Next year's first History Department Seminar, Friday Jan. 8

Jamie Murton writes:

Before you go away for the holidays -- make plans to attend the first History Department Seminar Series of the new year. The History Department is very proud to present one of our former graduate students, Yvonne Hunter of McMaster University, speaking on:

"Cold Columns: Anne O'Hare McCormick and the Origins of the Cold War in The New York Times (1920-1954)."

Friday, Jan 8, 2:30 pm, in room A226.

Yvonne's paper considers Anne O’Hare McCormick, the Pulitzer-winning political correspondent for The New York Times, who might correctly be considered one of the first prominent intellectual Cold Warriors of the twentieth century. 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.

See you there!

Jamie

Students: Reward the teachers who inspire you!

From the Office of the Vice President Academic and Research:

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Full-Time Teaching and the Nipissing University Award for Part-Time Teaching were established to recognize and honour faculty who display teaching excellence in the classroom.

For information on the application process and nomination forms for each award, please visit the website of the Vice-President, Academic and Research at http://www.nipissingu.ca/academic/ “Teaching Awards”. Since recipients are entitled to receive the teaching awards only once every five years, please verify the list of previous recipients on the website that the nominee check the . Hard copies can also be obtained from the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research (F309).

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, March 19, 2010.

Scholarship is alive and well at NU

From an announcement by the NU library:

While construction continued outside on the new Learning Library, Nipissing’s current library held a celebration of the people whose works will help fill the new book shelves. Nipissing University celebrated its faculty who recently published books at the Education Centre Library’s 2009 Faculty Book Launch, held on December 3 in the Library’s Gallery Lounge.

There are 19 new books that have been authored or co-authored by Nipissing faculty since 2008. The books represent an impressively diverse range of academic disciplines and topics, from global politics and family history to educational leadership and the environment.

“Book publication is a major form of research output and a fundamental aspect of scholarly life. The Education Centre Library is delighted to support faculty at Nipissing by acknowledging that having a book published is a defining moment for scholars,” said Lynne Prunskus, associate director of library services, who conceived of and organized the event.

List of authors and their books that were recognized at the Faculty Book Launch (Nipissing Faculty in bold):

• Earl, Hilary. The Nuremburg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945-1958: Atrocity, Law, and History. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Ferry, Darren. Uniting in Measures of Common Good: The Construction of Liberal Identities in Central Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008.
• Geden, Dennis. Paintings 2000-2009, a survey. Mineta Contemporary, 2009.
• Hatt, Blaine. Heart in Teaching: Attending the Pathic. Lambert, 2009
• Jarvis, Daniel H. Parametric Creativity: Curriculum Negotiation and Professional Development Models in Mathematics Education. Lambert, 2009.
• McMaster, Lindsey. Working Girls in the West: Representations of Wage-Earning Women. UBC Press, 2008.
• Miller, G. Tyler, Jr. and Dave Hackett. Living in the Environment. Nelson Education Ltd., 2008.
• Mintz, Jerry and Carlo Ricci, eds. Turning Points: 27 Visionaries in Education Tell Their Own Stories.Alternative Education Resource Organization, 2010.
• Noël, Françoise. Family and Community Life in Northeastern Ontario: The Interwar Years. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009.
• Renshaw, Sal. The Subject of Love: Hélène Cixous and the Feminine Divine. Manchester University Press, 2009.
• Lord, Bruce and Elisabeth Richards. Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed: And Other Cracked Tales. iUniverse.com, 2008.
• Richardson, Carole and Warnie Richardson. Walking the Talk: Putting Theory into Practice. Detselig Enterprises, 2008.
• Ryan, Thomas G. ed. Canadian Educational Leadership. Detselig Enterprises, 2009.
• Srigley, Katrina. Breadwinning Daughters: Young Working Women in the Depression-Era City, 1929-1939. University of Toronto Press, 2009.
• Stange, Ken. Art Creation and Appreciation: Uniquely Human? Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
• Tabachnick, David Edward and Toivo Koivukoski, eds. Enduring Empire: Ancient Lessons for Global Politics. University of Toronto Press, 2009.
• Vassilev, Tzvetalin. Optimal Area Triangulation of Planar Point Sets. VDM Verlag, 2009.
  

Reminder: History Seminar, Friday December 4

From Dr. James Murton:

A reminder that the next History Department Seminar Series is tomorrow (Friday), featuring Bruce Erickson speaking on "Recreating History, Consuming Nature: Canoeing, Suffering, and the Nation’s Past."

This Friday, Dec 4, 2:30 pm in Rm A226.

Fall Faculty Book Launch, Thursday Dec. 3, 4 pm

This joyous event will take place in the Library Lounge and will include light refreshments.

Information Fair on NU's Master of Arts in History Program, Saturday December 5

Anyone interested in Nipissing's Masters Programs (including the Masters of Arts in History) are invited to attend an Information Fair on MA History, MEd, MSc Mathematics on Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at the Main Campus in North Bay from 10:00am - 12:00pm. Register now by contacting the Liaison Office: (705-474-3450 ext. 4517) or nuinfo AT nipissingu.ca.

History Seminar Series: Bruce Erickson on Canoeing as Historical Re-creation, Friday, December 4

The final installment of the History Department Seminar Series for this term features Bruce Erickson, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Nipissing University, speaking on "Recreating History, Consuming Nature: Canoeing, Suffering, and the Nation's Past" on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 2:30pm in Room A226. Refreshments will be served.

Bruce's talk will examine recreational re-creations of voyageur canoe trips, arguing that these trips attempt to encounter the character of the nation through an experience of nature. Canada then becomes a nation held in the nature of the landscape, as opposed to an entity created by multifarious networks of colonial power over the last four centuries.

Reminder: Truth, Justice and Reconciliation

From the History Club:

Here is the information about a special lecture this week hosted by the Canadian International Council that you may be interested in:
What? Truth, Justice and Reconciliation: Peacebuilding in Cambodia, Kosovo and Uganda
When? Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 7:00pm
Where? The Weaver (B200), Nipissing University
Who? Everyone! Admission is free.

Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7 pm, Weaver Auditorium.

From Dr. Robin Gendron:

The Nipissing Branch of the Canadian International Council would like to invite the campus community to participate in an event with Dr. Alistair Edgar, who will be speaking on the subject of "Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation: Peacebuilding in Cambodia, Kosovo, and Uganda."

This event will take place next Tuesday, Nov. 24 from 7-8 pm in the Weaver Auditorium. It is free and open to the public and we hope to see everyone there.

Nipissing University Academic College meeting -- Friday, Nov. 13

Christine Jenkins (Secretary of Senate/Assistant to the President) writes:

This is a reminder of the meeting of the Nipissing University Academic College (NUAC) on Friday, November 13 from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in F210. NUAC is comprised of all members of the broad University community involved in the delivery of academic programs and academic services. This includes all students.

Information on NUAC is contained in Article 10.3 of the Senate By-laws which may be found at: http://www.nipissingu.ca/senate/downloads/BYLAWS.PDF

Reminders: Keynote address, History seminar

For the Keynote address, tonight, see the previous post.

Dr. James Murton reminds of tomorrow's History seminar:

The History Department Seminar Series will welcome Dr. Kristján Ahronson to campus this Friday to speak on "Viking-Age Environmental Change: The First Centuries of Human Settlement in Iceland."

Friday, Nov 6, 2:30 pm in Rm A226.

Refreshments will be served. See you there!

Reminder: History Keynote Address, November 5, 7 pm

Nipissing University is pleased to welcome James Taylor Carson to campus for the Department of History’s annual keynote address.

Titled, North American Antiquity and the Practice of Modern History, the address takes place on Thursday, November 5, from 7 – 9 p.m. in room R308.

Seminar series: Viking-Age Environmental Change, Friday Nov. 6

Dr. James Murton writes:

The History Department Seminar Series, in conjunction with James Abbott of the Geography Department, will feature archeologist Dr Kristján Ahronson, speaking on "Viking-Age Environmental Change: The First Centuries of Human Settlement in Iceland."

Dr. Ahronson is a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and is a Lecturer at the University of Wales (Bangor). He will discuss the way in which his work is providing a better understanding of the process of cultural diffusion in the North Atlantic through a new use of volcanic deposits to more accurately date changes in vegetative cover as a result of the Norse settlement of Iceland.

Friday, Nov 6, 2:30 pm, Rm A226.

Everyone Welcome. Refreshments will be served!

History Club meeting: Tuesday, November 3rd at 11:30am in room R313.

Tonight's History Pub relocated

It will be at 100 Georges, upstairs. A double-booking is responsible for the change.

Department of History Annual Keynote Address -- Thursday, November 5, 2009

The History Department invites you to its Annual Keynote Address

James Taylor Carson

Associate Professor of History and Associate Dean
Queen's University

“North American Antiquity and the Practice of Modern History.”

Abstract: When Europeans first arrived in the place they named the Americas they denied the humanity of the people who had inhabited the land for millennia. The descendants of the European diaspora still deny those people and, by extension, the antiquity of the places they inhabit. But this ancient world and its influences are all around us if we only take the time to look. McDonald’s fast food, Hurricane Katrina and the election of Barack Obama each point to the importance of our ancient past, but such examples can only assume their ancient significance if we rethink who we are and how we relate to our own place and time.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

R308

7:00 - 8:00

Contact Nathan Kozuskanich (nathank@nipissingu.ca) for more info.

Image: Cahokia, a 13th-century North American city.

Upcoming History Club events

Meeting on Tuesday, October 20th, at 11:30 in room R313.

Historical Halloween Pub is coming up on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 beginning at 9:00pm at the Bull and Quench (603 McIntyre St. E.) Come dressed as a historical figure, or from a historical period. Prizes ($25 gift cards from the LCBO and Chapters/Coles) will be awarded for the two best costumes!

North Bay launch of Francoise Noel's new book - Thursday, October 15, 7 pm

A reminder:

Dr. Francoise Noel's upcoming book, Family and Community Life in Northeastern Ontario: The interwar years, will have its North Bay area launch on Thursday, October 15, 7-8:30 PM, at the NB Public Library at 271 Worthington Street E.

This book is based on extensive interviews and archival research and reconstructs how various individuals and groups lived together and sometimes came into conflict in the years before the Second World War. As the title indicates, Dr. Noel is especially interested in family life and its rituals, a subject she treated so well in her previous book, Family Life and Sociability in Upper and Lower Canada.

If you live in the North Bay area, and especially if you grew up here, this book will be of special interest to you.

Books will be available for sale at the launch and also at Gulliver's, 157 Main Street W.

Model NATO Organisational Meeting - Oct 8

Dr. Gendron sends this information:

There will be a meeting for students interested in participating in the 2010 Model NATO conference in Ottawa as part of the Nipissing Model NATO team on Thursday, Oct 8 at 11:30 in room H349.

Any interested students are free to contact me for further information or if they are unable to attend the meeting.

Scavenger hunt!

Nipissing University History Club

First Year Scavenger Hunt

Check the Nipissing University History Club Bulletin Board for your next clue.

Reminder: Subsistence Conference Events

Friday, Oct 2

Dr. Petrick will be giving a talk titled "Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter: A Call for the Centrality of Taste in History." 2:30 pm in A122

The panel discussion "Contemplating Local Food: An Evening the Kennedy Gallery" will feature four local food producers talking about bringing local food to the near north, with food by Piebird B&B. 6:30 pm at the Kennedy Gallery (150 Main St E). For more information see www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/jamesm/panel/panel.html

Saturday & Sunday, Oct 3-4

The actual workshop goes over the weekend, featuring scholars from the US and Canada discussing the pains and possibilities of eating and working outside and beside capitalist market economies. In the Chapel at Monastery Hall, starting at 9:00 am on Saturday. For more information see www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/jamesm/subsistence/subsistence.html.

Monday, Oct 5

Jennifer Johnson of the University of Michigan will speak on "Commodity Frontiers in Lake Victoria's Global Nile Perch Trade." 5-6:30 pm in Rm A226

Also, Monday Night is the first documentary in the Cinema Politica Series. The documentary is called, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO and is all about the industrial food system and its consequences. 7 pm in R308.

For more information see the links above or contact James Murton (jamesm@nipissingu.ca), Dean Bavington (deanba@nipissingu.ca) or Bruce Erickson (brucee@nipissingu.ca). See you there!

TOMORROW: NYU historian speaks on food at the History Seminar Series

Dr. James Murton writes:

A reminder that the History Department Seminar Series kicks off another year with food historian Gabriella M. Petrick of New York University. She will speak on "Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter: A Call for the Centrality of Taste in History."

Friday, Oct 2, 2:30 pm, in A122.

Refreshments will be served. All are welcome!


A reminder as well that Dr. Petrick's visit to Nipissing is part of the conference Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows: A Workshop on Subsistence Economies. More information at www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/jamesm/subsistence/subsistence.html.

Good Governance and Traditional Authorities in Ghana --Tuesday, Oct. 6, 11:30 AM

From Dr. Robin Gendron:

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Matt Morris (a Nipissing student) will be giving a talk on the subject of "Good Governance and Traditional Authorities in Ghana," derived from his recent experience working with an NGO in Ghana. The talk will take place from 11:30 - 12:30 in Room A122 and everyone is welcome. Lunch will be served!

The event is being sponsored by the Political Science programme, the Student Political Involvement Network, and the Nipissing Branch of the Canadian International Council.

History Seminar Series: Dr. Gabriella Petrick on Food History, Friday, Oct 2, 2:30 pm, in A122.

From Dr. James Murton:

The History Seminar Series returns for another year with a talk by historian Gabriella M. Petrick, visiting us from New York University. She will speak on "Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter: A Call for the Centrality of Taste in History."

Gabriella's previous work is on the development of industrial food systems in the modern U.S., and this talk is derived from her new research on the history of taste. Dr. Petrick is Assistant Professor Food Studies in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at NYU Steinhardt. For more information see: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/profiles/faculty/gabriella_petrick.

Friday, Oct 2, 2:30 pm, in A122.

Refreshments will be served. All are welcome!

Note that Dr. Petrick's visit to Nipissing is part of the conference Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows: A Workshop on Subsistence Economies. More information at the link.

Gabriella Petrick, food historian, at NU next Thursday

From Dr. James Murton, to faculty, but all can listen in:

As part of next weekend's subsistence history workshop, NYU food historian Gabriella Petrick will be visiting campus. She is a historian of industrial food systems in the modern US and is doing interesting new work on the history of taste. She'll be visiting my Food & Land class a week Thursday, and the plan is for her to give a talk on Friday. I will send you more info on the talk when I have it, but in the meantime if you could mention this to your classes where appropriate, and particularly the grad students, I'd appreciate it. I want to encourage the grad students to attend the talk in particular and she is available to meet with any interested students.

NU History Club notices -- lots going on

Welcome back! I hope you are enjoying your classes so far! A few things of interest to history students in the next couple of weeks:

Our first History Club Meeting will be taking place this Tuesday (September 22nd) at 11:30am in room R313 (in the new research wing). We plan to discuss some upcoming club activities, so if you'd like to get more involved with the History Club, please consider attending!

This year's History Department Meet and Greet will take place on Wednesday, September 30th at 6:30pm in the Owl's Nest Lounge (first floor of the H-Wing). All students interested in (or already in) Nipissing's History program are welcome to attend. Get to know your History Profs and fellow students and enjoy some refreshments and fun!

Club Days is coming up on the week of September 28th - October 2nd. We are looking for people to help run the History Club booth, so if you have a few hours to spare between 9:00-3:00 on any day that week, please email back.

Calling all First Year Students! This year, the History Club will be organizing a Scavenger Hunt and Pizza Party for new History Students at Nipissing University on Monday, October 5th, starting at 12:00pm following the First Year Canadian History Course in B200. Please let any first year History students know!

Other Opportunities of interest:

Students are also invited to take part in a conference that the History Department at Nipissing and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History are presenting, called "Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows." This two-day workshop aims to bring together emerging scholarship on subsistence and mixed economies, both contemporary and throughout history. Subsistence relationships illustrate the complexity of not only economic exchanges, but also of human/nature interactions, and discussions at the workshop will draw upon these complex networks to help understand the continuing significance of subsistence at different scales. 13 pre-selected papers will form the spine of the discussion and the keynote address will be provided by Colin Duncan, author of The Centrality of Agriculture: Between Humankind and the Rest of Nature. The workshop will take place at Monastery Hall, Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, on October 2-4th. While the subsistence scale has often been seen as a stepping-stone to larger, more complex relationships of exchange, local and subsistence economies have received a recent revival due to both environmental and economic crises. North Bay has a long history of vibrant subsistence and small-scale productions, including wild berries, fisheries, and forestry. On Friday evening (October 2nd ) there will be a showcase of some of those involved in these relationships at the Kennedy Gallery in Downtown North Bay. If you are interested in further information, or are interested in attending, please contact Bruce Erickson at brucee@nipissingu.ca

Official North Bay launch of Francoise Noel's new book - Thursday, October 15, 7 pm

Dr. Francoise Noel's upcoming book, Family and Community Life in Northeastern Ontario: The interwar years, will have its North Bay area launch on Thursday, October 15, 7-8:30 PM, at the NB Public Library at 271 Worthington Street E.

This book is based on extensive interviews and archival research and reconstructs how various individuals and groups lived together and sometimes came into conflict in the years before the Second World War. As the title indicates, Dr. Noel is especially interested in family life and its rituals, a subject she treated so well in her previous book, Family Life and Sociability in Upper and Lower Canada.

If you live in the North Bay area, and especially if you grew up here, this book will be of special interest to you.

Books will be available for sale at the launch and also at Gulliver's, 157 Main Street W.

Derek Neal's new project

Somewhat passed over in the rush of end-of-year business was the fact that another NU historian was awarded a useful and prestigious SSHRC Standard Research Grant which will provide him time and resources to further investigate clerical and lay masculinity in Late Medieval and Early Modern England. Here's a short description of why this is interesting:

Clergy, Laity and Masculinity in English Communities, 1460-1560 explores interactions between clergymen and lay people in England during a span of time that crosses the conventionally understood distinction between “late medieval” and “early modern” eras of history. Between 1460 and 1560, did clergymen begin to be regarded (or to regard themselves) at all differently? How did clerics and lay people insult or censure each other? In what terms did they report each other’s misconduct? What patterns did physical fights, and more mundane legal disputes, take between them? The question admits cooperation as well as conflict: clerics advised people making wills, they often mediated disputes (including marital ones), and they might complete a household, not disrupt it. All such interactions can inform an understanding of clerical masculinity, and by extension, also of masculinity more generally.

Dr. Robin Gendron speaks on Radio Canada, Sudbury, Tuesday September 15 EARLY

Dr. Gendron writes:

For those of you who will be up bright and early tomorrow morning, you will be able to catch me being interviewed at 6:50 am on Radio Canada (the French CBC) out of Sudbury. I'll be discussing the removal of the Bomarc missile from downtown North Bay, though in all likelihood I'll probably spend more time talking about the history of the missile and similar subjects.

Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows: A workshop on Subsistence Economies. October 2-4th

The Department of History at Nipissing University and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History are pleased to announce a two-day workshop on subsistence relationships. Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows aims to bring together emerging scholarship on subsistence and mixed economies, both contemporary and throughout history. Subsistence relationships illustrate the complexity of not only economic exchanges, but also of human/nature interactions, and discussions at the workshop will draw upon these complex networks to help understand the continuing significance of subsistence at different scales. 13 pre-selected papers will form the spine of the discussion and the keynote address will be provided by Colin Duncan, author of The Centrality of Agriculture: Between Humankind and the Rest of Nature.

The workshop will take place at Monastery Hall, Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, on October 2-4th.

While the subsistence scale has often been seen as a stepping-stone to larger, more complex relationships of exchange, local and subsistence economies have received a recent revival due to both environmental and economic crises. North Bay has a long history of vibrant subsistence and small-scale productions, including wild berries, fisheries, and forestry. On Friday evening (October 2nd ) there will be a showcase of some of those involved in these relationships at the Kennedy Gallery in Downtown North Bay.

Please find the schedule of presenters and paper titles here. If you are interested in further information, or are interested in attending, please contact Bruce Erickson at brucee@nipissingu.ca

From the Vice-President, Finance and Administration

Hello Everyone:

Please find attached for your review an informative video and other information on how to use the lanes of the roundabout at the bottom of College Drive and Gormanville road.

Visit link: http://northbay.ca/common/video/Roundabouts_LaceyAndOlympia.asf

If you have any questions, you will be able to ask them at the education session tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday, August 25, 2009 at 2PM in the Fedeli (F210) room.

The information will be posted on the VP Finance Administration website for further review at your leisure.

Thank you for your attention and please be aware and safety conscious as the students return.

Vicky

Campus Walk Program -- a message from Dean Craig Cooper

A Campus Walk Program is offered to everyone from the 3rd week in
September to mid April, Mon-Fri, 6pm-11pm. Campus Walk's # is
494-9192. When Campus Walk is not available you may call Security
Services at 474-7600 ext 5505 or alternatively at 498-7244(cell).
Please note that after 5pm you may park in any Parking Lot, including
Visitors.

Dr. Craig Cooper
Dean, Arts and Science

Schedule for defenses of Major Research Papers by History MA students

All members of the university community are invited to these defenses by the first class of History MA students.

Monday August 17th 2009
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Room F303
Yvonne Hunter
MRP Title: Cold Columns: Anne O’Hare McCormick and the Origins of the Cold War in the New York Times (1920-1954)

Tuesday August 18th 2009
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Room F303
Jennifer Evans
MRP Title: “She Never Did Cook the Canadian Way”: Immigrant Women’s Changing Relationship with Food and Cooking in Postwar North Bay, Ontario

Wednesday August 19th 2009
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Room F214
Jessica Parks
MRP Title: France’s Fourth Republic and the Definitive Decisions of 1954

Monday August 24th 2009
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Room F214
Kristen Rossetti
MRP Title: Poetry as Historical Evidence: The Medium, the Message and the Methodology

Wednesday August 26th 2009
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Room F214
Dave Bernardi
MRP Title: Deciphering Orwell: How to Use Fiction as Historical Evidence

Yvonne Hunter's Major Research Paper defense, Monday August 17, Room F303, 9 AM

The School of Graduate Studies proudly invites the university community to attend the first defense of the M.A. program in History. Yvonne Hunter will defend her Major Research Paper entitled “Cold Columns: Anne O’Hare McCormick and the Origins of the Cold War in the New York Times.”

It will take place on Monday August 17, 2009 in room F303, 9 AM -12 PM.

New books from the department (Katrina Srigley and Françoise Noël)

This fall we will see two books from members of our History faculty -- both have been announced by their publishers.

Dr. Katrina Srigley's first monograph, Breadwinning Daughters: Young Working Women in a Depression-Era City, 1929-1939, is coming out in November from University of Toronto Press. Here's part of what the press has to say:

As one of the most difficult periods of the twentieth century, the Great Depression left few Canadians untouched. Using more than eighty interviews with women who lived and worked in Toronto in the 1930s, Breadwinning Daughters examines the consequences of these years for women in their homes and workplaces, and in the city's court rooms and dance halls.

In this insightful account, Katrina Srigley argues that young women were central to the labour market and family economies of Depression-era Toronto. Oral histories give voice to women from a range of cultural and economic backgrounds...

In October, Dr. Françoise Noël's Family and Community Life in Northeastern Ontario: The Interwar Years, her fourth book, will be published by McGill-Queens University Press. Their site doesn't yet have the great cover up, but they do have this punchy blurb:

How people lived, played, and celebrated when radio was new, dance bands the rage, and Quintland the place to visit.

Congratulations to both authors for their contribution to the History Department's record of productivity.

Welcome to New Student Orientation!

Tomorrow is a session of the New Student Orientation dedicated to History and our related disciplines of Classical Studies and Political Science. Some of us faculty members will be there, specifically to explain our program and to meet our future students. One reason we are here at Nipissing University is that we like teaching undergraduates, so don't hesitate to come up and speak to us!

The History faculty at Friday's convocation

Britain confronts the Stalin revolution: Anglo-Soviet relations and the Metro-Vickers crisis, by Gordon W. Morrell

Gordon Morrell, currently departmental chair, studies international history of the 20th century, a formerly neglected field now revealed in a more exciting light by recent developments. Dr. Morrell's first monograph, Britain Confronts the Stalin Revolution, investigates a case history from the 1930s; one which shows the difficulties of cooperation between a revolutionary regime and the outside world.

Britain Confronts the Stalin Revolution is published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press; the Amazon.com page includes a longer summary.

Another award for Dr. Hilary Earl, teacher/scholar

Not long ago it was announced that Hilary Earl had received this year's Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence. Now we hear that she has also been recognized for her research on the Holocaust and genocide in general with the Nipissing University Research Achievement Award.

NU aspires, with a great deal of success, to have a faculty of teacher/scholars. Ask Hilary Earl's students why this is a worthwhile goal.

Your colleagues are proud of you, too, Hilary!

Shell Games: Studies in Scams, Frauds, and Deceits (1300-1650) Ed. Mark Crane, Richard Raiswell, and Margaret Reeves

Mark Crane teaches European history and has contributed significantly to our new graduate program. His chief research concerns the impact of the printing press on the scholarly community of 16th-century Paris. He is also one of the editors of, and a contributor to, Shell Games: Studies in Scams, Frauds, and Deceits (1300-1650). The collected essays in this volume

...are concerned with parochial and patriarchal networks of power. They deal with people on the margins of society, pushing and trying to manipulate boundaries; they deal with people at the very centre of power, endeavouring to conserve or enhance their position. They deal with the strong using lies to oppress the weak and the weak using lies as counter discourses. But at their heart, all of the papers in this collection raise crucial questions about the nature of truth as well as its construction and detection for pre-modern men and women.

Shell Games is published by the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (Toronto).

Creating a Modern Countryside Liberalism and Land Resettlement in British Columbia, by James Murton

James Murton is one of Nipissing University's environmental historians, and he teaches the history of food, among other things. His first book, Creating a Modern Countryside: Liberalism and Land Resettlement in British Columbia, treats an early twentieth-century effort by a provincial government to reshape a natural environment into an ideal agricultural landscape.

Creating a Modern Countryside is published by UBC Press.

Hilary Earl honoured with teaching award

Acting History Chair Francoise Noel passes along the news announced in today's University Senate:

Dr. Hilary Earl received this year's Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence.

Congratulations!

Towards a Francophone Community, by Robin S. Gendron

Dr. Robin Gendron teaches Canadian political history; his research, past and present, examines Canada as an actor in the wider world. The subtitle of his first book is indicative: Canada's Relations with France and French Africa, 1945-1968.

Towards a Francophone Community is published by McGill-Queen's University Press.

Derek Neal's new book

The Masculine Self in Late Medieval England was on display and on sale at the major international medieval congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan two weeks ago. It sold out! This book is a extraordinarily well-written exploration of what it meant to be a man in England after the plague. If you've wondered what gender analysis can contribute to history, especially pre-modern history, this is not a bad place to start. The Masculine Self is published by the University of Chicago Press.

Graduate Student Success

The year 2008-9 was the first year of Nipissing University's MA program in history. We have had excellent students and they performed very well.

One particular case worth noting is that of Yvonne Hunter, whose research concerns the formation of a Cold War consensus in post-World War II America. She has been accepted into the PhD program at McMaster University, and received a prestigious SSHRC Doctoral Canada Graduate Scholarship.

Congratulations to Yvonne and all of our MA students!

Hilary Earl's new book

April saw the publication by Cambridge University Press of Dr. Hilary Earl's new book, The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945–1958: Atrocity, Law, and History.

Devin O. Pendas, Boston College says:

This is a compelling, well-written, and well-researched book. In this imaginative and important study, Hilary Earl both tells the story of the Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen Trial, the ‘biggest murder trial in history,’ and paints a fascinating collective portrait of some of history’s biggest killers... she tells us a great deal about the men who perpetrated some of the most brutal crimes of the Holocaust: who they were, what their backgrounds were, and what their motives might have been. Along the way, she sheds new light on the question of whether and when Hitler might have issued a formal order to initiate the Final Solution.

For more information see the Cambridge University Press site.

Schedule: HISTORY GRADUATE MRP PROPOSAL CONFERENCE Friday April 17th 2009 Room: Monastery 106

8:45 - 9:15 Coffee

9:15 - 9:30 Brief introductions from:

Douglas Parker, Associate Vice-President, Muskoka and Graduate Studies

Paule Laberge, Director of Research Services and Graduate Studies

Gordon Morrell, History Department Chair

Session One: Post WWII Foreign Policy in Print and Deed

9:30 - 10:45

Chairs: Gordon Morrell, Robin Gendron

Yvonne Hunter

Cold Columns: Anne O'Hare McCormick and the Origins of the

Cold War in the New York Times (1944-1948)

Jessica Parks

The Fourth Republic and The First Indochinese War 1945 -1954:

Its impact on the formation and failure of France's involvement in

the European Defense Community

Session Two: Living Memory and the longue durée

11:00 - 12:15

Chairs: Hilary Earl, James Murton

Danielle Whipp

Skating for the State or Skating for herself? The Case of

Katarina Witt and Unofficial Informing for the East German

Stasi

Dustin Wall

An Environmental History of Osprey Links, Callander, Ontario.

12:15 - 1:30

Lunch

Session Three: Literary Representations and Historical Practices

1:30 - 2:45

Chairs: Derek Neal, Mark Crane

Kristen Rossetti

Poetry as Historical Evidence: The Medium, the Message and the

Methodology

David Bernardi

Deciphering Orwell: How To Use Fiction As Historical Evidence

2:45 - 3:00

Break

Session Four: Chivalry, Food, and Women’s Identities

3:00 - 4:15

Chairs: Steve Muhlberger, Katrina Srigley

Heather McGugan

The Fairer Sex": Female Members of the Order of St. Johns and

Their Impact on the Meaning of Chivalry

What's cooking? Immigrant women and the shaping of identity in

postwar North Bay, Ontario

4:15 - 4:30

Closing remarks from Dean Bavington

MASTER OF ARTS, HISTORY IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE ITS FIRST ANNUAL MAJOR RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL CONFERENCE!

Our first class of Master of Arts, History students will present their major research paper proposals on Friday, April 17th from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Monastery, room M106.

Anyone who wishes to attend the presentations is welcome. The presentations will also be made available online for anyone who like to view them but cannot attend.

Lunch will be provided if you RSVP before Tuesday April 14th, 2009. Please RSVP to Sarah Clermont at extension 4198 or sgs@nipissingu.ca

Thank you, we look forward to seeing you there!

Sarah Clermont
Nipissing University
School of Graduate Studies

History Club News

From the History Club:

The History Club will be holding our final meeting of the academic year on Friday at 1 p.m. We will be having a potluck afterwards, around 1:30 p.m. in room F304 (across from the Boardroom)

Students in 4th-year seminars: Remember the History Dinner which is on April 8. The dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $25.00. Matthew Laur, Samantha Pym, Jordan O’Brien and I (David T. Anderson) have tickets. The deadline to purchase tickets is Wednesday April 1, though I don't have to submit final numbers until Friday (so a few days grace).

A final announcement is the last History Pub of the year, which will be held Thursday April 2 at the Bull and Quench starting at 9 p.m.

Reminder: Wenghofer speaks on racism and civic identity in ancient Athens -- Wed., Mar. 25, 10:30

A note on spring and summer courses

Dr. Mark Crane reminds us:

Courses with insufficient enrollment will be canceled in early April -- thus students who wait until the last minute to register may find that their course was canceled in April. Registering promptly (by April 3) is the surest way to ensure the course will run.

On Campus Courses:

HIST 1405: History of Canada (6 credits, May-June) Greg Stott
HIST 2155: Early Modern Europe (6 credits, May-June) Mark Crane
HIST 3716: Russian History to 1917(3 credits, May) Steve Connor
HIST 3717: Russian History, 1917-1991 (3 credits, June) Steve Connor

Distance Education:

HIST 2105: History of Medieval Europe (6 credits, May-July) Mark Crane
HIST 3426: England 1460-1560 (3 credits, May-July) Derek Neal

Wenghofer speaks on Racism in Athens --- Wednesday, Mar 25, 10:30 am, F307

From Dr. James Murton:

The final History Department Seminar Series of this year will feature Richard Wenghofer of the Classics program, speaking on "The Racialization of Civic Identity in Classical Athens."

Richard's paper will argue, contrary to received wisdom, that racism did exist in ancient Athens, and it emerged in lockstep with, and as an indirect consequence of, the evolution of democratic political structures and their concomitant social and political ideologies (full abstract below).

Wednesday, Mar 25, 10:30 am, F307

Refreshments will be served.

See you there!

Abstract:

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.

Spring term and Summer term courses, 2009

Students might want to keep an eye open for these course offerings during registration:

Hist 1405 Canadian History
Hist 2105 Medieval History
Hist 2155 Early Modern European History
Hist 3426 England from 1460-1550
Hist 3416 Russia from Kievan Rus to 1917
Hist 3417 Russian and Soviet History from 1917 to 1991

Nipissing University’s Second Annual Undergraduate Research Conference -- March 27th & 28th

From Genevieve de Bruyn:

Nipissing University’s Second Annual Undergraduate Research Conference is fast approaching and this is one opportunity you will not want to miss. On March 27th & 28th, students, faculty, staff and all Nipissing community members are invited to share in a celebration of undergraduate research. Students from across our campus will showcase their unique and diverse research through posters, papers and panels. This is a great opportunity for faculty and staff to expand their knowledge of what Nipissing University has to offer, and to show our encouragement for the hard work of student researchers.

Guests will have the opportunity to hear and discuss research on topics ranging from ‘Education’ and ‘Global Development’ to ‘War & Society’ and ‘Integrative Biology’; among others. The research topics are excitingly diverse, representing the truly unique nature of the research culture here at Nipissing University. Needless to say there is something for everyone in this two day showcase so we strongly encourage you to come, celebrate undergraduate research with us!

If you would like to register as a guest of the Second Annual UGRC, please reply to this email, providing your full name, your title or affiliation with the university (staff, faculty, student, alumni, guest, etc.), as well as an email address where you can be provided information updates as the Conference approaches. In addition please indicate whether you will attend the Friday March 27th evening events, the Saturday March 28th day of events, or both.

Space is limited so please register today!

Kindest regards,

Genevieve de Bruyn
Coordinator

Earl and Neal in dialogue -- "Cruelty in History: A Conversation," Friday, Mar 13, 2:30 pm, Rm A224--

From James Murton:

I am very pleased to announce a special session of the History Department Seminar Series, "Cruelty in History: A Conversation," with Derek Neal and Hilary Earl.

Derek and Hilary will consider the problems of understanding, studying, and teaching about cruelty, focusing on a range of settings, from premodern times to the present, with particular focus on Dr. Earl's research into twentieth-century war and genocide (abstract below).

Friday, Mar 13, 2:30 pm, Rm A224.

Refreshments will be served.

Abstract:
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?

"A Sense of Wonder" -- Tuesday, March 3

From James Murton:

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.
Tuesday, Mar 3, 6:30 pm, in Room H105.

With an introduction and discussion to follow, moderated by Dean Bavington and James Murton

See you there!

SSHRC in the Federal Budget

Niki Ashton, MP for Churchill, is publicizing the following petition concerning a little-noticed provision of the Federal Budget. People associated with the History Department will want to be aware of this matter.

To the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled

We, the undersigned residents of Canada, wish to bring to your attention
the following:

For more than thirty years, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has been promoting and supporting university-based research and training in the humanities and social sciences. SSHRC funding has been used to complete ground breaking research in countless areas in Canada and around the world.

The Federal Budget presented on January 27th contains a sentence that has the potential to halt this kind of research: "Scholarships granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council will be focused on business-related degrees".

These measures are backward and insulting to the thousands of Canadians that are students and researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

THEREFORE, we petitioners are calling upon the government to remove this sentence from the 2009 Budget and ensure that SSHRC funding not be allocated to one specific discipline but to the range of studies in the social sciences and humanities.

http://nikiashton.ndp.ca/sshrc

“Hope and Glory” -- History Club Movie and Social Night, Friday Feb. 27

The History Club will be holding a Movie and Social Night on Friday February 27. The movie will be “Hope and Glory” which portrays the life of a young boy during the Battle of Britain. It will be shown in room H106 at 5 p.m.

At 7 p.m. the Social Night will begin in the Owl’s Nest, H102 and will run to 11 p.m. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase.

Farooq seminar poster

Reminder: Farooq speaks on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 10:30 am, on preaching and publicity

Dr. Farooq will present in the History Seminar Series on 'Sermons as promotion and publicity: Preachers and London voluntary associations, 1700-1760'. Abstract here.

Join us in F307!

Reminder: Cooper speaks Friday on justice in ancient Athens -- Feb. 13, 2:30 pm

Craig Cooper, Dean of Arts and Science and classicist, will speak on Friday, Feb.13 2:30 pm, A224, on "Determining Justice in Classical Athens." Abstract here.

All welcome!

Nipissing Community History Undergraduate Conference, April 4 -- first notice

As in previous years, Nipissing University's history department will be sponsoring an undergraduate conference to showcase some of the good work being done by our Community History students. We expect that there will be students from Laurentian University here as well. Keep this in mind: Saturday, April 4, at the monastery site. More details to come.

Cooper announcement, the illustrated version (now with abstract)

Abstract: Isonomia was the name commonly given to Athenian democracy, to emphasize the equality that Athenians enjoyed under the law. This fact, Athenians claimed, set democracry 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.

Cooper and Farooq: our next two history seminars

Craig Cooper, Dean of Arts & Science and Program in Classics

Feb 13 (Friday), 2:30 pm, A224

"Determining Justice in Classical Athens."

Jennifer Farooq, Department of History

Feb 25 (Wednesday), 10:30 am, F307
'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.

Robin Gendron speaks: Seminar Feb. 4, 10:30 AM

Coming soon!

Robin Gendron of our own Department of History will speak in the Seminar Series, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 10:30 am, F307, on “A Connecticut Yankee in Indonesia's Court: Phillip Jessup, Inco, and the Culture of Business in Indonesia in the 1970s.” See the abstract here.

Department of History Keynote Speakers, 2009: Elizabeth and Thomas Cohen

Every year the Department of History invites exciting scholars to visit and address the university. This year (specifically Friday January 30) Elizabeth and Thomas Cohen of York University will speak on Renaissance Italy -- details below. Please come!