We always knew that you can get there from here, but it turns out you can come from there and make it back, too -- and in a big way.

So warm congratulations to Angela Wanhalla, who has just been awarded the 2008 The Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Medal from the University of Otago in New Zealand, where she holds an appointment in history.

Angela began life (we like to think) as a post-doctoral fellow in this very department, working with Canada Research Chair Jim Miller on matters of native-newcomer relations. Having lit up our firmament for a year, Angela returned to her native New Zealand to teach and research the histories of cultural encounter in that country’s colonial past, specifically gender, race and colonialism in 19th century New Zealand. She is also interested in the indigenous history of the North American West, and the history of intimacy, particularly interracial relationships.

For someone as outgoing and fun as Angela is, she gets a helluva lot of work done. The award and medal recognises her outstanding early-career research performance at Otago, as did a highly competitive and prestigious Marsden Fast-Start Grant that Angela was awarded last year for a two-year project on the history of interracial intimacy in New Zealand between 1769 and 1969. Way to go, Angela!

Dreaming of Graduate School?

For those of you in the honours program who might be thinking of grad school, here is an opportunity almost too good to be true.

2008/09 Term 2 Arts and Science Research Learning Communities

Meets every Monday at 3:30 starting January 5th

The College of Arts and Science, in partnership with the University Learning Centre, will be piloting a term-two learning community targeted at 3rd year (or other upper-year) Arts and Science students interested in pursuing research careers in academia, industry or community.

Students with a background in any Arts and Science discipline are encouraged to join this Learning Community with the aim of growing their understanding of how to best navigate the research world. We plan to offer students concrete information sessions on graduate programs, funding opportunities in the first five years of appointment (SSHRC information sessions, information about Teaching Assistantships and Research Assistantships, etc.), applying to graduate programs at this and other great universities, writing research proposals and scholarship research statements, developing a CV, sorting out intellectual property, etc. This initiative aims to foster a community of diverse, self-directed learners by emphasizing some of the commonalities between different types of research, and drawing on the connections between a wide range of disciplines.

We plan to gather 3rd-year Arts and Science students together on a weekly basis throughout term two of the 2008/09 academic year. If you know of any students who may be bound for graduate school or thinking about a career in research, please let them know about this great opportunity.

Students must register in advance for this program.

For more information, a link to the registration page, and a one-page flyer suitable for distribution, please visit

http://www.usask.ca/ulc/lc2009