Tourism History Working Group

 

The Tourism History Working Group (THWG) was established in 2006. Bringing together scholars at the University of Guelph and beyond, its objectives are to promote exchanges between students and faculty whose research explores any dimension of the history of tourism, in any place. It sponsors a seminar series at which research is discussed, and it provides a framework for graduate-student training, in the context of allied student-faculty research projects. The Tourism History Working Group has provided a critical framework for scholarly collaboration, notably co-supervision of theses between Dr Eric Zuelow and Dr Kevin James, and active interdisciplinary participation in research.
 

Current THWG projects include:

  1. A project examining trans-national dimensions of Irish tourist development, which is part of a wider analysis of the history of Irish tourism, 1885-1914, directed by Prof. Kevin James;
  2. An exploration of living history museums. This is part of a wider examination of the intersections of heritage tourism and public memory, led by Prof. Alan Gordon.
  3. A study of the ways non-human animals have factored into the creation and display of regional identities and tourism promotion through an analysis of the development of bucking bulls and broncs in North American rodeos since the 1870s.
     

All these projects have received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Additionally, Dr Eddy Rogers was affiliated with the project as a post-doctoral researcher in 2009-10.

 

Graduate Work:

Four scholars have received MAs within the framework of the Working Group since its establishment in 2006.

Monica Finlay
’Of all the places of holiday resort within the British Isles, commend me to Strathpeffer’: A Case Study of Spa Development and Destination Promotion in Victorian Scotland (Thesis, 2011)

Christopher Quinn
The Irish Villages at the1893 World's Columbian Exposition: Constructing, Consuming and Contesting Ireland in Chicago (Thesis, 2010)

Erica German
’The Castle is Tolerably Well Seen from the Top of the Coach’: Tracing the Royal Imprimatur from Balmoral and its Impact on the Touristic Development and Cultural Geography of ‘Royal Deeside,’ 1848-1922 (Major Research Paper 2009)

Shannon O’Connor
The St. Andrew’s Society of Toronto: Scottish Associational Culture in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Major Research Paper, 2008)

 

WE EXTEND... an invitation to anyone interested in the activities of the THWG, and particularly to graduate students with research interests in tourism history, to contact us about working with the THWG. For information, please contact Prof. Kevin James: kjames@uoguelph.ca