"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