The Bilson Lecture -- tomorrow!

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

This is just a reminder that our Bilson Lecture is tomorrow night. All are welcome!

Dr. Andrea Tone (McGill), “The Curious Case of ValOrlikow: Cold War Psychiatry and the CIA”.

Thursday, October 6

7 p.m.

Arts 241

University of Saskatchewan

Reception to Follow

Meet the Profs Night 2011

2011-10-04T09:54:00.003-06:00

The History Undergraduate Students' Association(HUSA) ishosting its annual social "soiree" of the year.

HUSA President Matthew Kerr promises:

"Get caught up in the energy of exciting and engagingconversational pursuits with faculty and your peers while feasting onan arrayof appetizers, and indulging in your choice of refreshments. ... Show up! You'll be glad you did!"

Date: Wednesday,October 5th

Time: 4:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m

Place: Louis'

Cost: Free!

Felicitations, Felix!

2011-09-27T12:08:00.000-06:00

Felix working those winking and smiling muscles

As many of your know, Erika Dyck gave birth to the charming Felix back in May. I'm delighted to report that Felix was finally able to go home just over a week ago after spending 118 days in hospital.

Erika writes that Felix is doing well and that he "makes himself heard at every opportunity". Happy parents Erika and John are relieved to have their son at home and are enjoying "the sleepless nights and a new rhythm of life".

Welcome home, Felix!

A very sleepy Felix with his doting mother

SSHRC Workshop for Grad Students

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

Interested in applying for SSHRC funding for your M.A. or Ph.D.?

The Department is hosting a workshop on Friday, September 30th from 2:30-4:30. Come find out what makes a successful application from Lisa Smith (SSHRC Ph.D. fellowships committee member), Keith Carlson (supervisor of several SSHRC-funded grad students), and Jason Grier and Amy Samson (recent recipients).

Local Conference on Religious History

2011-09-15T16:18:00.004-06:00

A conference on "Emerging Normativities: Examining the Formation of Proto-Orthodox Christianities and Rabbinic Judaisms 200 - 800 CE" will be held on September 21-22 at STM.

The events begin on Wednesday, the 21st from 4:00pm-10:00pm, with a conference dinner at STM from 5:30 to 6:45, followed by plenary lectures by Dr. Daniel Boyarin from the University of California, Berkeley and Dr. Anders Runesson from McMaster University.

On Thursday, September 22, speakers from across the U.S. and Canada will give presentations from 9:15 to 4:00 at the Parktown Hotel.

Fees are as follows:
Individual - $125.00
U of S/STM Student - No Fee
Other Student - $75.00

You can register online via the STM website: www.stmcollege.ca.

A Historian's Perspective

2011-09-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

Jim Miller (Canada Research Chair) will be speaking to the Saskatoon Theological Union Graduate Studies Seminar on "Reconciliation andResidential Schools: A Historian's Perspective".

All are welcome to attend.

September 29, 7:00 pm

St. Andrew’s College

Room 322.

The Bilson Lecture

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Dr. Andrea Tone

The Bilson lecture, held every two years, honours the late Professor Geoffrey Bilson, a specialist in American Colonial History and Canadian Medical History. He also wrote children's historical fiction. The focus this year is on the history of medicine.

The History Department is delighted to welcome Dr. Andrea Tone (McGill) as our Bilson Lecturer. She will be speaking on “The Curious Case of ValOrlikow: Cold War Psychiatry and the CIA”.

As Canada Research Chair in theSocial History of Medicine at McGill University, Dr. Tone's scholarship explores women and health,medical technology, sexuality, psychiatry, and industry. She has written and edited several books, including The Age of Anxiety: A History of America’s TurbulentAffair with Tranquilizers (2009), Medicating Modern America:Prescription Drugs in History, with Elizabeth Siegel Watkins (2007), and Devicesand Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America (2001). Currently, Dr.Tone's research (funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes ofHealth Research) focuses on the CIA and Cold War psychiatry.

Her work has been featured onABC News, PBS, National Public Radio, the CBC, the History Channel, Newsweek,Macleans, and the New York Times. In 2011, Dr. Tone received the American Psychiatric Association’sBenjamin Rush Award for her contributions to the history of psychiatry.

Professor Tone’s visit to the Universityof Saskatchewan is supported by theGeoffrey Bilson Memorial Trust Fund, the Department of History, the HumanitiesResearch Unit, the Canada Research Chair, History of Medicine, the College of Artsand Science, and the College of Medicine.

The Bilson Lecture is open tothe public. Everyone is welcome.

Thursday, October 6

7 p.m.

Arts 241

University of Saskatchewan

Reception to Follow

Mark Your Calendars for Some Fantastic History of Medicine

2011-09-13T21:59:00.000-06:00

History of Medicine SeminarSeries, 2011-2012

Seminars are held at 4pm in the ClubRoom

at the Faculty Club

September 22 Gayle Davis

(U ofEdinburgh)

‘Bulls,Bastards, Baseness, and Bunk: Issues Surrounding Artificial Insemination in1950s Scotland’

October 6 Andrea Tone

(U of McGill)

‘TheCurious Case of Val Orlikow: Cold War Psychiatry and the CIA’

November 10 Dominique Tobbell

(U ofMinnesota)

‘Political Pills: The Struggle for Prescription Drug Reform inRecent U.S. History’

November 24 Leslie Baker

(U ofSaskatchewan)

‘EnablingEugenics: The role of the Massachusetts Halifax Health Commission in thesurveillance and improvement of the provincial population’

December TBA Maureen Lux

(U of Brock)

‘North Battleford Indian Hospital: Translating and InterpretingTreaty Rights in the 1960s and 1970s’

January 19 Paul Hackett

(U ofSaskatchewan)

‘InherentWeakness: The Use of Genetic Explanations to Explain Excessive AboriginalMortality’

February 16 Amy Sampson

(U ofSaskatchewan)

‘Social Work and Eugenics in Alberta, 1930-1970’

March 15 Jonathan Metzl

(U ofVanderbilt)

‘TheProtest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease’

2011-09-05T09:00:00.076-06:00

Welcome Back, Historians!

Here we are once again at the start of a new year. Although we do academic advising in the department in the spring, it's worth starting to think about your future career even before we all get caught up in the hamster-wheel of the academic year. Students often wonder: "what can I do with a history degree?" Even though we all love history here, many students believe that a history degree just won't lead to a job.

Don't worry: your prospects are better than you think. The American Historical Association has a helpful overview of what you can do with a history degree and the Canadian Historical Association provides career advice for graduate students. For a more tangible idea of what having a history degree means, see The Guardian for a breakdown of what U.K. history graduates did. Indeed, not only do we know that American graduates with a B.A. in History earned more over a lifetime than other humanities graduates, but it turns out that "historian" has been listed as one of the top ten jobs!

So, positive news all around. If you're interested in learning more, drop by to chat with your profs -- and keep your eyes open for our various departmental career-related events.

2011-09-02T09:00:00.004-06:00

T.A. Workshop

A workshop for all teaching assistants will be held on September 9 at the Faculty Club (11:30-5:00).

The programme is as follows:

11:30 Gathering

11:45 – 12:00 Welcome – Jim Handy, Head and Lesley Biggs

12:00 – 1:00 Sandwich Buffet Lunch (courtesy of the Department)

1:00 – 1:30 Professionalism in the Classroom – Robert Englebert

1: 30 – 2:00 Marking Essays – Bill Waiser

2:00 – 2:30 Plagiarism – Simonne Horwitz

2:30 – 2: 45 Break

2:45 – 3:15: Leading Class Discussions – Lisa Smith

3: 15 – 3: 50 TAs and TAing: What I wish I knew when I started this job -- Deanna Diener, Frances Reilly, Brenan Smith

3: 50 – 4:00 Final Remarks – Martha Smith

4:00 – 5:00 Beer and chips

Lots to learn, but with lots of opportunities to socialize, too. We look forward to catching up with our old T.A.s and meeting our new ones. See you there!

2011-08-22T09:00:00.011-06:00

Ch-Ch-Changes

This summer saw a few changes to our department, which alumni and students will be interested to hear about as we head into the new academic year.

For those of you who notice that Valerie Korinek is not around this term, I'm pleased to report that her absence is only temporary. She is taking a well-deserved sabbatical after spending the last three years as our Head. Back in May, we had a celebration for Valerie to thank her for all her hard work on our behalf.

Valerie giving a short speech about her headship (Photo credit: Nadine Penner)

In Valerie's place, we welcome Jim Handy as department head. Valerie's speech was very instructive about the trials, tribulations and pleasures of being head. With Jim's own journey beginning, we wish him well in his new job!

Slide from Valerie's speech (Photo credit: Nadine Penner)

Last, but not least, we bade a fond farewell to John McCannon and Pam Jordan, who have moved back to the United States to be closer to their families. Good luck and all best wishes for your own journeys, John and Pam!

2011-08-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

Breaking News

This just in: Bill Waiser has just been named a "Distinguished Chair" by the University of Saskatchewan. The award is "meant to honour and celebrate exceptional achievement in research, scholarly work, or artistic work" and will be for a three year term. Congratulations, Bill!

2011-08-19T09:00:00.003-06:00

History Warm-Up Exercises

With term time fast approaching, it's time to start stretching your back-to-school mind muscles. Develop your flexibility by checking out these links to historical subjects across time periods and geographical places.

A fantastic blog that was recommended by John Porter is The History Blog. The blog keeps its beady eye on historical tidbits in the news so you don't have to. It also occasionally posts real estate ads for choice bits of historical property. The entry for August 18 is for a Swedish house c. 1750, complete with preserved skeleton in the basement. How's that for living history?

For uncomfortable living history, you should take a look at the Wellcome Collection's Incurably Curious, which has photos and articles on subjects from anatomy lectures to hand x-rays, with foot-binding and peep shows along the way.

If you didn't manage to do as much travelling this summer as you would have liked, never fear -- I have rounded-up some beautiful photos for your armchair travels. You can see a comparison of Scotland's landscape then and now: Scotland's Ever-changing Scenery. Then take a look at John C.H. Grabill's late nineteenth-century photos from the American West: Frontier Life in the West. Or what about a collection of photos to highlight how London has reinvented itself over the years: Vintage London: Taking in the Smoke? And for those of you who like the raw edge of history, with a smattering of disease, grime and crime there is Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life and Eerily Beautiful Mug Shots from 1920s Australia.

If you did take a holiday and have lots of photos or have been collecting your own set of historical photos that you want to share, you should check out Historypin. You can also view the existing collections of historical photos already there, which includes subjects as diverse as "The Facial Hair through Time Collection", "The Street Party Collection" or "Animal in Unusual Places". There are more serious historical ones, too, such as "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake".

Now that you've had your fill of photographs, what about a couple history games? The McCord Museum has a fun game about gender and social roles in The Victorian Period. I'm pleased to report that my many years working as a historical interpreter at Rutherford House at Fort Edmonton Park paid off! The McCord also has quizzes and other games. A game at which I was somewhat less successful is High Tea from the Wellcome Collection, which deals with the tea and opium trade of the nineteenth-century. I'll beat it yet.

Happy time stretching! If you come across any other fun or useful history links in the course of your exercises, please let me know.

2011-08-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

New Book:

The Dirty Thirties in Saskatchewan

Attention Saskatchewan and environmental history buffs: alumnus Curtis McManus (B.A. 2003, M.A. 2004) sent in a notice that his book, Happyland: a history of the “Dirty Thirties” in Saskatchewan, 1914-1937, was just published by the University of Calgary Press. Curtis, now an instructor at Lakeland College in Lloydminster, reports that the book expands on research that he began with his M.A. thesis. His book situates the Dirty Thirties within the context of cyclical droughts rather than the economics of the Great Depression. To find out more about the experience of Saskatchewanians and the long-term effects of cyclical drought on the Saskatchewan psyche, you can sample excerpts of the book online or (even better!) purchase the book in full from the usual suspects.

2011-08-02T08:00:00.095-06:00

The Road Warrior's Tales
from the Archives

(by Brenan Smith, M.A. Candidate in History)

Richard Nixon Library

Despite my hopes that I had mastered the art of archival research while at the Eisenhower Library, I soon learned that one always has more to learn.

On the second research trip, for example, I discovered that while the Richard Nixon Library does indeed have more documents related to Richard Nixon than the Eisenhower Library, it has much tighter controls. There's probably a joke about a paranoid need for control in there somewhere.

Still, I was able to conduct lots of research; I scanned an average of 858 pages per day of research. While in Abilene, I had found that on a short research trip (as they generally are, given research funding constraints) it is easiest to find things that might be of use and scan as many of them as possible.

But in L.A. there were several complex layers added to this process. The Nixon Library's protocol is that the researcher present the files within the folders within the boxes that s/he would like to scan before actually scanning them. If that sounds complicated, that's because it is. According to a fellow Canadian who was also at the Library, it was "the most ridiculous policy" that he'd ever encountered.

Another key lesson that I learned (after "know thy protocol") is that being extra polite, combined with some level of feigned (not so feigned?) helplessness, can go a long way with archivists. The archivists were friendly and helpful -- and with each passing day, my research became easier.

And so ended my first two research trips. I had lots of fun and discovered all sorts of great information, although some of it might only amuse other historians in my field. I have a newfound respect and admiration of the American Interstate system (N.B. Dwight Eisenhower created it!) and I became ever more enthusiastic about my topic even as the gads of information that I gathered have made me start to worry about fitting it all in to one tiny thesis.

Fountain outside Richard Nixon Library

2011-08-01T08:00:00.003-06:00

Fuelling History:

Tips on Diet, Health and Driving

from the History Road Warrior

(by Brenan Smith, M.A. Candidate in History)

After driving from Saskatoon to Abilene, Kansas, and spending a solid week researching at the Eisenhower Library, I thought that I had at last mastered the arts of travelling amongst Americans and archival research. One of the most important research strategies that I discovered was forgoing lunch in order to keep up my research momentum (and which allowed me to leave half an hour early each day--when my concentration was waning anyhow, of course).

Protein bars helped in the absence of lunch (N.B. no tiger's milk included)

Nutrition is obviously important in daily life, but doubly so during a research trip as the long grind can quickly wear one out. Luckily the fabled In n' Out Burger was not ridiculously far from the Library, and I quickly made a vow to have nothing but two "Flying Dutchman" and a diet Coke for supper every day until I left. Such a vow was also cost effective: $8 American.

Flying Dutchman Burger (N.B. no bun included)

Since Los Angeles is a rather warm location, it was important to stay hydrated. I found that the $3 bottle of Voss, an imported Norwegian water, had the distinct advantage of looking like a rather large vial of cologne, but otherwise it tasted oddly similar to tap water.

Fancy, overpriced water (N.B. tap water cheaper and better)

On the topic of heat, people in L.A. can spot a Canadian rather easily: while 23 degrees (celsius) may be shorts and sandals weather for any Ice-loving Saskatchewanian™, it is apparently considered a "cold snap" in June, and thus jeans and shoes are recommended.

Californian Flora during cold snap (N.B. no cold included)

I like to try to stay healthy even when traveling (diet notwithstanding) and I find that a good work-out relieves the stress of a long day of sitting and scanning dusty papers. Fitness centres abound in Los Angeles, few of them affordable, and some of them not actually fitness centres as I found out when I poked my head into Fitness Grill only to be asked if I'd like a table.

Fitness Grill (N.B. no fitness included)

Driving in L.A. was a challenge, but I found that unless Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and California are the exceptions, American drivers conduct themselves in a much more polite fashion than Saskatchewanians. I will admit that while in L.A. a local strip club manager was randomly gunned down on a South L.A. freeway, but I doubt that it had anything to do with his driving...

Coming up tomorrow -- the final installment, "The Road Warrior's Tales from the Archives"!

Editor's Note: The History Department is not promoting any of the above-mentioned products. In any case, the thought of a bunless burger horrifies this editor.

2011-07-27T08:00:00.007-06:00

Another Summer Research Trip:

The Weyburn Way

(by Lucas Richert, Postdoctoral Fellow)

Correspondent Brenan Smith is by no means the only historian from our department who is on the road this summer. Earlier this month, history of medicine enthusiasts Daniel McFarlane (3rd year undergrad), Ryan Buhay (3rd year undergrad), and I embarked on a 3-day research trip to Weyburn. Our goals: to look at the Weyburn Mental Hospital during the Great Depression and to examine the hospital’s innovative art, music, and movement therapy programs in the 1950s-1960s. To this end, we scanned microfilm, shot video, conducted an interview, and even visited the cemetery and hospital ruins. Yet the journey to Weyburn produced so much more than just intriguing historical insights!

According to Ryan, “Weyburn was quite the time. There was blood, a disgruntled CN worker, an old-school accordion jam session of Neil Young's 'Helpless', a paper-airplane contest, the fastest water slide in history (three seconds), Boston Pizza (repeatedly), and a continental breakfast that had a 'make your own waffle' contraption. All in all, it was an epic, mind-blowing experience.”

Daniel had this to say about the fieldwork in Weyburn: “I didn’t know what to expect going into this trip, but it turned out to be a really fun and eye-opening experience. It’s amazing how helpful people are when you tell them you want to learn about their local history. The history of the Weyburn asylum is incredibly unique, and really comes alive when you talk to people who were actually there.”

We still need to do some more primary research, but are on track to finishing our respective historical projects later this summer. That said, it seems unlikely that writing-up our research will be nearly as much fun as our Weyburn fieldwork.

2011-07-26T12:44:00.000-06:00

Digital Mapmaking

Alumna Alice Glaze (B.A. Hons. in English and History 2007, M.A. in History 2009) sent in a link from today's New York Times on the use of Geographic Information Systems to map historical information spatially. This technique allows historians to spot information that otherwise would not be visible. But, as Alice cast her keen eyes over the article, she spotted a reference to one U of S historian in particular... The article refers to Geoff Cunfer's use of GIS to examine the Dust Bowl during the 1930s.

2011-07-25T08:00:00.005-06:00

The History Road Warrior's Abilene Adventures

(by Brenan Smith, M.A. candidate)

I went to Abilene for research, but also managed to find a fantastic museum and fascinating assortment of roadside attractions. The giant saluting "Chieftain" welcomes travellers to a motel just down the street from the town highschool. I was impressed not only by the fact that it had zero graffiti on it, but that the people standing beside us wondered, "What does he mean by 'Aboriginal?", when I commented on the statue to my wife. A real cultural difference!

Louis Lamour Lane, other than being a poorly maintained street dedicated to a Western author, leads to the giant buffalo statue -- which I did not see, as it was closed to visitors without money. (That includes travelling grad students.)

The next two pictures are the grounds at the Eisenhower museum, every part of which essentially tells the story of the Eisenhower family and how soldiers are great.

The semi-pointilist semi-pixelated Eisenhower mural is on the side of a liquor store, obviously a nice slice of Americana...

I also found a drive through liquour store, which seemed to be uniquely American.

The following pictures are from the Eisenhower Museum, including Mamie's hats.

Then... something I found both hilarious and a tad risque for the time: "I like Ike" pantyhose and garters. I'd never thought of such provocative campaign tools before (especially since the men were simply given branded ties).

The safe conduct pamphlet below interested me because it was a type of psychological warfare. It guaranteed that any German soldier who surrendered would receive fair treatment, as opposed to any other treatment that German soldiers might otherwise receive.

One of the first teleprompters was also at the museum -- a great example of early technology! Eisenhower apparently distrusted cameras and such technology, but understood the necessities of them.

Once outside the realms of the museum, I discovered the world's largest spur.

Which, in turn, reminded me of something that I should be doing:

2011-07-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

A Fateful Trip

Now sit right back and you'll read a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...

Back in September 2005, History Honours alumna (2005) Jill McKenzie was one of eight Canadians chosen for the Young Professionals International Program, which is administered by the Canadian Museums Association and supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs. For six months, Jill worked as a Junior Curator at the Migration Museum in Adelaide, South Australia. She reviewed the Museum’s collection of Vietnamese objects to assess their relevance to the South Australian Vietnamese community's immigration and settlement history and made recommendations for future museum acquisitions. She also worked with South Australian Vietnamese community organisations to research and develop South Australian content for the exhibition, Fall of Saigon: Collected Fragments of Post 75 Generation.

After her internship, Jill worked as a curator at the Migration Museum in Adelaide and the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide. Jill also met her partner David (an Aussie) during her placement and they married in November last year. She is now managing online and other public programs at History SA, but has recently applied to begin her PhD at the University of Adelaide.

What started as a six month placement has become six years!

Jill and her husband David in Port Douglas, Queensland

2011-07-20T10:18:00.004-06:00

"I like GPS -- it gives me direction

when I am driving."

Earlier this summer, I received news of our alumna Akira Peters (2010) who had suffered a hemorragic stroke in 2008 just before her final year of a combined Honours degree. Now entering her final year of an Education degree at the University of Alberta, she was recently featured in an inspirational article by the Stroke Recovery Association of Edmonton in which we learn about the usefulness of GPS and how to put "possibility in stroke disability." But that is not her only big news: while on a cycling trip in the Rockies in June, she got engaged to her long-term boyfriend, Andrew. Exciting times ahead, GPS or no GPS!

2011-07-20T09:16:00.002-06:00

What Graduate Students
Do in the Summer

So far this summer we've heard about our grad students giving conference papers, but The Summer Research Trip is another staple activity of grad student life. MA student Brenan Smith has kindly agreed to be a roving graduate student reporter this summer. As a history road warrior, he will be sending us a couple dispatches from the highways and byways of the United States as he goes forth in search of his sources. Up next week: Abilene, Kansas.

2011-07-15T03:45:00.004-06:00

Weekend Plans?

If not, how about a book signing at McNally's? Stuart Houston and Bill Waiser will be having a book signing at McNally Robinson on Saturday, July 16 at 1 p.m. Their book, Tommy's Team, has been shortlisted for the CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History and the winner will be announced in just over a week!

2011-07-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

How Professors Spend the Summer:

The Heritage Fair

Robert Englebert (see February 10th entry) has been busy introducing the young people of Saskatoon to Métis history. Below is his special report on his participation in the Saskatoon Regional Youth Heritage Fair... It sounds like a fun day -- maybe next year he will provide What's Up with a video of him playing the spoons!

*******

For the last couple of years I've been on the organizing committee for the Saskatoon Regional Youth Heritage Fair. Think science fair: but history for students grades 4 to 9.

It has been a great experience. One of the things I've enjoyed the most has been bringing in a Métis fiddler and jiggers to entertain the kids and their parents. This year, Dallas (Fiddler) Boyer and St. Mary's Dance Troupe performed, while I helped kids in the audience learn to play the spoons.

I was also excited to be able to contribute a book prize this year on behalf of the history department. Valerie Korinek and Linda Dietz provided a couple historical fiction books written by Dr. Geoffrey Bilson, which I presented to the winner of the highest judged project at the grade 4-5 level. Bilson would have approved. An American specialist who taught at the University of Saskatchewan from 1964-1987, Bilson also had side interests in Canadian medical history and children's historical fiction.

The best part of the Heritage Fair, though, has been spending time meeting the students and talking to them about their projects. Their enthusiasm for history is infectious and has made the Fair one of my favorite events of the year!

2011-06-27T08:19:00.000-06:00

An Accounting

A note from MA student Mark Geldof (supervisor Sharon Wright) recently appeared in your loyal correspondent's mailbox. Mark wrote that he "thought the department should know what one of its students has been up to with his GTF (Graduate Teaching Fellowship) the last two years". And a fine accounting it is, too.

Earlier this summer, he presented at the infamous Zoo (Kalamazoo, 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies) on “Amen Quod J Ledall: BL Additional 39564 and Late Medieval English Fight Texts". Just before the conference, Opuscula published his article, “Strokes of ij hand swerde: a Brief Instruction in the Use of Personal Arms.” Opuscula 1, no. 2 (2011): 1-9. His summer of success will be rounded off when The Antiquaries Journal publishes his article on "Signo Dicti Collegii: Instruction for a Fourteenth-Century Corporate Badge for the College of Trinity Hall, Cambridge” in September (The Antiquaries Journal 92, 2011).

It is always wonderful to see such projects coming to completion!

2011-06-27T07:52:00.001-06:00

Double Trouble

Keith Thor Carlson with his two awards (photo credit: Bill Waiser)

One of the must-read books of the summer for anyone wanting to know more about Aboriginal history is surely Keith Thor Carlson's The Power of Place, The Problem of Time: Aboriginal Identity and Historical Consciousness in the Cauldron of Colonialism. The book received two awards at the Canadian Historical Association's annual conference and is described by the CHA Clio committee as "engaging, clearly-written, and important".

The awards are the Aboriginal History Studies Group's Aboriginal History Book Prize and the CHA's Clio Prize for British Columbia. It is worthwhile to read each committee's rationale in full at the CHA website: AHSG and CHA. The short version, however, is that Keith's innovative work examines dynamic Stó:lõ identities since the eighteenth century, situating the identities within temporal and spatial contexts. His book redefines how Aboriginal history can be done. By using ethnographical, archaeological, geographical and anthropological tools to frame his understanding of archival and oral sources, Keith shows how Aboriginal history can be studied on its own terms.

Congratulations, Keith! This is fantastic and exciting news.

2011-06-02T10:33:00.001-06:00

Soundbites

Congratulations to Bill Waiser and Stuart Houston. Their book, Tommy's Team, has been shortlisted for the CAA Lela Common Award for Canadian History. You can read an excerpt of the book at The StarPhoenix -- or even better, buy a copy of it! We'll keep our fingers crossed for you, Bill and Stuart.

Simonne Horwitz gave a smart, eloquent and thought-provoking interview to John Gormley on May 13 about the John Demjanjuk case: http://www.newstalk980.com/audio/john-gormley-live/20110513-john-gormley-live-may-13-2011-freed-nazi. This is well worth a listen.

On a more frivolous note, Lisa Smith was interviewed by CBC Calgary on April 28 about the rituals of pomp and ceremony surrounding the royal nuptials. She nearly did not make the interview time, as she had been en route to Moose Jaw for the Keewatin Conference when her car stalled and needed to be towed back to Saskatoon. She delivered the interview from a telephone in a local garage... The best bit was when the mechanic burst into the room midway through, exclaiming "Sorry, love, but your engine is shot!" Or was it? Alas, you'll never know, as there is no podcast to prove the story either way...

2011-06-02T10:13:00.007-06:00

Hot Hot History: The CSHM Version

Whereas our department participated in the CHA, we positively dominated the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine and Canadian Association for the History of Nursing conference! The count includes five grad students, one postdoc, two faculty and two former postdocs -- considering the much smaller size of this conference, this is an impressive number. The breadth of our presentations highlights the vibrancy of our history of medicine programme (in which, incidentally, students will soon be able to take a minor).

On the final day of the conference, a miniature meeting resumed at the Fredericton airport, where several CSHMers waited several hours for their much delayed flights. Fortunately, the company was good, so the time sped by!

Presentations included (in order of appearance):

Matt Mossey, "From Radon Gas to Radioisotopes: The Birth and Legacy of the Saskatchewan Cancer Initiative"

Myra Rutherdale and Maureen Lux (former postdocs, now at York and Brock respectively) were on the roundtable, "Accounting for the Importance of Home-place, Workplace, Landscape and Identity in Canadian Health Care Services"

Marc Macdonald, "Trafficking Disease: Unexpected Death in an Enlightenment World"

Sheila Gibbons, "'A Moral and Physical Menace': Motherhood and Eugenics in UFWA Politics, 1815-1925"

Lucas Richert, "The American Psychiatric Association's Radical Caucus, 1968-1969"

Amy Samson, "Identifying Mental Suspects: Alberta School Teachers and Eugenics, 1930-1960"

Elizabeth Scott, "'Rejected on Account of His Eyes': Canadian Medical Inspection and Emigrant Selection amongst London's Labouring Poor in the 1890s and 1900s"

Lisa Wynne Smith, "Defining Old Age: Men's Debility in Early Eighteenth-Century England"

Simonne Horwitz, "Reading HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan's Newspapers, 1981-2010"

2011-06-02T10:03:00.002-06:00

Hot Hot History: The CHA Version

Now that we're all back from Congress, it's worth taking stock of our department's participation in the CHA conference.

A highlight of the Canadian Historical Association conference was the roundtable focusing on Keith Carlson's recent book, The Power of Place, The Problem of Time: Aboriginal Identity and Historical Consciousness in the Cauldron of Colonialism.

Keith and Erika Dyck [in absentia] also participated on the same panel, "Silencing the Past: Barriers to Historical Research", which was cross-listed between the CHA and Canadian Society for the History of Medicine. Keith's paper was on "The Hidden Promise: History, the Archives and Ethics in the Salish Community", while Erika's paper looked at "Searching for the Voices of Patients: Medical Records, Health Information Laws and Challenges/Opportunities for the History of Medicine".

The panel, "Imperialism, Displacement and Resistance", included Martha Smith-Norris speaking on "American Cold War Policies and The Enewatakese: Environmental Degradation, Community Displacement, and Indigenous Resistance in the Marshall Islands") and Daniel Macfarlane (alumnus, now a postdoc at Carleton), "Displaced Waters and Displaced Communities: Exploring the Formation of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project". Tolly Bradford (U of S postdoc) spoke in another panel on "Religion, Leadership and the Re-Making of Community amongst the Grant River Six Nations, 1822-1870".

2011-05-05T11:50:00.000-06:00

Workshop: Religious Encounter and Exchange in Aboriginal Canada

Members of the University Community are invited to be involved as non-presenting participants in a workshop titled "Religious Encounter and Exchange in Aboriginal Canada." It will be held at the University of Saskatchewan, 12-14 May 2011.

Recent public discussions about the history of residential schools in Canada are a stark reminder of religion’s central role in Canadian Aboriginal history. This history was not simple or straightforward, nor is it over. Existing historiography on religion in Aboriginal Canada has examined the history of residential schools and considered Christian missionaries as colonial agents of assimilation and change. However, significantly less has been said about Aboriginal roles and perspectives on religious encounters and the ways in which spiritual, as well as material and political, forces contributed to religious exchange and transformations. This is all the more striking in view of rich literatures in other (post)colonial contexts like Africa, China, and India, where religion has long figured as a central category of analysis. This three-day interdisciplinary workshop, to be held 12-14 May 2011, will, for the
first time, bring together established and emerging scholars from across North America to address this gap. By giving participants a venue to present their original research and share it with other experts, the workshop will establish a baseline of knowledge for a new and vigorous debate about the role of “religious encounter” in scholarship about Aboriginal Canada.

DATES & LOCATION OF WORKSHOP:
May 12th 8:30am-3:45pm: STM Room 344a
May 13th 9:00am-12:15pm: STM Room 344a
May 14th 9:00am-12:00pm: Graduate Student Commons

For more information and to access workshop papers prior to the event please contact: Tolly Bradford, Department of History (tolly.bradford@usask.ca).

2011-04-18T09:23:00.000-06:00

How to Publish Journal Articles

A workshop on publishing journal articles will be held on April 21st, from 1:00-3:30 at the Grad Commons.

1:00-1:30 Jim Miller: An Editor's View: How to Choose a Journal
1:30-2:15 Erika Dyck: Formatting and Structuring Articles for Publication
2:15-2:30 Refreshment Break
2:30--3:00 Panel Discussion (Justin Bengry, Frances Reilly and Tolly Bradford)
3:00-3:30 Questions and Answers

All are welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact Michael Kirkpatrick (kirpak@hotmail.com).

2011-03-21T23:19:00.001-06:00

Outstanding New Teacher

Congratulations to Simonne Horwitz who has just received the Provost's Award for Outstanding New Teacher from the Vice-Provost of Teaching and Learning. She will receive the award at a Celebration of Teaching on April 27th at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Excellence. Simonne was hired as tenure-track faculty in 2008 and has never failed to impress us with her energy, enthusiasm and dedication to her students.

For students interested in taking courses with the Outstanding Professor Horwitz, she will be teaching an exciting line-up of courses in 2011-12: Hist 245 (African History: An Introduction), Hist 303 (Sex, Gender and Sexuality in Africa) and Hist 397 (Approaches to History). And as it turns out, we've just started departmental advising this week...

Congratulations, Simonne, on this much-deserved honour!

2011-03-15T13:05:00.000-06:00

A New Red Deer Resident

Congratulations to alumna Jillian Staniec (BA Hons. 2003, M.A. 2007) who leaves Saskatchewan to take up a permanent job at the Red Deer Archives. She reports that her M.A. in history was essential for getting the job.

If she hasn't yet discovered Glenn's Restaurant, I hope that she'll take the time to venture to Gasoline Alley sometime soon -- Red Deer is blessed with one of the few restaurants that knows how to brew a proper cup of tea (and has an excellent selection!).

Good luck in Red Deer, Jillian! We hope that you'll keep us posted on any interesting new collections or exhibitions at your archives.

2011-03-14T17:27:00.005-06:00

This just in: Angela Kalinowski
Becomes Media Star

On March 15 (the Ides of March), Angela Kalinowski will be making two media appearances to discuss the Ideas of March. You can see her on the CTV News at Noon with Jeff Rogstadt -- and hear an interview with her on CBC! Her CBC interview will be aired at 4:41 p.m.. Stay tuned...

The death of Caesar: Caesar is lying on the ground, assassinated by a group of senatorial conspirators led by Cassius Longinus and Marcus Iunius Brutus on the ides of March. Etching, J.C. Armytage. Source: Wellcome Library, London

2011-03-10T20:12:00.001-06:00

Book Pub and Silent Auction

An eccentric itinerant medicine vendor who collects old books, outside a bookshop. Source: Wellcome Library, London.

The HGSC's annual Book Pub and Silent Auction - our largest and most popular annual event - is just over two weeks away. Open to graduate students, faculty, staff, and guests, it will be held on March 25th in
the Grad Commons from 4:00-6:30. Snacks and non-alcoholic drinks will be provided free of charge and there will be a cash bar operating on a cost-recovery basis.

In addition to a wide array of books and gift certificates from local business (such as restaurants, spas, and theatres), we will also be auctioning off donations from graduate students, staff, and faculty members. In past years, faculty and staff have donated guided canoe trips, home-cooked dinners, knitted items and other crafts, gift certificates, and office supplies that have greatly contributed to the event's success. Proceeds benefit a variety of initiatives including student social events, the Dave DeBrou Memorial Lecture and Scholarship, and student participation in the Keewatin Graduate Student Conference.

If you are able to make a donation or if you have any questions, please contact Liam Haggarty (liam.haggarty@usask.ca) or Matt Todd (mrt585@mail.usask.ca).

We hope to see you on the 25th!

2011-03-10T15:45:00.001-06:00

An Honourable Mention

Congratulations to alumnus (and U of S med student) Adam Fowler! His essay, "To Smile in the Face of Grim Death: Methodists and the Good Death in Eighteenth-Century Britain", received an honourable mention for the 2011 Osler Medal, awarded by the American Association for the History of Medicine. The medal is awarded annually to a medical student for the best unpublished essay on a medical history subject.

2011-03-10T09:50:00.004-06:00

Keewatin Country Graduate Student History Conference

Each year the Universities of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Winnipeg sponsor the Keewatin Country Graduate Student History Conference, which offers graduate and top undergraduate students the opportunity to present their research in a collegial and scholarly environment. This year the Keewatin Conference returns to Saskatchewan and brings more than thirty presenters as well as faculty, guests, and supporters to the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort in Moose Jaw from 28-30 April 2011.

Moose Jaw Homestead Rush, c. 1908 (Source: University of Alberta Libraries Flickr Stream)

The name “Keewatin,” a Cree/Ojibway word for the Cold North Wind that blows across the Prairie Provinces and Northern Plains states, was chosen for its powerful local resonance and demonstration of a commitment to inclusivity beyond our individual institutions. As in previous years, this year’s conference is committed to remaining accessible to all students regardless of historical theme, geographic area or region. Organizers are committed to fostering an inclusive and collegial atmosphere welcoming papers on all historical subjects. So successful has this become, in fact, that this year the Keewatin Conference promises to see the widest participation yet as we are set to welcome presenters from no fewer than six provinces, two U.S. states, and Europe!

Our keynote speaker this year will be Professor Sterling Evans, holder of the Louise Welsh Chair in Oklahoma, Southern Plains, and Borderlands History at the University of Oklahoma. His address will be based on his book Bound in Twine, which won the Theodore Saloutos Best Book Prize from the Agricultural
History Society in 2008. Professor Evans’s talk “Nothing New About NAFTA” speaks to issues of particular interest to Saskatchewan, its agricultural history and the borderlands region.

Postcard from Moose Jaw, c. 1913 (Source: University of Alberta Libraries Flickr Stream)

Organizers of year’s Keewatin Conference are also excited to introduce a number of innovations. We now have Facebook and Twitter pages, including a dedicated hashtag (#keewatin2011), in order to maintain informal contact with presenters, as well as provide an opportunity to continue links and connections among presenters even after the conference is over. This year we are also introducing participant commentating, giving PhD candidates the opportunity to comment on panels.

Anyone interested in joining us in Moose Jaw for all or part of Keewatin 2011 can still register. Until 31 March there is also a special conference rate at the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa and Resort for those participating in Keewatin 2011. Contact keewatin2011@gmail.com for registration forms or more info.

Please come support us in Moose Jaw! We look forward to seeing you there.

Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw (Source: "Mac the Moose", Wikipedia, photo by Lisa from Bloomfield Hills)

2011-03-08T12:59:00.000-06:00

Voyageur Database Update!

This just in: Robert Englebert's Voyageur database is in the news! Read and listen to the CBC Manitoba news article (in French).

2011-03-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

A Budding Scholar

Congratulations to History Postdoctoral Fellow Tolly Bradford and his wife Lesley Harrington (a postdoctoral fellow at the Natural History Museum, London, U.K.) on the recent birth of their son, Ewan.

Pictured here is Proud Papa Tolly reading Ewan his first book!

2011-03-06T13:26:00.001-06:00

Timely Topic

Congratulations to soon-to-be-doctored Merle Massie, who recently passed her Ph.D. defense (supervised by Bill Waiser) and is now leaving us to take up a postdoctoral fellowship. The goodbye will not be wrenching, though, as she is only going across campus to the School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS) where she will work with Dr. Maureen Reed.

Dr. Reed is the Canadian investigator of a three-country team (Sweden, Finland, and Canada) that researches environmental disturbances such as flooding, pests, major storm events, and economic restructuring in forest use. Merle's own contribution will look at flooding; given the floods last year in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the forecast for this year, this is a timely topic indeed.

A secondary aspect of her research focuses on UNESCO biosphere reserves, particularly the Mt. Arrowsmith biosphere reserve at Parksville, BC (just outside of Nanaimo). This will build on Merle's doctoral work on Prince Albert National Park and the Prince Albert Model Forest.

Merle reports that she is excited (as she should be!) to be a part of this international and interdisciplinary project. We look forward to the occasional report from the far side of campus and wish Merle the best of luck.

2011-02-15T13:10:00.001-06:00

Alumni News

Congratulations to alumnus Alan Long (Interdisciplinary MA, theatre and history), who has just been named the general manager of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Compnay. Over the last decadeIn the last ten years, he has worked in various positions for Persephone Theatre, Rosthern Station Arts Centre and Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company.

For the full story, see today's article in The Star Phoenix: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/Theatre+company+names/4284103/story.html#ixzz1E3XXfPXo .

2011-02-10T20:36:00.001-06:00

All Things Voyageur

An interview with Robert Englebert will be aired on French CBC programme, Téléjournal Ouest, on February 21st between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

In the interview, Robert discusses the recent launch of The Voyageur Database Project, a database of 35,000 fur trade voyageur contracts signed in front of Montreal notaries between 1714 and 1830 (http://shsb.mb.ca/en/Voyageurs_database). This is, to date, the largest collection of data regarding the contracts signed by men of the Montreal fur trade. The information collected from the contracts includes: family names, parishes of origin, hiring company, length of contract, destination(s), advances and wages, supplies, conditions of hire, the name of the notary, date of signing, and miscellaneous notes. This project was a component of the Métis National Council's National Research Initiative.

Robert Englebert in front of a poster display for the project

Over six years, working with Dr. Nicole St-Onge (Ottawa), Robert helped to build the database from the ground up as the project manager in charge of a dedicated team of students during his PhD. Although he left the project when he took up his position in our department, he continued as assistant director of the project, which included using the database for research and promoting the project.

The Voyageur Database is a valuable new research tool. For example, Métis and French-Canadian genealogists or labour and social historians can trace families across time and distance. The database is an important source of information on a largely illiterate group of people, who is otherwise difficult to document.

Congratulations, Robert, on the launch of this exciting new project! We look forward to your T.V. appearance.

2011-02-04T14:44:00.001-06:00

Where's Waiser?

Bill Waiser and his wife, Marley Waiser (National Water Research Institute of Environment Canada), are spending February and March as visiting scholars at the Center for Canadian Studies at Duke University. Bill will bringing Saskatchewan to an international audience this month when he gives a talk at the Center on "A Tale of Two Futures: Saskatchewan in 1905 and 2005".

For more information on their activities as visiting scholars, see: http://jhfc.duke.edu/canadianstudies/newsletter.html.

2011-02-01T09:56:00.000-06:00

HUSA Clothing Sale and Movie!

The History Undergraduate Students' Association will be selling clothing again this year. Zip-up jackets are going for $90 and hoodies for $55. Both bear the University of Saskatchewan logo, as well as the Department of History. You can place your orders at the HUSA booth, which will be set up at the top of the Arts ramp on February 15, 16 and 17 from 11a.m. to 2p.m. If you are unable to get your order in at the booth, just email Kristina at kar152@mail.usask.ca!

In the not-too-distant future, HUSA will be hosting a movie night. The subject? Spies! World War II! French Resistance! The movie? Carve Her Name with Pride. Professor Pam Jordan will be introducing the movie.
When: February 8
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Arts 146

2011-01-18T17:04:00.000-06:00

Reminder: Keewatin Country Graduate Student History Conference Deadline

The deadline to submit your abstract for the conference is fast approaching: January 31. Re-posting the full call for papers below!

Presentations on ALL HISTORICAL TOPICS are welcome. The conference aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and is open to submissions from any relevant discipline. We encourage papers addressing a diverse range of regional, methodological, and thematic topics.

Over the past two years, the Keewatin Graduate Student History Conference has attracted graduate students and outstanding undergraduates from across Canada, the US and abroad. We look forward once more to welcoming young scholars to this opportunity to present exciting new work in an engaging and supportive academic environment.

This year we are excited to welcome keynote speaker Professor Sterling Evans, Louise Welsh Chair Oklahoma, Southern Plains, and Borderlands History at the University of Oklahoma. Author and editor of four books, Professor Evans is a leader in the fields of transnational borderlands and environmental histories. His address "Nothing New about NAFTA: Connecting the Prairies to a Larger North American History" will be based on his book Bound in Twine, which won the Theodore Saloutos Best Book Prize from the Agricultural History Society in 2008.

In addition to sharing exciting new scholarship and collegial interaction, the conference venue offers opportunities for physical relaxation and mental rest as well. Hotel accommodation at the conference venue includes complementary access to the rooftop mineral pool overlooking Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Applicants are invited to submit proposals of 250 words along with a short (one page maximum) CV. The submission deadline is January 31, 2011. Please submit your proposals, and any questions, to keewatin2011@gmail.com .

2011-01-18T15:23:00.001-06:00

Publishing Workshop: How to Turn Your Dissertation into a Book

When: February 9
Time: 1:30-4:30
Where: Grad Commons

Attention Grad Students -- and anyone else who might be interested! Ever wanted to know how your PhD thesis could be turned into a book? For some helpful advice, why not attend a publishing workshop... Snacks will even be provided.

1:30 Introduction: Erika Dyck and Michael Kirkpatrick

1:30-2:15: Presentation by University of Manitoba Press, Editors David Carr and Jean Wilson

2:15-2:45: Questions, Answers, Discussion

2:45-3:00: Refreshment Break

3:00-3:45: Panel on Experiences Turning Dissertations into Books
Lucas Richert, Postdoctoral Fellow (History), "Using my Post-Doc to Revise My Book"
Simonne Horwitz, Assistant Professor (History), "Balancing Work and Revisions"
Valerie Korinek, Professor and Head of History, "Dissertation to Book: Some Suggestions"

3:45-4:15: Questions, Answers, Discussion

For more information, contact Michael Kirkpatrick (kirpak@hotmail.com)

2011-01-17T14:32:00.001-06:00

14th Annual Michael Swan Honours Colloquium

The Honours Colloquium will be held on Friday, January 21 from 9:00 to 4:30 in Agriculture 1E80. Come see what our undergraduate students have been researching. And as an added incentive: lunch is provided if you show up between 12:00 and 1:00!

Session One (9:05—9:50 a.m.): Questionable Practices in Modern US Policy

Shannon Colville. “‘Grave Moral Doubts’: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Nuremberg Code.”

David Guenther. “Duck and Cover: The Effects of the U.S. Civil Defense Movement during the Cold War.”

Bradley Wickert, “U.S. Intervention in Guatemala: Did it ‘Work’?”

Session Two (10:00—10:55 a.m.): Dimensions in Canadian Social History

Scott Dumonceaux. “The California Gold Rush and the Fraser River Gold Rush: A Comparison.”

Ferron Olynyk. “A Changing Landscape: Impacts of Postwar Suburbanization in Canada.”

Myles Shingoose. “‘This Needs to be Stopped, But Where?’: The Decision to Stop the On-to Ottawa Trek in Regina.”

Kristi St. Laurent. “From ‘Je me souviens’ to “je ne me souviens pas’: The Historian’s Responsibility in Reconciling and Rehabilitating Canadian History.”

Session Three (11:05 a.m. —12:00 p.m.): Indigenous Practices and Minority Populations

Melissa Armstrong. “African and Western Constructions of Disease with Witchcraft in Mind.”

Laura Champ. “Re-imagining the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Process of Shared Exploration with the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians.”

Julie Sapsford. “Reflections on the Silver Screen: American Indians and the Hollywood Musical in the 1950s.”

Jason Stockfish. “Epitomizing the Canadian Mozaic: A Brief History of Multiculturalism in Saskatchewan.”

Session Four (1:00—1:55 p.m.): Rumors of War

Aaron Birkland. “Frank Beecher Doran: The Perspective of a First World War Canadian Casualty.”

Filip Cupial. “The Priceless Horse: The Use of Cavalry in Two 17th- and 18th-Century East European States.”

Justin Fisher. “Uneasy Allies: The Soviet Union, China, and the Vietnam War.”

Isaac Mills. “A Decisive Factor? The Value of Intelligence in the Battle of the Atlantic.”

Session Five (2:05—3:00 p.m.): Ancient Texts, Tales, and Monuments

Keely Bland. “The Vatican Vergil: Poetry, Art and the Historical Perspective.”

Victoria Hiebert. “The Building Program of the Emperor Maxentius.”

Guy Hucq. “Salesman and Statesman: The Senate’s Role in Promoting the Julio-Claudian Principate.”

Scott Tomkins. “Marco Polo and the ‘Old Man of the Mountain.’”

Session Six (3:10—4:05 p.m.): Women in Art and Reality

Melissa Allan. “Making Something Out of Nothing: The Great Depression and Gendered Relief Policies in Canada.”

Chantal de Medeiros. “Erotic Imagery in Corinth’s ‘Boston Mirror,’ ca. 350 BC.”

Jannaya Friggstad. “Colouring Inside the Lines? Female Artists and Gender Boundaries in 17th-Century Europe.”

Sara Wright. “A Modern-Day Moses and the Freeing of the Israelites: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.”

For more information about the event, please contact our undergraduate director, Dr. John McCannon (john.mccannon@usask.ca).

2010-12-22T07:06:00.002-06:00

Gold Medal Winner


Jim Miller, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Gold Medal Recipient

On Thursday, December 16th, SSHRC and Industry Canada announced that Professor Jim Miller (Canada Research Chair in Native-Newcomer History) has won the SSHRC Gold Medal, Canada's highest research honour, for his award-winning scholarship on Native-Newcomer histories.

Many department members were in attendance at Convocation Hall on December 16th to congratulate Jim on his marvellous achievement. We are very proud! This is the first time that a scholar from the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded this distinction. And there is really a gold medal, which we expect to see Jim wearing on all "ceremonial" occasions in the Department--or at the very least, the first department meeting of 2011...

For more details on the award and Jim's research contributions (and to see a video of the actual presentation, if you missed it), please see the article by the U of S Research Communications.

Congratulations, Jim!

2010-12-22T06:24:00.000-06:00

Introducing a Future Historian?

Congratulations to Vickie Lamb Drover (Ph.D. student) & Doug Drover on the birth of their son, Samuel Clement Drover. Sam was born on Sunday December 5th. Big sister Grace has been handling the adjustment with aplomb.

Best wishes from all of us in the History Department!

2010-11-29T15:53:00.000-06:00

World AIDS Day, Wednesday December 1st

Simonne Horwitz, our own AIDS scholar, would like to draw your attention to World AIDS Day. In the past this has been a day of activism and global awareness but with the increasing availability of Antiretroviral Treatment in the North less attention has been paid to HIV/AIDS. The disease continues to affect many in the global south, while the statistics for Saskatchewan - double the Canadian national average - are horrific. A number of student groups of campus have arranged an awareness event, the screening of the brilliant docu-drama "A Closer Walk" followed by two brief presentations. Professor Horwitz will be speaking.

Where: Neatby Timlin Theatre
When: Dec. 1, From 5 p.m.
Cost: Free

2010-11-23T21:26:00.005-06:00

Sir Hans Sloane's Correspondence Online

Credit: Wellcome Library, London
Sir Hans Sloane. Mezzotint by J. Faber, junior, 1729, after Sir G. Kneller, 1716.

Using my editor's privilege, I am pleased to announce the launch of my database of Sir Hans Sloane's Correspondence: https://drc.usask.ca/projects/sloaneletters .

The pilot project already contains entries for over 1400 letters addressed to Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753), who was a physician, scientist and collector. Sloane's books, plant samples and curiosities formed the foundation collections of the British Library, British Museum and Natural History Museum. The correspondence covers a wide range of topics from travel and collecting to scholarly disputes and medical cases -- and more is to come, as there are thirty more volumes of correspondence to enter.

Some transcriptions of letters are provided, but the database's initial intent to facilitate the use of the collection. The collection has, until now, only been indexed according to letter-writer's name. This has made it difficult to trace relationships between authors or to find specific subjects, given the sheer size of the correspondence. As the database grows, it will be possible to make even more interesting connections.

But it is not just my project alone, as several students and alumni from our History department have provided research assistance for this project over the last couple years:
Jason Grier (B.A. Hons. and current M.A. student)
Amanda Harrigan (B.A. Hons. and M.A., now at the University of Alberta)
Rob Konkel (B.A. Hons., now at Oxford University)
Kurt Krueger (B.A. Hons. and M.A., now at the University of Victoria)
Melanie Racette-Campbell (M.A., now at the University of Toronto)
Heather Stanley (Ph.D. candidate)

I am sure that they will be just as glad that their efforts are finally seeing the light of day!

2010-11-23T13:04:00.000-06:00

Interview with an Environmental Historian

Jonathon Clapperton, a doctoral candidate in our department, was recently interviewed for the Canadian Environmental History Podcast (Episode 18). The interview is on Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park, a popular destination for boating tourists and swimmers. Jonathon considers the interconnections between the park and British Columbia's displacement of the Aboriginal population.

To download this episode, visit: http://niche-canada.org/naturespast.

2010-11-17T09:09:00.000-06:00

Call for Papers: Keewatin Country Graduate Student History Conference, April 28-30, 2011

Facebook: Keewatin Country Graduate Student History Conference 2011
Website: http://artsandscience.usask.ca/history/keewatin/

The Departments of History and the History Graduate Student Associations of the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Manitoba/Winnipeg invite proposals for the Keewatin Country Graduate
Student History Conference 2011.

Presentations on ALL HISTORICAL TOPICS are welcome. The conference aims to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and is open to submissions from any relevant discipline. We encourage papers addressing a diverse range of regional, methodological, and thematic topics.

Over the past two years, the Keewatin Graduate Student History Conference has attracted graduate students and outstanding undergraduates from across Canada, the US and abroad. We look forward once more to welcoming young scholars to this opportunity to present exciting new work in an engaging and supportive academic environment.

This year we are excited to welcome keynote speaker Professor Sterling Evans, Louise Welsh Chair Oklahoma, Southern Plains, and Borderlands History at the University of Oklahoma. Author and editor of four books, Professor Evans is a leader in the fields of transnational borderlands and environmental histories. His address "Nothing New about NAFTA: Connecting the Prairies to a Larger North American History" will be based on his book Bound in Twine, which won the Theodore Saloutos Best Book Prize from the Agricultural History Society in 2008.

In addition to sharing exciting new scholarship and collegial interaction, the conference venue offers opportunities for physical relaxation and mental rest as well. Hotel accommodation at the conference venue includes complementary access to the rooftop mineral pool overlooking Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Applicants are invited to submit proposals of 250 words along with a short (one page maximum) CV. The submission deadline is January 31, 2011. Please submit your proposals, and any questions, to keewatin2011@gmail.com .

2010-11-15T15:41:00.000-06:00

National Ph.D. Dissertation Prize Winner

Congratulations to our recent graduate Jonathon Anuik! At the biennial meeting of the the Canadian History of Education Association meeting in late October, he was awarded the Cathy James Memorial Dissertation Prize for the best thesis on the history of education in Canada. Dr. Anuik is an assistant professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies at Lakehead University in Ontario. His dissertation, “Métis Families and Communities and Christian and Public Schools: The Affirmation and Reclamation of Métis Identities in Saskatchewan, 1885-1979” (2009), was supervised by Dr. Jim Miller.

2010-11-04T23:19:00.001-06:00

A Midterm Academic Road Trip

On Friday, October 22 in the midst of midterm exams, essay preparation and course work, U of S history enthusiasts Laura Shaw (3rd year History undergrad), Amy Samson (PhD History), Justin Fisher (4th year History Honours), Sheila Gibbons (MA History), Shannon Coleville (4th year History Honours), Amanda Shea (4th year History Honours) and Professor Erika Dyck participated in a 2-day workshop in Edmonton, Alberta (named in the order they appear in the photograph). The Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) project combines scholars and students with community partners and activists, including sexual sterilization survivors, who are committed to establishing a more inclusive history and the current debate over human rights issues surrounding past practices of sexual sterilization and current experiences of isolation and segregation for people with intellectual disabilities.

The first day of the workshop showcased the summer research that U of S students had conducted on this topic, including presentations about the way this issue has been covered in newspapers (Fisher), how the United Farm Women of Alberta advocated for sexual sterilization of people then deemed "mentally defective" (Gibbons), and the role that public health nurses played in advancing models of femininity and moral motherhood (Samson).

University of Saskatchewan contingent immediately following their stimulating presentations last Friday.

Saturday, October 23 conference participants reassembled at the Edmonton Public Library, where sterilization survivor Leilani Muir (now O'Malley), who is a member of the research team, read a statement from the Mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel, declaring October 23 the "Remembering the History of Eugenics in Alberta" Day in Edmonton. This recognition, Leilani told participants, is a very important step in Alberta's history and a significant achievement for the CURA members. Over the course of the two-day event we worked closely with members of the public, survivors like Leilani and Judy Lytton, scholars and students from universities of Lethbridge, Calgary and Alberta (Edmonton) to promote a more inclusive understanding of mental health, disability and human rights in our society.

Leilani Muir (in the Riders' ball cap) and Judy Lytton (in the Rider's winter hat) pictured with U of S contingent as the conference winds down.

The conference closed just in time for Leilani and Judy to help the Saskatchewan contingent prepare for the Riders v Eskimos game, which ended poorly for the Riders.

U of S contingent in full Rider fan gear, still optimistic that the Riders may not suffer widespread embarrassment in what ultimately resulted in a final score of 39 to 24.

News coverage from the conference can be seen here:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/23/edm-u-of-a-eugenics-conference.html

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Newgenics+rampant+Alberta/3718189/story.html

2010-11-01T14:04:00.000-06:00

Event: Organizing for Women's Security

The news is disheartening: hundreds of missing aboriginal women, high poverty rates among single mothers, domestic abuse of women and children, lack of equal pay for equal work, low percentage of female elected officials... In September, over 120 people met with Governor General Michaelle Jean to address these and other obstacles to women's security.

Please come to learn about what happened and what still needs to be done to improve women's security in all its dimensions in Canada. Along with Beth Bilson (Acting Dean, Law) and Omeasoo Butt (History graduate student and President of the Graduate Students Association), Pam Jordan (History) will be hosting an informal discussion about the Governor General's Conference on Women and Security. An open discussion with the audience will follow formal remarks.

All are welcome.

Where: Theatre, Frances Morrison Library, 311 23rd St. E.
When: Wednesday, November 3
Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Cost: Free

2010-10-27T22:03:00.002-06:00

All in a Week's Work

Last week was eventful for two members of our department. As reported in The StarPhoenix on October 21, Professor Janice McKinnon has been named as one of this year's recipients of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. This is the most prestigious award in the province and is awarded for major contributions to the province and its residents. Then, on October 24, Professor Bill Waiser became our department's only Doctor Doctor, when he received a D.Litt. at Convocation. The honorary degree recognizes his long record of research and publication.

Congratulations to Dr. McKinnon and Dr. Dr. Waiser!

Doctor Doctor Waiser receiving his honorary D.Litt. at Convocation

2010-10-05T10:44:00.000-06:00

THE MOMS CONFERENCE

On Saturday, October 2nd members of our Department, including Sara Roberts, Amy Samson, Blaine Wickham, Lucas Richert, Simonne Horwitz and Erika Dyck joined some of our co-regionalists for a day of history of medicine. The event was hosted by the University of Minnesota's History of Medicine group as the second annual 'MOMS' Day. MOMS is the clever acronym for Manitoba-Ontario-Minnesota-Saskatchewan. We were treated to a lovely reception at early modernist Jole Shackleford's house in St. Paul on Friday evening, where we met colleagues from the University of Minnesota, the University of Manitoba and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. On Saturday we heard and participated in a variety of presentations, including panels on eugenics, health care professions and diseases. We closed the meeting with dinner on the 'West Bank Campus', seen here.

Image: The Merry Band of Mom-ers
Image Credit: Erika Dyck

2010-09-30T12:42:00.002-06:00

Your Chance to Win... A Roman Coin!

The Archaeology Students Association is now selling tickets for a chance to win an authentic Roman coin. The coin is a silver denarius from the Roman Republic (c. 104 BCE) with Roma on the obverse and Saturn in his chariot on the reverse.

Tickets are $5 each or three for $10. The draw date will be November 1st.

Tickets can be purchased from any one of the ASA executive (President Lyle Goldie, VP Jeffrey Seckinger, Treasurer Heather Kerr or Secretary Rebecca Jackson). Their office is on the third floor of the Archaeology building (rm. 334) and they can usually be found lurking around the coffee pot.

2010-09-28T12:48:00.002-06:00

Images: Past, Present, Future

Former history instructor, Dr. Jack Coggins, shows us that historians need not only focus on history. His exhibition, Images: Past, Present, Future, is now on at the STM College Art Gallery.

Dates: September 20-October 23
Hours: Regular building hours
Location: STM College, 2nd Floor, outside the Library
Admission: Free

2010-09-27T13:54:00.002-06:00

Graduate Student Success

Congratulations to Ph.D. student, Liz Scott, who has received two awards this year for her project "'I Bless the Hour I Came Here:' East London Emigration and Perceptions of Empire, 1867-1914".

This summer, she held an Andrew W. Mellon Pre-Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities (Institute of Historical Research, London). She was paired with a mentor from Birkbeck College, Dr. David Feldman. Liz reports that it was a fantastic experience and lovely way to spend the summer months! [ed. comment: Indeed, the weather in London was far better than in Saskatoon this summer.]

In January, she will be off to London again. She has been awarded a SSHRC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement and will be working as a Visiting Research Fellow, hosted by Dr. Barbara Taylor (University of East London) at the Raphael Samuel History Centre. This is part of a partnership between the Bishopsgate Institute, the University of East London and Birkbeck College for the Study of the History of East London. She is delighted that the centre is located just around the corner from Spitalfields Market and the old Petticoat Lane Market, which will provide excellent study-break spots! [ed. comment: What she does not note is the RSHC's close proximity to Brick Lane, which is one of London's top curry house destinations.]

Happy researching, Liz!

2010-09-27T13:41:00.002-06:00

Oral History Workshop

Interested in learning more about how to do oral history in your own research?

Please join Omeasoo Butt, Liam Haggarty, and Mandy Fehr, PhD candidates in the Department of History, to share what they learnt from the Regional Oral History Office at the University of California, Berkeley this summer at the Advanced Oral History Summer Institute. Topics to be addressed include:
· Methodology – how to set up your interviews, the pre-interview, interview questions
· Theory – Understanding your role and the role of your interviewee
· Project Planning- where to start?
· Writing Oral History

Please RSVP to Mandy Fehr at abf948@mail.usask.ca no later than Wednesday September 29th. Space is Limited.

Date: September 30
Time: 1-4 p.m.
Place: Arts 1007

2010-09-23T08:37:00.007-06:00

Place and Replace

On September 16-18, our History Department was well represented at the 'Place and Replace' joint meeting of Western Canadian Studies and St John's College Prairies Conference in Winnipeg. Although conference attendees still haven't come to a consensus on whether or not the west is the prairies, or the west includes BC, we nonetheless forged ahead with a diverse set of papers covering an expanse of topics that centred around examinations of 'place'. Topics included areas of Aboriginal, environment, gender, technology and migration history, indicative of the vibrant scholarship in western Canadian history. Members of our department included Tolly Bradford, Jon Clapperton, Stephanie Danyluk, Erika Dyck, Mandy Fehr, Liam Haggarty, Heather Stanley and former U of S student Margaret Robbins.

Story credit: Erika Dyck
Photo caption: Conference-weary travelers at the Winnipeg airport

2010-09-22T10:28:00.004-06:00

Girl with the Pearl Earring

HUSA starts its annual film series with Girl with the Pearl Earring, introduced by Dr. Lisa Smith. The film is a beautiful depiction of seventeenth-century life, portraying the household of painter Johannes Vermeer from the perspective of young maidservant Griet. This movie has it all: simmering domestic tensions, the precariousness of art as an occupation and history by the bucketloads. Starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson.

When: September 29
Where: Arts 134
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Price: Free

2010-09-20T22:30:00.004-06:00

Revival of the A.S. Morton Chair

Dr. Bill Waiser, SOM, FRSC, starts off the year as our newly appointed A.S. Morton Chair. The Chair, with a term of five years, was created in 1967 to recognise excellence in scholarly achievement: publications, national and international reputation, research grant success and peer reviews.

Bill has written widely (thirteen books!) on western Canadian social and environmental history. Recent titles include Tommy's Team: The People Behind the Douglas Years (2010, with S. Houston) and the award-winning Sasatchewan: A New History (2005). In addition to regular media appearances, he also hosted the CBC Saskatchewan T.V. program, Looking Back: 1999-2001. His list of accomplishments includes receiving the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (2006) and Centennial Medal and induction into the Royal Society of Canada (2007). At the U of S, he has received awards of excellence in teaching, research and alumni honour.

In the words of our Department Head, Valerie Korinek, Bill "exemplifies the Department's culture of research intensity, teaching excellence, and community engagement, and we congratulate him on this award. We know he will be an excellent ambassador for historical research."

Image: A very young Bill Waiser
Image Credit: Provided by Bill Waiser

2010-09-20T22:26:00.002-06:00

Meet the Profs

Once again, HUSA's "Meet the Profs" night is upon us. History students, students interested in history and history professors all welcome!

Date: Thursday, September 23
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Alexander's (second floor)

2010-09-16T15:33:00.001-06:00

Dying and Dining in a Roman Cemetery

The Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program is very pleased to invite everyone to an illustrated lecture by Professor Lea Stirling, Canada Research Chair in Roman Archaeology at the University of Manitoba, entitled "Dying and Dining in A Roman Cemetery in Leptiminus (Lamta, Tunisia)."

When: Friday, October 1
Where: St. Thomas More College, Rm 344B
Time: Refreshments 3:30, Talk 4:00.

2010-09-16T15:32:00.002-06:00

Roman Feast?

The University of Saskatchewan’s Museum of Antiquities is honouring its recent benefactors and sponsors with a themed dinner, “The Flavours of Ancient Rome”. Taste Roman-inspired delights created by Faculty club chef Kevin Calder! The event will take place in the Window Room of Faculty Club on Thursday September 30 at 6:00 pm. For information and tickets please contact Tracene Harvey at 966-7818, or visit the Museum of Antiquities Rm. 106 College Building. Ticket prices: $15.00 students. $50.00 non-students. All are welcome!

2010-09-03T02:21:00.003-06:00

History of Medicine Seminar Series (2010-11)

The Canada Research Chair in Medicine (Erika Dyck) will be hosting the first ever History of Medicine Seminar Series this year. She's organised a fantastic line-up of speakers and everyone is welcome to attend. The seminars will be held at 4 p.m. at the Faculty Club (Club Room) -- and refreshments will be included.

October 21: Lucas Richert (U of S), "Protecting Americans to Death?: Revisiting Reaganomics, the FDA and Free-market Pharmaceuticals in the 1970s and 1980s"

November 18: Susanne Klausen (Carleton), "'We want to ensure that what happened in England will not happen here': The Abortion Debate in Apartheid South Africa"

January 20: Geoff Hudson (Northern Ontario School of Medicine), "'An Indescribable Level of Degradation': Pre-Nightingale Nursing Re-examined"

February 17: Lesley Biggs (U of S), "Beyond the Two Silos: A Framework for Theorizing Alternative and Biomedical Knowledges"

March 24: David Herzberg (SUNY), "'The Pill You Love Can Turn On You': Feminism, the Valium Panic, and Late 20th-century Prescription Scares"

For more information, contact Dr. Lucas Richert (Postdoctoral Fellow): lucas.richert@usask.ca .

2010-09-03T01:28:00.003-06:00

Interesting New History Websites

Over the last year, I've been compiling a list of nifty new history websites. There may be a slight history of medicine bias... But if you've discovered some other sites that you think would interest people, let me know.

The Casebooks Project is putting the records of early modern astrologer-physicians Simon Forman and Richard Napier online, if you'd like to find out how astrology and medical treatment used to go hand-in-hand.

Recipes, Remedies and Receipts focuses on manuscript recipe collections (c. 1500-1900), providing finding aids, links to libraries with relevant holdings and historical context information (if you want to know more about "snail water" or "oil of swallows"). But why stop there? If you have a pre-modern manuscript recipe collection, the site authors would love to hear from you!

In related news, The Wellcome Library (London) has been digitizing their collection of seventeenth-century recipe collections, if you fancy trying your hand at reading them.

Six archives and libraries in the U.S. have formed a History of Medicine Finding Aids Consortium, bringing together their finding aids. It makes it possible to do easy searching for many American history of medicine topics. Carrying on the "recipe" theme, I found thirteen different entries at four different libraries.

Have you visited any history of medicine monuments or places recently? If so, Himetop (the History of Medicine Topographical Database) would like to know about it. There are only two entries for Canadians so far. It's a wiki, which allows contributors to share their knowledge and pictures of places related to the history of medicine.

The Livingstone Online project is an online edition of David Livingstone's medical and scientific correspondence. You can view the original documents, as well as read transcriptions. The site authors have provided a helpful "historical companion" to the letters.

London Lives is my current favourite, largely because I've discovered some rapscallions in my husband's family tree. The database brings together holdings from over eight archives, making it possible to search over 3 million names of Londoners (1690-1800). The documents can tell us much about crime, poverty, apprenticeship, voting... and makes it possible to reconstruct biographies of individuals.

How to be a Retronaut offers an irreverent look at history, bringing together the past and present in intriguing ways.

I'll end on a modern, rather beautiful note. If you want to see coloured photos of Russia a century ago, Boston.com recently had a series of fascinating images of the Russian Empire.

2010-08-25T03:32:00.002-06:00

Human Rights are Women's Rights

On August 24, her Excellency, Governor General Michaelle Jean was on campus to speak on "Human Rights are Women's Rights". Following the Governor General's very moving speech was no easy task, but our own Pam Jordan and Omeasoo Butt (graduate student) rose to the occasion admirably before a packed Convocation Hall.

Professor Jordan's discussion of international women's experiences, empowerment, and "possibilities and opportunities" available to those of us who believe that change is possible was deftly handled, thought-provoking, and struck the perfect balance between education, international gender politics, and encouragement to activism.

Ms Butt's contribution was poised (and often humorous), urging the assembly to work towards decolonization and partnerships between many groups -- women and men, First Nations and settlers, as it is the only way for the country, society and the academy to go forward.

What a fantastic and inspiring morning!

Story Credit: Valerie Korinek

Image 1: Her Excellency, Governor General Michelle Jean speaking
Image Credit: University of Saskatchewan Media Room, # 15
(http://www.usask.ca/mediaroom/photo_gallery/download_photo.php?image=15)

Image 2: Pam Jordan (left) and Omeasoo Butt being hugged by her Excellency (right).
Image Credit: John McCannon

2010-08-24T02:29:00.004-06:00

How Professors Spend the Summer

Look out Congress Clio-paloozers, the Society for the Social History of Medicine hosted its annual meeting at Durham University (U.K.) this July, complete with a Saturday night Scottish-style Ceilidh. As was made evident by the dancing attempts, historians are better in the archives than on the dance floors, but it didn't stop Professors Smith and Dyck from dosey-doeing with the best of them. Aside from the folk music, conference attendees also witnessed the annual miners' march through Durham. Brass bands marched through the town carrying union banners; miners and their families filled the streets while onlookers spilled out of the pubs to pay tribute to the now-dead Northern tradition of coal mining. Although the festivities left precious time for scholarship, we left our mark by anchoring the conference with back-to-back presentations on gender, fertility and reproduction, or rather its lack, in papers about castration in eighteenth-century France followed by a paper about hysterectomies in post-WWII Alberta.

Story Credit: Erika Dyck

Images

1. Professors Dyck and Smith with various academics from Spain, Portugal, the U.S. and the U.K. at a pub.

Image Credit: A Yorkshire Miner who kindly took a photo using Professor Dyck's camera. His troop of miners regaled us with a sing-along and refused to let us leave unless we sang a song. Did we? Or didn't we? What happened in Durham, stays in Durham.

2. and 3. Durham Cathedral, with a procession of the miners going into the Cathedral for a special service to honour miners who died in mining accidents.

Image Credit: Erika Dyck.

* N.B. There are no images of the dancing. Sadly, all such images have been blurred in a terrible photography accident.

2010-08-24T02:11:00.002-06:00

Undergraduate Student Essay Awards

Congratulations to Vanessa Cowan, Jordan Sherbino, Jason Grier and Alana Zuzak for winning the History Department essay prizes in the 2009-2010 competition!

Vanessa (History 111) and Jordan (History 152) were awarded the Simpson Prize, an annual prize that recognises first-year students who have written the best final examinations in a 100-level History course.

Jason's excellent essay on "The Surgery for Samuel Pepys: Scientific Curiosity and the Medical Marketplace in Seventeenth-Century London" for History 481 was awarded the James H. Gray Essay Prize in History (demonstration of academic excellence in a 400-level History course).

Alana's superb essay, "Supposedly Idyllic: Enemy Alien Internment at Banff National Park" (History 258), received the Glen Makahonuk Book Prize for best labour history paper in an undergraduate or graduate History course.

The quality of all essays submitted to the competition was extremely high and impressed the Awards Committee.

2010-07-19T04:10:00.002-06:00

Attention Local and U of S History Buffs!

If you happen to be around campus this week, you might be interested in a special event. On Thursday, July 29th, the U of S celebrates the 100th anniversary of laying the cornerstone of the College Building. The celebration will take place at 2:30 at the Nobel Plaza, 107 Administration Place. A Reception will follow in the College Building Gallery (Main Level).

2010-07-14T02:55:00.006-06:00

Possible Career Option for Historians

Although What's Up often highlights academic success, it is important to note that there are, in fact, other career options for historians.

Wendy Gillis, for example, has had a busy summer as a journalism intern at the Ryerson Review of Journalism and the Toronto Star. As of May, she was working on a magazine feature about hyper local online news sites and collaboration with readership at the Ryerson Review. More recently, Wendy began an exciting 10-week internship in the newsroom at the Toronto Star.

And Toronto, between blackouts, earthquakes and riots, is certainly a newsworthy place to be this summer! A quick search of the Toronto Star website reveals that Wendy has been covering a wide-range of issues, from alleged police brutality or the Niagara miracle to a medieval knight at the G20.

While a history student in our department, Wendy developed her journalistic chops by editing The Sheaf and writing occasional articles for the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Wendy is currently a student in the Master of Journalism programme at Ryerson University and has had an embarrassment of riches to undertake her studies: an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (which she declined) and the prestigious SSHRC Bombardier Graduate Scholarship.

Well done, Wendy! We hope that you send us the occasional dispatch from the media trenches, but in the meantime we'll keep an eye out for your byline.

2010-07-13T02:47:00.007-06:00

Any text is possible if you take Latin!

Two of our very own department members have created a hilarious send-up of a old deodorent ad. John Porter stars in a YouTube video filmed by Ann DeVito. It is one in a series: see if you can spot the guest appearances and voice-overs by other members of the department...

So make sure you register today! It's never too late to gain the ability to parse Latin verbs or to compose sentences in Latin--in short, to become the most Latinate (wo)man in the world.

2010-07-12T10:24:00.005-06:00

Alumna Grand Slam

Becky Littlechilds, who graduated from our CMRS programme in 2008, has had four major life events in the last month. She successfully defended her M.A. thesis (University of Victoria) on June 4, 2010. She then gave birth to a bouncing baby boy named Emrys on June 17. She has also been accepted into the Ph.D. programme in classics at King's College London AND has received maximum funding: a tuition waiver and scholarship to round out her SSHRC grant. Fantastic news, Becky!

Good luck to you and Emrys in Londinium... and don't forget to check out the hidden Roman baths just around the corner from the Strand location of KCL.

Image: Sophocles, King's Building, Strand Campus, KCL
Image Credit: "King's College London", Wikipedia

2010-07-05T11:49:00.003-06:00

Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Regina Riots

Bill Waiser spoke to Michael Enright on The Sunday Edition (CBC) on July 4 about the On-to-Ottawa Trek and the Regina Riots.

Image: Rioters and police during the Regina Riot, 1 July 1935

Credit: Regina Archives

2010-06-24T02:24:00.003-06:00

Caregiving on the Periphery

Congratulations to Myra Rutherdale (Associate Professor, York University) on the publication of her edited collection, Caregiving on the Periphery: Historical Perspectives on Nursing and Midwifery in Canada (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010). Myra was a postdoctoral fellow in the department in 2003-4 when she came up with this project.

The book examines women's important cultural and medical roles as nurses and midwives in remote locations (Newfoundland and Labrador, northern Saskatchewan, northern British Columbia, and the Arctic). Topics also include Western Canadian Mennonite midwives, missionary nurses, and Aboriginal nursing assistants in the Yukon. Caregiving at the Periphery highlights religious, colonial and class themes, paying special attention to nursing in Aboriginal communities and the relations of race and medical work.

For more information on the book, please see: http://mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=2456.

2010-06-10T15:59:00.003-06:00

Hewton Bursary

Congratulations to alumnus Lucas Richert (B.A., University of Saskatchewan) on being awarded a Hewton Bursary earlier this spring.

Lucas recently defended his doctoral dissertation on "Pills, Politics and the Food and Drug Administration During the Reagan Years" (University of London, U.K.). Among his many accomplishments, Lucas has also been a lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and a Historical Researcher and Copy Editor for the Literary Encyclopaedia.

Lucas will next research asylums in nineteenth-century Upper Canada and 1950s Saskatchewan (Weyburn and North Battleford). We heartily wish him luck in his future endeavours!