20 September 2015 - Thunder Bay

Michel S. Beaulieu and Ronald Harpelle  have been awarded $74,000 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to help Northern Ontario communities use lessons from the past in the forestry industry.

Beaulieu and Harpelle will conduct a historical analysis of resource-based communities in Northern Ontario and Uruguay, examining each in light of national and international trends in the region’s primary industries. “We will look at both sides of the hemispheric coin to better understand how communities developed and adapted to global shifts in the forest industry,” Dr. Beaulieu said.

In total, Lakehead University researchers are receiving $637,800 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

“Our researchers are some of the best in the world,” said Dr. Andrew Dean, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “These projects will be of great benefit to Ontario and Canada,” Dr. Dean said. “This exceptional research couldn’t happen without SSHRC funding,” said Dr. Moira McPherson, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

The Department of History is pleased to announce a summer field course opportunity for students this upcoming May in Italy!

Open to students on both campuses and the general public, HIST 3811 SA: "Splendors of Ancient Italy" will be delivered while travelling on a 12 day guided tour of the splendours of ancient Italy. Students will learn about the culture, archaeology, history, technology and architecture of the ancient Romans and the peoples that preceded them as they visit each of these periods represented through a variety of sites.

Complete information can be found at https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/69/LUI/Summer%20Program%20-%20Italy.pdf

Guardians of Eternity, a film produced by faculty members Ronald Harpelle and Kelly Saxberg has been selected by Canadian Dimension’s Sean Carleton as one of the top ten documentaries for the magazine’s "Alternative Year in Review" of 2016 Pop Culture.

Canadian Dimension began publication in 1963 and is Canada’s longest standing socialist magazine.

The Department of History is pleased to announce Dr. Steven Jobbitt’s latest publication.  "Hungarian Martyrs, Refugees, and the Politics of Anticommunism in Salazar’s Portugal, 1956–1957” appears in the most recent issue of Hungarian Cultural Studies. Based on research conducted in Portuguese archives, it explores the ways in which the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the refugee crisis that followed in its wake were politicized by Portugal's right-wing authoritarian regime.  

Read the article at: http://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/view/263

The Champlain Society has recognized the recent book by the late Ernest Zimmermann, Michel S. Beaulieu, and David Ratz, The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior: A History of Canadian Internment Camp “R” (University of Alberta Press, 2015), with an “honorable mention” as part of its adjudication of the 2016 Floyd S. Chalmers Award for Best Book in Ontario History. The Little Third Reich on Lake Superior has already been recognized with the Editors' Association of Canada's 2015 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence and shortlisted for the Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence.

The Department of History is pleased to announce Dr. Nicolas Lépin’s latest publication on the Spanish Civil War. “El Belga: het miltair hospitaal van het Internationaal Solidariteitsfonds dat niemand kende - Spanje, 1937-1939" (El Belga : the military hospital of the International Solidarity Fund that no one knew - Spain, 1937-1939) is the feature article in the latest edition of Brood & Rozen: Tijdshrift voor de geschiedenis van sociale bewegingen, (Bread and Roses: Magazine for the History of Social Movements), a publication of the at the University of Gent. The article focuses on a Belgian military hospital in Spain during the Civil War. Dr. Lépin’s work on the Interactional Brigades has received considerable acclaim and he is sharing his knowledge with Lakehead students this year with his courses on European History.

In the spring of 2017, the Department of History and the School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism will be co-hosting a field school. Slated from April 24 to May 5, 2017, the field course features visits to the Juno Beach Centre, Dieppe and the Vimy National Historic Site in France, the Menin Gate in Ypres in Belgium, and the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in Holland. Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu (History), Dr. Harvey Lemelin (ORPT), Dr. Michael Stevenson (History), and Prof. David Ratz (History) will be the instructors / guides.

Students interested in the field course must register in HIST 4831 WA, attend classes during the Winter Term, and are encouraged to contact Michel Beaulieu (michel.beaulieu@lakeheadu.ca). Registration for the course will open on 1 August. Space is limited.

The estimated cost per student for the field trip is C$2,900.00, this includes coach transportation, group meals, accommodation and entrance fees.  It does not include personal expenses on-site or airline travel to and from Europe for the students or the instructor.  A non-refundable course fee of $500 will be due on October 30, 2016. The remainder of the course fees will be paid in two further instalments (end of November), and on March 1, 2017. All fees are to be paid through the Lakehead University Accounts Department.  

History students interested in taking OUTD 4370 YA Advanced Explorations: Battlefield Tourism (see course description below), scheduled this fall term on Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30 am in SN 2009 as a special topic, are encouraged to contact the course instructor Dr. Harvey Lemelin (Harvey.lemelin@lakeheadu.ca ) to register into this course.

Alumnus and department chair Michel S. Beaulieu has been awarded one of this year's 20 under 40 Northwestern Ontario Visionary Awards (NOVAs).

The bi-annual event hosted by SHIFT Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network and presented by the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Committee (CEDC), was held in Thunder Bay on 26 January to recognize young professionals in the region, for their leadership, community engagement, volunteerism, uniqueness and mentorship, and those that are really making a difference in their community.

The NOVA Awards began in 2010 and has since recognized 60 winners amid 237 nominees. Half of the 109 nominated and who were awarded NOVAs this year were alumni of Lakehead University, including faculty and staff Dr. Christopher Mushquash and Robert Perrier. At this year's event Pop star Coleman Hell also received the first-ever SuperNOVA Award among 20 Northwestern Ontario Visionary Awards for professionals under 40 years of age.

Learn more at http://www.shiftnetwork.ca/nova/

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE'S LIFE...

The Department of History is a participating unit in the Aboriginal Mentorship Program (AMP). Coordinated by the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, the AMP matches experienced university students with Aboriginal high school students to create a positive connection that will both inspire and assist high school students in learning about post-secondary educational opportunities.

The AMP is actively looking for university student volunteers to become our mentors. This opportunity is open to all Lakehead students on the Thunder Bay campus. Volunteer hours can be recorded and entered onto your co-curricular record.

The Department of History will also be developing materials to be used in high schools and during on-campus visits.

If you are a graduate student, third or fourth year undergrad interested in mentoring and a little time to spare please contact Michel S. Beaulieu, Chair of the Department of History, at michel.beaulieu@lakeheadu.ca

Complete information can be found on the AMP website at https://www.lakeheadu.ca/faculty-and-staff/departments/services/ai/abori...

Congratulations to alumnus Norm Gale (HBA 2008) for his appointment as the new city manager for the City of Thunder Bay. The former chief of Superior North EMS, Norm holds an HBA in History and Political Sciene and degrees in Business from Lakehead University.