News | Page 68 | College of Arts

News

History: Susan Nance's Historical Elephants featured on Research Matters blog

This week, Dr. Susan Nance's research on historical circus elephants is featured on the Research Matters blog, sponsored by the Council of Ontario Universities.

After more than a century of parading in pink tutus with dogs balancing on their backs, elephants in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s circus are preparing to take their final bow. By 2018, the star performers will retire from the spotlight to live out their lives in an elephant conservation centre. 

These days, fewer and fewer circuses use elephants and their stage exit mirrors the public’s increased empathy toward these animals. But studying their heyday as performers reveals important insights about their audience, in other words, about us as consumer of entertainment. 

Enter Susan Nance, an associate professor of U.S. history at the University of Guelph whose research concentrates on entertainment, from vaudeville to street performers. Her interest in circus elephants was piqued after she uncovered “shocking things that circus historians don’t like to talk about,” says Nance, who set out to change the way historians look at animals. ... read the rest of the blog

Susan Nance's Historical Elephants featured on Research Matters blog

This week, Dr. Susan Nance's research on historical circus elephants is featured on the Research Matters blog, sponsored by the Council of Ontario Universities.

After more than a century of parading in pink tutus with dogs balancing on their backs, elephants in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s circus are preparing to take their final bow. By 2018, the star performers will retire from the spotlight to live out their lives in an elephant conservation centre. 

These days, fewer and fewer circuses use elephants and their stage exit mirrors the public’s increased empathy toward these animals. But studying their heyday as performers reveals important insights about their audience, in other words, about us as consumer of entertainment. 

Enter Susan Nance, an associate professor of U.S. history at the University of Guelph whose research concentrates on entertainment, from vaudeville to street performers. Her interest in circus elephants was piqued after she uncovered “shocking things that circus historians don’t like to talk about,” says Nance, who set out to change the way historians look at animals. ... read the rest of the blog

History: Congratulations to Professor Catharine Wilson!

Congratulations! Our own Professor Catharine Wilson is the 2014 winner of the Canadian Historical Review Prize for her article: “A Manly Art: Plowing, Plowing Matches, and Rural Masculinity in Ontario, 1800-1930," which appeared in the June 2014 issue of the Review. Dr. Wilson is Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professor of Rural History in the Department.

praise from the CHR board: This article contributes to a now substantial body of literature on changing forms of masculinity in the context of industrial capitalism; unlike most existing work, however, this article considers farm men. Thus, it simultaneously contributes to rural history, and the history of rural work. It examines what is probably the activity most frequently associated with rural men, plowing, over a long period of time. In so doing, it is able to examine the intersections between technological change and intergenerational identity formation. Wilson makes use of an impressive diversity of sources including visual and audio-visual sources. Her attention to iconography is especially commendable and makes for a rich, multifaceted analysis. Her evocative writing conveys the physical and aesthetic pleasures of plowing. It is an exemplary piece of historical writing and argumentation, one that will have wide appeal and value for anyone interested in rural history, technological change, and/or masculinity.

Congratulations to Professor Catharine Wilson!

Congratulations! Our own Professor Catharine Wilson is the 2014 winner of the Canadian Historical Review Prize for her article: “A Manly Art: Plowing, Plowing Matches, and Rural Masculinity in Ontario, 1800-1930," which appeared in the June 2014 issue of the Review. Dr. Wilson is Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professor of Rural History in the Department.

praise from the CHR board: This article contributes to a now substantial body of literature on changing forms of masculinity in the context of industrial capitalism; unlike most existing work, however, this article considers farm men. Thus, it simultaneously contributes to rural history, and the history of rural work. It examines what is probably the activity most frequently associated with rural men, plowing, over a long period of time. In so doing, it is able to examine the intersections between technological change and intergenerational identity formation. Wilson makes use of an impressive diversity of sources including visual and audio-visual sources. Her attention to iconography is especially commendable and makes for a rich, multifaceted analysis. Her evocative writing conveys the physical and aesthetic pleasures of plowing. It is an exemplary piece of historical writing and argumentation, one that will have wide appeal and value for anyone interested in rural history, technological change, and/or masculinity.

Sir John A. Macdonald's Legacy: Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium

Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium Poster

 

On April 18 at Knox College, University of Toronto the University of Guelph Centre for Scottish Studies & Scottish Studies Foundation present the 2015 Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium: "Sir John A. Macdonald's Legacy"

The Colloquium runs from 12noon to 4:30pm. All Welcome! For more information visit Scottish Studies

Get the schedule .pdf
Get the poster .pdf