History News

The Department is delighted to announce a the new Ruth and Eber Pollard Doctoral Scholarships in History. Ruth (- 2005) and Eber (- 2009) Pollard were great supporters of the study of History in Guelph and at the University. Longtime activists in the Guelph Historical Society, where Ruth served as president and Eber vice-president for many years, and early providers of scholarships recognizing the excellent work of Guelph History undergraduates, the Pollards made provision in their will to found generous graduate scholarships in Canadian History.

Tara Abraham and Sofie Lachapelle are organizing a one-day workshop: "Rethinking the History of Science and Technology in a Global Context" at the University of Guelph on Thursday, May 5th, 2011. The workshop is part of a project funded by the Learning Enhancement Fund to re-envision HIST*1250 “Science and Society Since 1500”.  

Tara Abraham and Sofie Lachapelle are proud to announce that the University of Guelph is hosting the 4th Annual GTA Symposium on History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science, Technology, and Medicine on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 from 10am to 4pm.T he symposium is an effort on the part of scholars in the GTA to foster opportunities for communication and to provide a forum for scholarly exchange, bringing together faculty and graduate students interested in a range of topics and approaches constitutive of HPS/STS.

Desire for Cheap Coffee Still Dominates Global Industry - by Susan Bubak for at Guelph magazine
Do you know where your cup of coffee comes from? More importantly, do you care? If you’re like most coffee drinkers, the answer to both of those questions is probably “no,” says history professor Stuart McCook, who studies the environmental history of coffee.

Just out this month from The Johns Hopkins University Press: From Spiritism and Occultism to Psychical Research and Metapsychics in France, 1853–1931 by Sophie Lachapelle. Séances were wildly popular in France between 1850 and 1930, when members of the general public and scholars alike turned to the wondrous as a means of understanding and explaining the world.

Leave for Change Volunteer Impressed by Ghana - by Teresa Pitman for at Guelph
“The traffic in Accra makes the 401 look like an amateur rush hour,” says history professor Jacqueline Murray. “The taxi drivers are yelling and honking and driving onto the shoulder. One drove me into a vacant lot only to discover the egress was blocked by a bonfire, so he took a run at the ditch, and where we ended up was definitely not a road.”  (read the story...)

The Department is delighted to congratulate Dr. Jacqueline Murray for her appointment as Director of First Year Seminars for a three year term. Dr. Murray recently received an Honourable Mention at the Central Student Association awards ceremony for "...her commitment to developing and offering unique and exceptional courses for students," so we know her innovative approaches to teaching will lead the FYS program in great directions.

Tri-University History PhD student searches for rural photos taken 1870 to 1920   By Andrew Vowles for at Guelph Jacqui Cannata was about six when she started cutting off people’s heads. She got better with the camera. Especially useful were her photography courses at high school in Newmarket, Ont., where she also learned old-fashioned darkroom techniques.  (read more...)

This week the History Department congratulates Drs. Susannah Ferreira and Catherine Carstairs on winning Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Standard Research Grants. Dr. Ferreira's research project is entitled, "New Christians in Portugal and the Process of Cultural Assimilation: 1497-1536"; Dr. Carstairs' project: "Communist Conspiracy, Rat Poison or Dental Miracle?: Water Fluoridation in the US and Canada."

The 2011 Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium will be held 9 April 2011, 9:30am to 3:30pm, at Knox College, University of Toronto. The program will centre on Scots in the Atlantic World and more...