History Slam! With Vickie Lamb Drover

Back in May, we heard news that Vickie was interviewed by The National Post . But her fame continues! Check out her fun "History Slam" interview at Active History for revelations about the personal lives of Body Break people, the problems of doing academic history, the pleasures of her research -- and so much more!


(And if you're looking for some summer diversion, Active History has lots of other posts and podcasts, ranging from "Historical Fiction as a Gateway Drug" to clothing history and happiness in the past...)

It's that SSHRC time of year!

Congratulations to Mark Geldof (alumnus), Jason Grier, Jennifer Jozic, Claire Thompson, and Sarah York! They recently learned that they were successful in the graduate funding competitions for SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada). 

Back in August 2011, Mark Geldof defended his M.A. thesis on late-medieval and early-modern English works of martial instruction (supervisor: Sharon Wright). He will start a DPhil at Oxford (Merton College) in the autumn, studying the changing attitudes towards violence and the value of prowess amongst fifteenth and sixteenth century English elites and gentry. This past May, Mark presented a paper at the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies on "It's Not Over Until it's Overkill: Mixed Messages from the Archaeology of Violence."

In his M.A. thesis, Jason Grier analyses a scientific dispute between Newton and Robert Hooke during the 1670s ("Hypothesis non fingo: Isaac Newton's Literary Technology", supervisor: Larry Stewart). His case study reveals the process by which scientific authority and credibility was constructed in early modern natural philosophy. Jason's SSHRC grant is for his doctoral research at York University where he will examine the means by which 'science' came to be seen as an objective authority and tool for hegemony in eighteenth-century Britain.

Jennifer Jozic is writing her Ph.D. dissertation (supervisor: Bill Waiser) on "Data-mining the Legacy of Natural History on the Northern Great Plains". Her dissertation looks at nineteent-century collections of plants, birds, and animals to measure temporal and geographic change in diversity. She is using statistical and modelling work to analyse the  climatic cycles, changes in flora and fauna populations, human migration paths, and land use methods in the Missouri Coteau. These results will be compared with existing narratives, emphasizing concurrent landscape use by aboriginal groups. The interaction between naturalists, government, universities, museums, and herbaria will be emphasized.

Claire Thomson's M.A. research will consider the history of the Lakota people at Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, with a focus on the Lakota women. Her supervisor is Jim Miller.

Sarah York is writing her M.A. thesis on the social responses to and histories of Saskatchewan's early sex trade in Moose Jaw, Regina, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon, 1885-1930. Her supervisor is Bill Waiser.

Exciting--and diverse--research topics all around! Best of luck to all of you, whether you'll be staying with us or continuing your studies elsewhere!

Faculty Successes!

Congratulations to both Jim Miller and Keith Carlson who have recently been recognized at national and institutional levels!

Jim Miller is a Queen's Diamond Jubliee Medal Recipient.  The medals were given to the past presidents of the Canadian Historical Association to recognise their significant contributions to the study of history in Canada and commitment to the CHA.  Thank you, Jim, for your scholarship and service!

Keith Thor Carlson received a Distinguished New Researcher Award at the University of Saskatchewan Spring Convocation. This award recognises Keith's contributions to scholarship, professional and university service, and graduate teaching. An excellent all-rounder!

Keith Thor Carlson also received a CHA prize for Best Article or Book Chapter on Aboriginal History (2012).  “Orality about Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History,” in Keith Thor Carlson, Kristina Fagan, and Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, eds., Orality and Literacy: Reflections across Disciplines (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011). And this was just the sprinkles on the ice cream...