History News

For U of G history professor Catherine Carstairs, writing her recently-published journal article about Guelph author Jean Little had some fringe benefits. “I got to re-read some much-beloved books from my childhood, and I got to meet and interview an author I had always admired,” she says. Carstairs had tucked away her memories of enjoying Little’s books when she was a child until she realized that some of Little’s papers were in the U of G archives. “Some of my students were using these resources for papers,” she says, “and I thought there might be more that could be done with them.” She used various archived documents to explore the roots and expression of Little’s ideas about those with disabilities and their treatment by the society around them. As Carstairs explains in her article, published by the journal Histoire sociale/Social History in November 2012, Little was born in Taiwan with scarred corneas and limited vision (she is legally blind).
Read the rest of the story @Guelph

The 2013 Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium will be held on 6 April 2012 at Knox College, University of Toronto, from 10:30 am to 3 pm (doors open at 10 am)
Presentations Include:

- Dr. Kevin James (University of Guelph, History), “The McAutocrat of the Victorian Highland Inn”
- Dr. J. Andrew Ross (University of Guelph, History) and Melissa McAfee (University of Guelph, Archives & Special Collections), “Digitising Guelph’s Scottish Chapbook Collection”
- Rachel Redshaw (Independent Scholar), “The Virtual Voice of the Past: The Use of Online Oral Accounts for a Holistic Understanding of History”
- Movie Screening: Singing Against the Silence (2012) Directed by Dr. Michael Newton (St. Francis Xavier)

The Department of History and Dr. Renee Worringer host this year's Great Lakes Ottomanist Workshop (GLOW), a gathering of scholars of the Ottoman Empire from Canada, the US and beyond. The program is just out: .pdf  

Tri-University History Conference 2013: New Approaches to History
March 23, 2013 - Best Western Hotel, 716 Gordon Street, Guelph
The Tri-University Conference is a wonderful opportunity for students and faculty to get to know each other, to share ideas, and debate the latest developments in our field. This year, the Tri-University conference will take place at the Best Western Hotel in Guelph. Attached is the preliminary programme which will also be available on the Tri-U website shortly. The theme this year is “New Approaches to History” and our keynote panel features three fantastic historians from the Tri-University campuses:
- Ian Milligan, a recent hire at the University of Waterloo, who writes on youth and labour in the 1960s, and new digital technologies, will give a paper on “Preparing for the Infinite Archive: Social Historians and the Looming Digital Deluge.”
- Amy Milne-Smith, the author of London Clubland: A Cultural History of Gender and Class in late-Victoria Britain (2011) will be speak on “Queensberry’s Misrule: Exploring honour, duty, and the gentleman in late-Victorian Britain.”
- Norman Smith, the author of Resisting Manchukuo: Chinese Women Writers and the Japanese Occupation (2007) will speak on “Sources, Souses and the Writing of Manchurian History.”

Please register online to attend or email Laura Greaves directly lm2greav@uwaterloo.ca. There is no fee for registration. Get the conference program: .pdf

China’s reputation for being a country of teetotalers couldn’t be farther from the truth, says history professor Norman Smith, author of a recently published book called Intoxicating Manchuria: Alcohol, Opium and Culture in China’s Northeast.
“So many people think that the Chinese don’t drink and that the only popular intoxicant in Chinese history has been opium,” says Smith. Having attended many social functions in China where alcohol was served, he found it strange that the role of alcohol in Chinese culture has not been the subject of much research. Smith says the Chinese are now consuming alcohol at unprecedented levels due to rising wealth among the middle and upper classes. “It’s front and centre, at least in the northeast,” says Smith. “It’s unthinkable to go to a banquet or many other social functions without people drinking. If you say that you don’t drink, they’ll say, ‘Have a beer.’”
Read the rest of the story @Guelph

 

The Centre for Scottish Studies has a busy term planned! We've got lots of exciting events coming up and hope that you can join us. Flyer attached: .pdf

To assist with planning, and to help coordinate space and catering, please RSVP at your earliest convenience to scottish@uoguelph.ca or at www.facebook.com/scottishstudies/events. All events are free to attend unless otherwise noted. Hope to see you there!
Caitlin & Kate ---- Centre for Scottish Studies

 The latest edition of the Department of History NEWSLETTER is now available:

www.uoguelph.ca/history/newsletterofthedepartment

Happy January!

- Susan Nance (editor)

On January 17, the Middle East Scholars Society kicks off its Winter schedule with a showing, sponsored by the Library Docurama Film series, of the Palestinian documentary, 5 Broken Cameras. The film is one Palestinian farmer's chronicle of his nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army and is nominated for an Oscar this season. The film shows in Rozanski 105 at 7p.m. All welcome!!

For the rest of the Winter 2013 MESS schedule, visit www.uoguelph.ca/arts/mess

 

 This year the Department is pleased to offer four undergraduate research assistant positions to qualified candidates:

Revisiting the Historiography of Nigeria-Biafra War 44 Years After
- Supervisor Dr. Femi Kolapo

Hitchhiking: Canadian Youth and Travel
- Supervisor Dr. Linda Mahood

The Crown, the Court and the Casa da India: Political Centralization in Portugal 1480-1520
- Supervisor Dr. Susanna Ferreira

Transatlantic Dimension of the Revolutionary Republic of East Florida, 1817-1818
- Supervisor Dr. Karen Racine

Applications due February 4. For more information on these projects and how to apply, visit our Job Postings.

As part of the History and Sociology/Anthropology Food Series, on Thursday January 24th, Dr. Catherine Carstairs, the Department of History and the College of Arts are proud to present a talk by Dr.Wendy Mitchenson, Canada Research Chair in Gender and Medical History at the University of Waterloo:

"Fighting Fat: Canadian Obesity History"

The talk takes place in MacKInnon 132 from 12:00 to 1:30pm.
All welcome!
For more information contact Dr. Carstairs: ccarstai@uoguelph.ca
Get the flyer: .pdf