Special Events
Events and Public Lectures
The Guelph Centre for Scottish Studies organizes a number of special events and public lectures each year. Speakers are scholars of Scottish history including graduate students from the Centre and the University of Guelph, faculty members, local researchers and visiting scholars. The Centre is proud to be able to host events in partnership with groups who seek to promote the preservation and study of Scottish culture and heritage, including clan and Scottish societies. Members of the public are welcome to attend all of our events.
Prospective speakers interested in giving a talk are invited to contact the office with their proposal.
Upcoming Events - Winter 2026
The Centre for Scottish Studies is pleased to share details for the International Scots Lecture on Monday, 30 March at 3:00pm (EDT) on Zoom.
Dr. Daniel Arbino (University of Miami Libraries) will present “The desolation of all desolations:” Scottish Shepherds and Imperial Unease in Patagonia.
About the Talk...
This talk explores the experiences of Scottish shepherds in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands in the late nineteenth century, focusing on the letters of George Anderson and the journals of William Blain. Situating their lives within the broader context of British economic dominance in Argentina and the pastoral expansion of Patagonia, the paper examines the region as a liminal space, a “frontier” shaped by imperial ambition, Indigenous loss, and cultural uncertainty. Rather than reading these men solely as agents of empire, Arbino analyzes their writings for moments of anxiety about identity, belonging, and “going native.” Anderson’s reflections on isolation, food, marriage, and domestic life reveal tensions between Scottish respectability and frontier realities, while Blain’s accounts of Indigenous communities expose projections of fear, instability, and asymmetrical power relations. Indeed, it is Britain’s informal imperial approach to Patagonia that exacerbates these very anxieties, ultimately marking Scottish shepherds as doubly foreign. By attending to these nuanced expressions of unease, the presentation argues that Patagonia functioned not only as a site of economic opportunity, but also as a space where Scottish settlers’ sense of self was both constructed and unsettled at the edge of empire.
Details and registration are available on Eventbrite.
All are welcome to attend!
Past Events
On 3 April 2023, the Center for Scottish Studies, along with Archival & Special Collections hosted the launch of the Jacobite Exhibit, Truth or Treason? Sources for the Study of the Jacobites.
Online version of the Jacobite Exhibit and Collection
Truth or Treason Jacobite Exhibit Intro Video
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