Tips from the polyglots: Find out how your brain works. An article written by Colleen Ross

An opinion piece by history professor Jacqueline Murray about Monday’s Ontario Court of Appeal decision regarding sex-trade workers appears today in the Globe and

Rural History at Guelph will present a series of informal talks at this year's College Royal: "Ontario’s Rural Heritage: Diaries & Detective Work." Explore rural history through farm diaries written over 100 years ago! Learn about daily life, hunting, courting, teatime, and family fun. Listen to students’ research or try deciphering 19th century handwriting! Presentations take place: Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18 at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm in Rozanski Hall 102.   Get the flyer (.pdf)     http://www.collegeroyalsociety.com/           http://www.uoguelph.ca/ruralhistory/
To coincide with College Royale, the Department of History also presents Dr. Janet Golden: "Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome". Janet Golden is Professor of History at Rutgers University - Camden and is the author of A Social History of Wet Nursing in America: From Breast to Bottle (Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Message in a Bottle: The Making of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Harvard University Press, 2005). She is currently working on a book on the history of babies. Visit http://dept.camden.rutgers.edu/jgolden  Get the flyer: (.pdf)
College Royal is a University open house featuring campus research and teaching in agriculture and animal science. It's a family-day with lots for kids and interested members of the public to see. See you there! 

Some of Canada’s most respected and popular War of 1812 historians will gather at the University of Guelph Feb. 25 for a War of 1812 bicentennial symposium. The event, which is open to the public, will include re-enactors in period costumes, storytelling, public talks and battle re-creations. Uniformed “soldiers” will help direct people to the conference, to be held in Rozanski Hall. The event is sponsored by U of G’s Department of History and the Cambridge, Ont.-based 41st Regiment of Foot re-enactment group, as well as “living history” groups in London and Hamilton, the Wellington County Museum, the Guelph Historical Society and Guelph Museums.
Read the rest of the story and find registration details @Guelph

  by Teresa Pitman for @ Guelph
Remember when Rozanski Hall was a horse barn and Alumni House was home to a flock of sheep? History PhD student Patricia Bowley does. She grew up in Guelph, and when she was a child, her parents would often bring her to the campus, where she developed a lasting interest in agriculture and rural life. She’ll share some of her research and insights during a presentation on Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., entitled “Soybeans and Ontario Crop Agriculture, 1880s-1970s: Responding to a Century of Challenges on the Farm.” Bowley’s is the second talk in this year’s Rural History Roundtable, and will be held in the OAC Boardroom (Johnston Hall, Room 104). 
Read the rest of the story @ Guelph

After the success of last term, the History Essay Workshop Series is back! Our first session last term had over thirty participants and twenty students attended two or more sessions. Get the flyer: (.pdf)

The History Essay Workshop Series helps students know what to do to write stronger essays!
We are conducting two workshops this term that focus on the basics of essay writing. On completion of the full workshop series students will...

Jerrard Smith (of the School of English and Theatre Studies) and his wife, Diana, are internationally renowned theatre designers.  The Design Gallery of W

Quilting bees. Threshing bees. Barn-raisings. Friendly, hard-working neighbours gathering together to get things done. It’s one of those rural traditions that we tend to look back on nostalgically. But there’s another side to these “bees,” says history professor Catharine Wilson. Sometimes, everything went wrong. “There were serious, sometimes fatal, accidents and fights frequently broke out. Some turned into major brawls. I even found information about 16 cases of murder at the bees or right afterwards. She calls them “bees-gone-wrong.”

Read the whole story by Teresa Pitman @Guelph

Professor T. M.

Unfortunately Dr Scanlon's lecture has been cancelled due to illness. 

 

Philosophy is a field that engages with every facet of life. However, academic philosophy these days could be doing a better job of engaging in dialogue with the public: this requires finding a common language, as well as being explicit about the relevance of the ideas at issue. \

Philopolis is a two-day festival that aims to facilitate just such an exchange through panel discussions, workshops and activities of many kinds. Find out more at the festival website. 

A University of Guelph economics professor belongs to a winning team in a prestigious humanities and social sciences research competition.

by Teresa Pitman

It was a trend that was promoted by the highest levels of government at the time. Pierre Elliot Trudeau had hitchhiked around Europe and the Middle East as a young man, long before he became prime minister. In 1970, apparently remembering his own experiences in a positive way, he publicly advised young Canadians to “Hit the road. Drive or hitchhike and see what Canada’s all about.” Many teens and young adults took his advice to heart, and hitchhikers with their thumbs stuck out became a familiar sight on Canadian highways. U of G history professor Linda Mahood never hitched across Canada, but she did hitchhike around her home in Saskatchewan and later on Vancouver Island. “When I mentioned this to some of the students in my women’s history class, they were horrified,” says Mahood. “That’s when I started to get interested in the history of hitchhiking.”

by Teresa Pitman

Which Christian denomination holds the most appeal for people in Africa? It’s not mainstream in Canada, but Pentecostalism is the largest and fastest-growing denomination of Christianity in Nigeria – in fact, it’s ranked number one in all of Africa and in much of Asia and South America as well. “Some estimates show that globally, it’s surpassed the Catholic Church,” says U of G history professor Femi Kolapo.

History professor Matthew Hayday is making headlines today discussing bilingualism in English Canada. The article appears in today’s Montreal Gazette. He is a contributor to a new book due out next month, Life After Forty: Official Languages Policy in Canada. It examines the country’s Official Languages Act and discusses why, despite the act, bilingualism in English Canada is only slightly higher than it is in the United States. Hayday, who studies official languages in education, contributed an article to the book, Finessing Federalism: The Development of Institutional and Popular Support for Official Languages and is currently researching the history of bilingualism in English-speaking Canada. Matthew is associate professor in the Department and the author of Bilingual Today, United Tomorrow (McGill-Queens University Press, 2005).

The 18th Annual Tri-University History Conference will be held at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) on Saturday March 3, 2012.

President Alastair Summerlee will be speaking about his recent visit to famine-stricken East Africa, on October 28th at 12pm in the UC Courtyard. His address will preclude a discussion with Professor Femi Kolapo, which will address a variety of issues and moral questions pertaining to the 2011 Horn of Africa Famine. The discussion will also be a fundraiser for the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) “Shine a Light Campaign”. This initiative is run through the WUSC Student Refugee program and is aimed at expanding the education of young people, and especially girls, in refugee camps in Kenya and Malawi.  Get the flyer: .pdf

The Centre for Scottish Studies is delighted to announce the publication of The Shaping of Scottish Identities: Family, Nation, and the Worlds Beyond, edited by Jodi A. Campbell, Elizabeth Ewan, and Heather Parker.  In 1994, T.C. Smout pointed to the concentric loyalties which go to make up the identity of those who see themselves as Scottish. Building on the last decade of new research, this volume continues this discussion with the second volume in the Guelph Series in Scottish Studies exploring the multi-faceted construction of Scottish identities from the medieval to the modern era.

Pre-registration is upon us. Download the current handout on the distribution requirements for the English BA.

Lisa Cox, a PhD history student at U of G, has been cataloguing the collection since May along with University professor emeritus Ian Barker and two other history students &ndash

Our congratulations go to History Department instructor Dr. Robert Davison, who has just released a new book with Ashgate Publishers. The Challenge of Command: The Royal Navy's Executive Branch Officers, 1880-1919 is the latest volume in Ashgate's Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies Series.  Get the flyer: .pdf      

History Professor explores our fascination with the unknown.   - by Teresa Pitman
From the mid-19th to the early 20th century, there was great interest in séances and other supernatural occurrences. Inevitably, there were also many people attempting to understand and explain these puzzling phenomena. U of G history Prof. Sofie Lachapelle’s new book Investigating the Supernatural (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011 and noted in Vanity Fair magazine's "Hot Type" column this past June) provides a fascinating look at the various attempts made to explain séances and other such events with a focus on events in France.         Read more in @Guelph

A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind.

Our Post-Doctoral Researcher Andrew Ross recently spoke on the CBC's radio program Cross Country Checkup on the topic of hockey in Canada. To hear his thoughts on the Canucks, the nature of hockey and more, listen to the podcast. Andrew's segment starts at 1:30:00 or so.

Congratulations to the finalists for this year's Trillium Book Award:

The Department is delighted to announce a the new Ruth and Eber Pollard Doctoral Scholarships in History.

Tara Abraham and Sofie Lachapelle are proud to announce that the University of Guelph is hosting the 4th Annual GTA Symposium on History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science, Technology, and Medicine on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 from 10am to 4pm.T he symposium is an effort on the part of scholars in the GTA to foster opportunities for communication and to provide a forum for scholarly exchange, bringing together faculty and graduate students interested in a range of topics and approaches constitutive of HPS/STS.

Just out this month from The Johns Hopkins University Press: From Spiritism and Occultism to Psychical Research and Metapsychics in France, 1853–1931 by Sophie Lachapelle. Séances were wildly popular in France between 1850 and 1930, when members of the general public and scholars alike turned to the wondrous as a means of understanding and explaining the world.

The Department is delighted to congratulate Dr. Jacqueline Murray for her appointment as Director of First Year Seminars for a three year term. Dr.

This week the History Department congratulates Drs.

The 2011 Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium will be held 9 April 2011, 9:30am to 3:30pm, at Knox College, University of Toronto. The program will centre on Scots in the Atlantic World and more...

Creative Writing core faculty member Dionne Brand is short-listed for the prestigious Griffin Award for Poetry for her newest collection, Ossuaries (M&S).  Brand is nominated in the Canadi

For four years, History Department docrtoral candidate Sharon Weaver and her husband lived in an old carriage shed on their 400-acre farm in Cape Breton. “You could see the stars through the walls,” she recalls. “In the winter, we’d be sleeping in the warmest down sleeping bags we could get, but in the morning our boots would be frozen to the floor and my husband’s moustache would be white with frost.” (Read more...)

Historian Susan Nance writes about rodeo, and circus elephants as celebrities.
If you’re looking for a little entertainment today, you have hundreds of options: TV, movie theatres, the Internet, video games, radio and more. But in the 19th century, entertainment was created much closer to home and often as an extension of everyday life. History professor Susan Nance says rodeo is a good example. “In western North America, it seems that animals often provided entertainment because they offered the raw energy of the unexpected,” says Nance.  (read more...)

Congratulations are in order for Prof Alan Gordon (History) who has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Canada Prize in Social Sciences to be awarded by the Canadian Federation for t

On Tuesday, March 8, Dr. Margaret Derry presents some of her latest research at the Rural History Roundtable: "Art and Science in Breeding: Creating Better Livestock." Margaret Derry is a purebred breeder, artist, and historian of genetics and its relationship to culture. She is the author of: Horses in Society; Bred for Perfection: Shorthorn Cattle, Collies and Arabian Horses since 1800; Ontario's Cattle Kingdom; and the forthcoming volume Practice and Science in Livestock Breeding: Creating Better Chickens.

Congratulations to Kilby Smith-McGregor, in her second year of the program, for being short-listed in the CBC Literary Awards in BOTH Creative Non-fiction and Poetry.  

On Tuesday, February 15, Sharon Weaver presents some of her latest research at the Rural History Roundtable: "Environmental and Local Power in the Gulf Islands: The Islands Trust and Debates on Denman, 1974-79." Sharon Weaver is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History and author of "Rural Encounters: 1970's Back to the Land," which appeared in Oral History Forum last Fall. The talk taks place in the OAC Boardroom (104 Johnston Hall) from 2:30-4:30pm. All welcome! Get the flyer: (.pdf)

Tuesday evening, Jan. 18, the COA Cafe Philosophique series presents Dr. Sofie Lachapelle: "Amusing Science: French Children at Play 1830 - 1914." The talk takes place in downtown Guelph at 7:30 pm at the NV Lounge (16 Wyndham Street North). Dr. Sofie Lachapelle is an associate professor in the Department of History and the Bachelor of Art and Sciences at the University of Guelph. Her work deals with the history of popular and marginal sciences in 19th century France. Her book "Investigating the Supernatural" will be released by Johns Hopkins University Press in June 2011.

Tuesday, January 18, Dr. Stuart McCook of the Department of History speaks as part of the ASTRA series. His talk, "Bad Coffee: Robusta Coffee and the Challenges of Development," takes place at 12:00 noon in MacKinnon 020. Bring your lunch; drinks and cookies will also be on hand! The (ASTRA) Arts, Science and Technology Research Alliance talks bring together researchers across the University of Guelph whose interests lie within an intersection of the sciences, the humanities and the fine arts.

 On Wednesday, Jan.

Dawn Cornelio, Professor for French Studies, has translated Cora Tsouflidou's biography. The Founder of the popular chain restaurant CHEZ CORA recounts her life in her book.

Now available: (.pdf)

The Fluoride Debate Continues

History prof looks at water fluoridation, past and present - by Nicole Yada, a U of G student writer with SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge)

Sixty-five years after fluoride was first added to municipal water supplies, it continuous to be a contentious issue. University of Guelph history professor Catherine Carstairs is examining why water fluoridation never achieved universal acceptance even though it is proven to reduce dental cavities.
Carstairs began her work on fluoridation unintentionally when researching the history of health food stores. Health food store owners and consumers became some of the leading opponents of fluoride.

The Tri-University Graduate History Association invites you to attend the first in a four part lecture series about American history on the silver screen. Tuesday, November 30th, University of Waterloo, PAS 1229, please come see three Tri-University historians with show clips and discuss:
"Wall Street" - Oliver Stone's controversial 1987 feature, with Dr. Andrew Hunt
"Heaven's Gate" and "Gangs of New York" - The Heroic White Ethnic: (mis)understanding the immigrants through "Heaven's Gate" and "Gangs of New York", with Paul Brewer
"We Were Soldiers" and "Generation Kill" - Reporters on the Battlefield and "Embedded" Journalism, with Andrew McLaughlin              * get the flyer: .pdf

Catherine Bush, novelist and associate program coordinator of the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA at Guelph-Humber, talks to Open Book about their unique writing program, the award-winn

In the George Luscombe Theatre - Monday, March 21 to Saturday, March 26, 2011.

Creative Writing MFA grad Sandy Pool is short-listed in the Poetry category.
Creative Writing core faculty Judith Thompson is short-listed in the Drama category.

Catherine Carstairs says that questioning the health aspects of our diet has been increasingly common since the 1970s, but the roots of these concerns go back at least a few more decades. She’s recently been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to travel to the University of California’s (UC) Davis campus, where she’ll explore the lives of two American writers who made the idea of “health food” popular in the mid-1900s... 
          See the rest of this feature article in At Guelph Magazine
 

This year's Tri-U History Conference takes place in the Arts Lecture Building at the University of Waterloo.

David Bussell's M.A.

I am delighted to be able to announce that John Russon has been awarded the UGFA Distinguished Professorial Award for the College of Arts for 2010 by the UGFA Teaching Awards Committee.

 During the 2011-12 semesters, Dr Houle will be based at McGill University's Institue for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies. 

Scottish Studies Fall Colloquium: get the flyer (.pdf) This year's featured speaker

Congratulations to Matt Lennox and Zoe Whittall.

On Saturday, March 13 we held the 3rd annual Philosophy Graduate Students' Association Conference.

Students have started an undergraduate philosophy journal, Agora.

Students have started an undergraduate philosophy journal, Agora.

A new book by our own Alan Gordon&

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