News

Recent graduate Katie Anderson (MA '14) is giving a presentation on July 4th at Doon Heritage Village of the Waterloo Regional Museum on her Master's Thesis research, completed here in the Department last year. Katie's talk is part of the "History Under the Trees" event sponsored by the Waterloo Historical Society, which this year is themed: "Barnyard Genealogy: Livestock in Early Twentieth Century Ontario." Katie's excellent thesis, “'Hitched Horse, Milked Cow, Killed Pig': Pragmatic Stewardship and the Paradox of Human/Animal Relationships in Southern Ontario, 1900-1920" contributes to the Department's strengths in Canadian rural history. Katie is also currently a teacher-interpreter at Joseph Schneider Haus, and just finished a Bachelor of Education. 

For more on "History Under the Trees" visit Doon Heritage Village.

Belly dance is an art form celebrated and practised among many cultures and regions of the world — including Canada, new research shows. University of Guelph history PhD student Anne Vermeyden, a dancer herself, is investigating the rich but largely unwritten past of belly dance in Toronto, and why it has flourished there. So far, most research on belly dance history in North America has been largely focused on the United States. Vermeyden says the art form's presence in Canada should be recognized, too. ...

read the rest of the story at the Guelph Mercury

Belly dance is an art form celebrated and practised among many cultures and regions of the world — including Canada, new research shows. University of Guelph history PhD student Anne Vermeyden, a dancer herself, is investigating the rich but largely unwritten past of belly dance in Toronto, and why it has flourished there. So far, most research on belly dance history in North America has been largely focused on the United States. Vermeyden says the art form's presence in Canada should be recognized, too. ...

read the rest of the story at the Guelph Mercury

Belly dance is an art form celebrated and practised among many cultures and regions of the world — including Canada, new research shows. University of Guelph history PhD student Anne Vermeyden, a dancer herself, is investigating the rich but largely unwritten past of belly dance in Toronto, and why it has flourished there. So far, most research on belly dance history in North America has been largely focused on the United States. Vermeyden says the art form's presence in Canada should be recognized, too. ...

read the rest of the story at the Guelph Mercury

With sadness we report the sudden passing of our colleague, Professor Brian Wetstein, on June 5, 2015. Brian had faced health challenges for some time and retired from the University in 2014.

Brian completed his PhD work in Philosophy (“The Role of Dialectic in Nietzsche’s Thought”) in 1994 at the University of Guelph, and had taught as a Lecturer at both UG and Guelph–Humber since that time. He was appointed as Assistant Professor in 2003.

With sadness we report the sudden passing of our colleague, Professor Brian Wetstein, on June 5, 2015. Brian had faced health challenges for some time and retired from the University in 2014.

Brian completed his PhD work in Philosophy (“The Role of Dialectic in Nietzsche’s Thought”) in 1994 at the University of Guelph, and had taught as a Lecturer at both UG and Guelph–Humber since that time. He was appointed as Assistant Professor in 2003.

PhD candidate Sarah Shropshire's article "What’s a Guy To Do?: Contraceptive Responsibility, Confronting Masculinity, and the History of Vasectomy in Canada" has recently been awarded the Canadian Historical Association's Jean-Marie Fecteau Prize for the best article published in a peer-reviewed journal by a PhD or MA-level student. In exploring the history of vasectomy, Sarah's article consciously challenges the gendered paradigm that scholars have applied to the history of contraception while also discussing how evolving surgical techniques and social constructions of masculinity have affected the popularity of the procedure. Sarah's article appeared last year in the Canadian Bulletin of Medical History.

Congratulations from all of us!

PhD candidate Sarah Shropshire's article "What’s a Guy To Do?: Contraceptive Responsibility, Confronting Masculinity, and the History of Vasectomy in Canada" has recently been awarded the Canadian Historical Association's Jean-Marie Fecteau Prize for the best article published in a peer-reviewed journal by a PhD or MA-level student. In exploring the history of vasectomy, Sarah's article consciously challenges the gendered paradigm that scholars have applied to the history of contraception while also discussing how evolving surgical techniques and social constructions of masculinity have affected the popularity of the procedure. Sarah's article appeared last year in the Canadian Bulletin of Medical History.

Congratulations from all of us!

Former MFA Graduate and sessional Greg Denton has been named the 2015 City of Guelph Artist in Residence. 

This year's winner of the J. W. Skinner Medal is recent graduate Steven Rai. The medal is the most prestigious University Convocation award for an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph and is awarded by the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences to a student for exceptional achievement in both academic and extracurricular activities.

Steven is an International Development major who has taken many courses with the Department. He is also familiar to the History Department through his fine work on the 1861 Census Project and the People in Motion research team, supervised by Drs. Kris Inwood and J. Andrew Ross. Congratulations from all of us!