past events 2006 - 2010
March 5/10: Katrina Srigley, 'Stories of Strife?: Memories of the Great Depression'. In this paper on memory and memory making, Katrina examines four sisters' recollections of their Depression-era family, focusing on their father, a Toronto Transit Commission motorman, bookie and bootlegger. His role in their lives was dynamic and exciting, but also troubling and difficult. The sisters paint deeply textured portraits of him, which reveal how individual identities, collective narratives of unemployment and family, as well as silences, shape the stories they tell. As Annette Kuhn points out, “families are imagined communities,” and remembering them is a “key moment in the making of ourselves,” and, Katrina argues, our families and communities.
February 5/10: The discussion which will feature Sal Renshaw, Charlotte Innerd and Jeff Dech on the subject of "where we go from here" -- their own takes on the future of Nipissing. Sal Renshaw is a member of the Departments of Religions & Cultures and Gender Equality and Social Justice, and is well known to anyone involved with Nipissing for her tireless work as Chair of GESJ, with the Women's Centre and International Women's Week, and on a bewildering number of committees. Charlotte Innerd is Manager of Reference and Information Services at the Education Centre Library and brings the perspective of the library to our discussion. Jeff Dech is Forest Bioproducts Research Chair in the Department of Biology and a former Nipissing undergraduate. Please come and join in on discussing the futrue of our University!!!
January 29/10: Todd Horton, Jennifer Straub, Bob Fix and John Long of the Faculty of Education: 'Teaching Teaching History'. Todd Horton, Jennifer Straub, Bob Fix and John Long of the Faculty of Education will discuss the challenges, dangers, and rewards of teaching others to teach history. How do you foster an understanding of and appreciation for the past in children and teenagers? How do you and can you present history in the public schools? What can young children learn about the past? These and other questions will be considered in a conversation that promises to be lively and illuminating.
January 8/10: Yvonne Hunter of McMaster University, 'Cold Columns: Anne O'Hare McCormick and the Origins of the Cold War in The New York Times (1920-1954).' Anne O’Hare McCormick, the Pulitzer-winning political correspondent for The New York Times, might correctly be considered one of the first prominent intellectual Cold Warriors of the twentieth century. From 1920 to 1954, McCormick travelled the world, interviewed leading statesmen, and wrote three columns per week on European and American affairs. McCormick’s articles reflected many of the anti-Bolshevik perceptions which were common among members of the State Department during the interwar period, and which would eventually influence policy under the Truman Doctrine. In 1928, she published a 300-page book negatively assessing the first decade of Bolshevik rule. In 1942, she advocated a system of “closed spheres” in postwar Europe, serving as a member of Roosevelt’s secretive, State Department-led postwar planning committee. After 1945, she lobbied Congressmen and women’s groups to support the Marshall Plan and military intervention in Greece and Turkey. In 1946 and 1948, she served as voting delegate to two UNESCO conferences, working to establish freedom of the press for the benefit of Cold War propaganda programs. In her anti-Bolshevik columns and speeches, McCormick invoked vivid images of her experiences in Russia and abroad, filtered through the lens of race, class, Wilsonianism interventionism, and American exceptionalism. Using biography, published writings, and private correspondences, this project considers how one prominent women correspondent from the east coast media helped to shape political discourse and policy itself prior to and during the Cold War.
December 4/09: Bruce Erickson, 'Recreating History, Consuming Nature: Canoeing, Suffering, and the Nation’s Past.' It is often said that the canoe routes established through the fur trade carved out the material dimensions of the Canadian state. Following watersheds from east to west, European explorers, entrepreneurs, and their labour force became entangled in the production of the nation. Some attempts to reconnect with this period have started to follow the material practices of the time, canoeing “a la mode du pays,” retracing key voyages across the continent. This talk examines these recreational re-creations as an aspect of the narration of national space in Canada. For these paddlers, the path of the voyageur leads them to an encounter with the true Canada, embodied by the wilderness travel that was the voyageur’s bread and butter. Within these encounters, minimalism and the attempt to ‘go without’ is designed to help them encounter the character of the nation. This voluntary renuncition is an attempt to present an intimacy with the land and articulate belonging outside of the anxieties of colonial settlement, but it often eclipses the real history of the colonial encounter. As such, suffering, as a mode of encountering the nation, overrides the history of colonialism and presents an authoritative connection between nation and nature. Canada then becomes a nation held in the nature of the landscape, as opposed to an entity created by the multifarious networks of power over the last four centuries.
March 25/09: Richard Wenghofer, Department of Classics, 'The Racialization of Civic Identity in Classical Athens.' Until quite recently there has been a general consensus among ancient historians that the concept of race and the dysfunction of racism did not exist in antiquity. More recently, however, some historians of ancient Greece and Rome have identified the existence of concepts that are broadly analogous to modern notions of race and have uncovered modes of behavior that can rightly be defined as racist. This paper seeks to identify the origins and evolution of racist ideas in Classical Athens. The main argument to be presented is that racist thought emerged in Classical Athens in lockstep with, and as an indirect consequence of, the evolution of democratic political structures and their concomitant social and political ideologies.
March 13/09: Derek Neal & Hilary Earl, Department of History, 'Cruelty in History: A Conversation'. How pertinent is "cruelty" as a term of historical analysis? Is the historian who refers to a given custom, episode or individual "cruel" making a useful judgment, or one that obscures historical knowledge? In dwelling on "cruelty" in history do we sometimes run the risk of buying into the investments of particular audiences or interests? And how do we teach about cruelty in history without becoming sensationalistic or exploitative? Derek Neal and Hilary Earl will explore these questions in a conversation that investigates cruelty (as defined both by historical actors and by present-day historians) in a range of historical settings from premodern times to the present, with particular focus on Dr. Earl's research into twentieth-century war and genocide.
March 3/09: "A Sense of Wonder". We are excited to announce a pre-release screening of A Sense of Wonder, the new documentary about pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson, as part of International Women's Week and brought to you by the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History and the IWW Committee. When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. The film uses many of Carson's own words to depict the final year of her life, as she fought to get her message out while simultaneously struggling with cancer. An introduction and discussion will follow, moderated by Dean Bavington and James Murton.
February 25/09: Jennifer Farooq, Department of History, 'Sermons as promotion and publicity: Preachers and London voluntary associations, 1700-1760'
There has been increasing interest in early modern sermons, particularly in their role in British political and religious culture. Yet, there has been less attention paid to sermons preached at charity and society meetings. This relative lack of scholarly interest is particularly glaring in the eighteenth century because although sermons had long been a part of such events, this role became increasingly prominent by the early eighteenth century, as the number and variety of voluntary associations grew. Indeed, such sermons were one of the most distinctive aspects of eighteenth-century sermon culture.
This paper briefly examines the content of society sermons, but also considers the functions of these sermons and the relationships of preachers to these associations. Preachers helped establish and interpret the ideology of the societies and also frequently acted as the public spokesmen for societies. Some groups went to great lengths to try to procure well-known preachers for their events. Many of these sermons were published and subsequently distributed to current and potential supporters. Sermons served as an important form of publicity and also helped generate revenue, either when they were preached or printed. Thus, this paper reveals how preachers found new roles and had continuing importance in British public life at a time when some scholars would suggest society was becoming increasingly secular and less influenced by the clergy.
February 13/09: Craig Cooper, Dean of Arts & Science and Program in Classics, 'Determining Justice in Classical Athens.' Isonomia was the name commonly given to Athenian democracy, to emphasize the equality that Athenians enjoyed under the law. This fact, Athenians claimed, set demoicracry apart from other forms of governments like oligarchy and tyranny, which administered justice at a whim, whereas the Athenians were governed equitably under the rule of law. The question I wish to explore is how fairly did the Athenians treat marginalized groups like slaves, foreigners and women. How far did they live up to their rhetoric when it came to determining justice for all members of society.
February 4/09: Robin Gendron, Department of History, “A Connecticut Yankee in Indonesia's Court: Phillip Jessup, Inco, and the Culture of Business in Indonesia in the 1970s.” In August of 1975, the Indonesian subsidiary of the International Nickel Company of Canada hired an Indonesian lawyer named Song Tjendra as its Legal Officer and Secretary. Tjendra’s employment with PT Inco was short lived, however; a few months later, PT Inco’s Managing Director Phillip Jessup announced that the company had regretfully accepted Tjendra’s resignation. Shortly thereafter, Tjendra challenged his termination before Indonesia’s labour relations tribunal and also had criminal charges for libel brought against Jessup, leading to a lengthy and complicated series of legal proceedings for both PT Inco and Phillip Jessup. Examining Inco’s records pertaining to these proceedings reveals the types of challenges North American companies faced in establishing operations in Indonesia in the mid-1970s. These records also provide insight into the business and political culture of Indonesia as well as the nature of relations between Inco and the Canadian and American governments.
January 30/09:
January 23/09: Todd Webb, Department of History, Laurentian University “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition: Methodism, Anti-Catholicism and Empire in Lower and Upper Canada”. This paper will deal with anti-Catholicism and the role that it played in the process of cultural formation among the Methodists of Lower and Upper Canada between 1837 and 1860. By concentrating on this topic, this paper promises to shed light on an aspect of the Protestant experience in Canada that previous studies of religion and culture have tended to overlook. With the exception of several insightful articles and various attempts to understand the Orange Order, scholars have paid little attention to anti-Catholicism’s impact on the efforts of the Protestant churches of Lower and Upper Canada to define their collective sense of self. This has certainly been the case in Canadian Methodist historiography. This paper will demonstrate that, by ignoring anti-Catholicism, historians of Methodism in Lower and Upper Canada have failed to address one of the key factors that determined how that denomination dealt with political and social change at both the imperial and colonial levels between 1837 and 1860. It will do so by examining the Methodist role to three episodes: the rebellions of 1837-38 in Lower and Upper Canada, the formation of a transatlantic anti-Catholic consensus during the 1840s and 1850s, and the Prince of Wales’s tour of British North America in 1860.
November 21/08: James Murton, Department of History will speak on “John Bull and Sons: The Empire Marketing Board and the Making of an Imperial Food System.”
November 5/08: Kelly Morris, Department of History will speak on “‘a vobis habuisse et recepisse’: Microcredit in the Hands of Medieval Women Religious.”
October 24/08: (note the later than normal time to accommodate the Arts & Science Council Meeting).The next talk in the History Department Seminar Series features our own gender and medieval historian Derek Neal, speaking on "Sex and the Damage Done: A Rare Prosecution for Sodomy in Late Medieval England."
October 8/08: The first talk of the Seminar Series features Greg Stott, speaking on "The Travails of a Poet: Robert McBride's Expose of Corruption and Conspiracy in Lambton County, Canada West, 1854-1858."
March 12/08: Todd Stubbs, Department of History, Muskoka Campus “Care and Culture, Time and Opportunity': Wage-Earning Men and the Income Franchise Debate in Toronto, 1866-1874” Abstract
February 29/08: Ann-Barbara Graff, Department of English Studies “A Water-Fly’s Wooing: Annesley Kenealy and the Evolving Threat circa 1914” Abstract
February 15/08: Cameron McFarlane, Department of English Studies '"What's the trick in that?’ Performing Gender and History in Stage Beauty.” Abstract
November 22/07: On Thursday, November 22nd, Dean Oliver will be at Nipissing to give the History Department's annual Keynote Address. The title of the talk is "Bloodless Wars? Military History in Museums." It takes place at 6:30 pm in H106. Dean Oliver is the chief historian at the Canadian War Museum and he will be speaking about the challenges involved in presenting history and historical research at public institutions, a particularly germane topic given the controversy at the museum this past summer about its portrayal of the strategic bombing campaign against Germany during the Second World War. The event is free and open to the entire university community and the public. We hope to see you there.
November 16/07: Sara Z. Burke, Department of History, Laurentian University, "Dancing into Education? The Impact of World War I on University Women in Ontario." Abstract
November 2/07: Nathan Kozuskanich, Department of History, "Originalism in a Digital Age: An Inquiry into the Right to Bear Arms." Abstract
April 14/07: The Institute for Community Studies and Oral History and the History department presented a free public conference entitled "North Bay: Exploring Our Community's Past" on April 14th and 15th, 2007. Community members, 4th year students and former students presented their research. A particular feature was John Long’s paper, “Private Fred Moore: A Cree at the Battle of Normandy.”
Mar 23/07: "Special Student Seminar by Sean Graham 'British North American Attitudes towards the United States, 1775-1867' and William Hamilton."
The History Department Seminar Series wraps up its year with a special seminar, in which two of the Department's senior students consider 18th century and 19th century nationalism and social relations in southern France and early Canada. Come out and see the future of history!
Time and place: Friday, Mar 23, 3:30 pm in Rm A224.
William Hamilton, "When Twigs Crack Don’t Whistle"
This project examines the story of La Bete, a real, wolf-like creature which terrorized the Gevaudan region of southern France from 1764-1767. By focusing on the peasants and by putting “La Bete back into the Gevaudan,” the story reveals much about peasant life, religion and social relations in ancien regime France, while demonstrating that the history of everyday life may be discovered in the most unusual sources.
Sean Graham, 'Traitors, Invaders, and Slavers: British North American Attitudes towards the United States, 1775-1867'
This paper traces anti-Americanism through Canada's formative years by looking at the significant events that marked the period. There is also discussion on the current state of anti-Americanism in Canada and the impact this period had on our modern perceptions of the United States.
Colleen Franklin, "'Steering Against the Tyde of Satan's Malice': Captain Thomas James's Voyage Narrative and its Influence on the Representation of the North."
This talk will focus on the Voyage (1633) and its attempt to participate in the new philosophical enterprise. The Voyage does so even as it registers its unease with the north, an unease that is attributable to medieval and early modern representations of the north in European and English literature (the patristic writers, mercantilists, imaginative writers, and so on). I will go on to talk about how the Voyage was received through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, until the search for the Franklin expedition resulted in accounts that displaced it as the primary source of information about what is now northern Canada.
"Rescheduled from Mar 2, day and time TBA."
Feb 13/07: Dr. Brian Osborne Visits Nipissing University
The History Department is pleased to be part of bringing the distinguished scholar Dr. Brian Osborne to Nipissing on Feb 13-15, 2007. Professor Emeritus of Geography at Queen's University, Dr. Osborne is one of the major figures in historical geography in Canada. His research areas have included aboriginal history, settlement history, cultural landscapes, and the role of the "culture of communications" in the development of a Canadian sense of place. His current research focuses on symbolic landscapes, monumentalism, and performed commemoration as contributors to the construction of social cohesion and national identity in Canada. He is at work on two books: an edited volume on Canada's Changing Countrysides, and a historical geography of Canadian national identity.
On Tuesday, Feb 13, at 6:30 pm in Room H105, Nipissing University, Dr. Osborne will be giving a public lecture titled "From patriotic pines to diasporic geese! Locating identity in a trans-national Canada." Wine and cheese to follow.
On Thursday, Feb 15, 2007, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. in Room A224, Nipissing University, Dr. Osborne will be giving a luncheon talk on the subject of North Bay artist Dr. Tom Cummings.
Both talks are free and open to the public.
For more information contact Jamie Murton (jamesm@nipissingu.ca) or Jean Allen (jeana@nipissingu.ca). Please plan to join us!
Feb 9/07: Catherine Murton Stoehr, "Nativism's Bastard: 100 Years of Anishinabe Political Theory."
Catherine Murton Stoehr connects the land, military history and religion in her exploration of Anishinabe Nativism and the role of Methodist Christianity in the community. She argues that a hybrid movement evolved among that Anishinabeg in Southern Ontario that combined the Natives message that Indians were one people wand that new ceremonies could restore lost spiritual power with, in particular, Methodist Christian ides of salvation and apocalyptic teachings. The emergent guiding principle in this movement held that the improvements-spiritual and material-could only occur through the ethical actions of First Nations people in the region. Significantly, Murton Stoehr maintains that the Methodist-Nativist hybrid was truly an indigenous invention that made use of the language of Christianity to critique the settlers, colonial governments, and even the missionaries. Its development and growth was directly influenced by the colonial wars in the United States.
Jan 19/07: David Tabachnick,"Is there an American Empire? The Difference Between Hegemonia and Arkhe."
This paper is an exploration of whether Thucydides’ warning against the hubris of empire can be applied to the contemporary United States. Historically, the characterization of the global reach of the United States as imperialistic was limited to followers of Lenin and Mao. Yet now, there is surprisingly wide agreement on all sides of the political spectrum that the sheer strength and influence of the United States qualifies it as an empire. The problem with this conclusion is that the vast majority of the relationships political societies make with the United States do not seem to result in a ceding of sovereignty. Undoubtedly, the United States has tremendous international influence but that alone does not make it an empire. This difference between international influence and actual control is reflected in the ancient Greek words hegemonia or legitimate leadership and arkhe which might roughly be translated using Michael Doyle’s term, “effective political sovereignty of another political society.” So, what is often called American imperialism may instead be an example of hegemonia. In a sense, Thucydides’ History is an account of the movement between these two kinds of political authority; at the beginning of the book Athens is the respected leader (as in hegemonia) of the Delian League but eventually becomes the corrupt and vicious empire (as in arkhe) characterized in the Melian Dialogue and the Sicilian Expedition. Is something similar is happening with the United States today? Is the United States now moving from hegemonia to arkhe? In order to answer this question, this essay engages in a wide-ranging comparative analysis between the transformation of Athens into an empire and the possibility of a similar transformation of the United States.
Nov 30/06: Franca Iacovetta visits Nipissing
Franca came to Nipissing November 30 to December 2nd, 2006. The student event was Thursday, November 30th at the Bull & Quench. Her talk on Friday was titled "Policing Democratic Decency: Spies, Femme Fatales and Scam Artists in Cold WarCanada" The talk was based on her just-released book, Gatekeepers: Reshaping ImmigrantLives in Cold War Canada.
It was more than a pleasure to have her visit and speak with students over dinner and to have her speak and answer questions about her new book on the day of her speech.
In the photo from the left we have Jeniffer Evans,
Franca Iacovetta and Prof. Katrina Strigley
Histories of the Near North: Discovering Our Community's Past On April 1 & 2, 2006 Nipissing students, historians, and members of the North Bay community met at @discoverynorthbay for Histories of the Near North: Discovery our Community's Past. Inspired by the desire to strengthen links between the community and Nipissing University , this two day event drew more than one hundred participants to see the presentations of fourth-year History students and local scholars. |
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The weekend was a great success. We look forward to the next conference in Spring 2007.
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