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Student Successes | Alumni Accomplishments | Faculty & Staff News

Welcome to the 2013-14 Academic Year!

Now that you have all had time to settle in, it is with great pleasure that I am writing to welcome you to YOUR department! If you have just arrived in Thunder Bay, you by now  know that you have come to a vibrant department whose mission is to teach students about the past and ways of learning about the past. Our instructors not only impart historical knowledge, but, of equal importance, strive to acquaint students with the various approaches to the study of history which exist within the discipline and provide them with the research skills which will enable them to analyze any issue within its historical context. We do so with the understanding that student’s lives will be enriched, and their contributions to their communities enhanced, by an appreciation of the diversity of human experience and the complex relationships and continuities between past and present.

Your 2013-14 Faculty and Instructors

For returning students and alumni, you will have noticed some changes in the Department's faculty.  After 43 years at Lakehead, our American historian Prof. Victor Smith retired over the summer. At convocation he joined Drs. Ernie Epp and Min-Sun Chen as Professor Emeriti. With the departure of Dr. Jean-Yves Bernard in late July, a new European historian for the Thunder Bay Campus was hired. Dr. Steven Jobbitt, recently of California State University, is an alumnus who completed a Ph.D. in Modern Eastern and Central European history at the University of Toronto. In addition to European survey courses at the second year, he will be teaching a variety of upper-year courses centering around eastern Europe and the Balkans. At Orillia, our programming continues to be anchored by Drs. Valerie Hebert and Michael Stevenson.

Six new part-time instructors are also joining the Department in Thunder Bay this fall. Alumnus Dr. C. Nathan Hatton will be anchoring our Canadian history offerings while Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu goes on sabbatical starting in January. Awarding winning filmmaker Kelly Saxberg will be teaching courses on film and history in addition to gender history. Dr. Thorold Tronrud, Director and Curator of the Thunder Bay Museum, will be teaching courses in Tudor and Stuart England and our new Museum Studies course. City of Thunder Bay archivist Prof. Sara Janes is teaching our new Archival Studies course. These new faculty join Dr. Ernie Epp, Prof. Catherine Hudson, Dr. Taisto Kaipo, Prof. Beverly Soloway, Dr. Peter Raffo, and Prof. David Ratz who are all returning.

Recreating a Sense of Community

Central to the success of any history department and integral to the student experience are those events that bind students, alumni, and faculty together. During the first couple of weeks of September, the Department held a number of informal and formal events. The biggest was a gathering on the 18 September to honour the first recipients of our Alumni and Community Partner Awards. Roy Piovesana (BA 65, MA 69) and Jean Morrison (MA 74) were each presented with a departmental Alumni Honour Award in recognition of their distinguished achievements. The Department also presented the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society with a Community Partnership Award for the important role in the establishment and continuing success of our undergraduate and graduate programs. More information about this event can be found on our Facebook page and by clicking here.

The Department now has two main ways to stay updated on events and departmental news. Our website is the main portal for information, and I encourage you to check it frequently. The second, and most dynamic, is our new Facebook page. For example, a new feature is a weekly "Question of Development." Edited by alumnus Gabriel Harpelle (HBA 2010), this bilingual series is part of a history project on the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Every Friday you will hear from a variety of leading experts from all parts of the world discussing some of the most pressing issues facing all of us today. As historians we know that nothing in our world exists in isolation so enjoy the series, share with your friends, and we look forward to some good discussion!

The Lakehead University History Society also has a number of events planned for this year. New co-presidents Ashley English and Catelyn Kittmer would like to welcome everyone back to another great year! This year the society would like to focus on expanding and getting history student’s more involved. In particular they now have representatives for each year level of our programs. Year representatives will help voice student’s opinions, as well as plan and promote upcoming events. Congratulations to the 2013/2014 representatives:

1st Year: Caileigh Pettifer, Morgan Black, and Joel Kennedy
2nd Year: Darya Parzei
3rd Year: Jillian Berry
4th Year: Shannon Antunes

Clothing orders will be started at the end of September and the annual Archive Crawl at the end of October. If you have any suggestions or questions on upcoming events, please feel free to email them at LUHS@lusu.ca. More information can also be found by clicking here or by joining them on Facebook at Lakehead University History Society.

Speakers, Conferences, and Events

In addition to what the LUHS will be organizing, the Department is working with a number of organizations to schedule at least once a month presentations that will be of interest to history students. We have reaffirmed our partnership with the Thunder Bay Branch of the Canadian International Council and will be partnering with them, the HMCS Griffon, and the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment for a one-day free symposium featuring leading experts entitled “The Canadian Armed Forces as an Instrument of Canadian Foreign Policy." Beginning this year, the Department is also sponsoring the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society's lecture series. Free public talks on a wide range of topics will be held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Thunder Bay Museum from September to April (see the Upcoming Lectures/Events of Interest section to the right for details). Check both the Department website and Facebook pages for updates and information about these and other events.

Graduate Program

The past year was particularly successful year for our MA program and a number of students will be graduating in November. They will join the 12 students who graduated in May. We salute them for their hard work and perseverance in working their way through the rigours of advance research and writing. Our only regret is that they will be leaving us for bigger and better things. Knowing that they were once ours, we look forward to following their progress and wish them all the best in their future endeavours. We bid them farewell and hope they will hope they will remember us when they are gone.

Fortunately, these students are being replaced with an equally dynamic cohort of MA students. This year, in addition to the students who have come through our undergraduate program, we have two international students joining us as well as other students from across Canada. They bring a range of experiences and perspectives to the classroom, the Department, and the program. This is a solid group of individuals and we look forward to having them make a significant contribution to the culture of our department. We look forward to sharing their enthusiasm for the study of history and to their participation in our academic community. A series of events are planned in throughout the year to welcome these students to the program and they will also be playing a role in all of our departmental functions throughout the year.

Course Calender 101

Did you know that the second digit in our course numbers at the undergraduate level identifies the geographic focus of the course? Below is a list of what the numbers mean.

1 = Europe
2 = Classical Period (i.e. Ancient Greece and Rome)
3 = Canada
4 = United Kingdom
5 = United States and Latin America
6 = Asia and Africa
7 = International or Thematic
8 = Theory, Methodolgical, or Applied

Keeping Up-to-date or Just Saying Hello

The doors of everyone in the department are always open. If you have any questions, want to discuss some history, or just say hello please do not hesitate to stop by the third floor of the Ryan Building.

Michel S. Beaulieu, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor


Student Successes:

Orillia History Specialization Student Awarded President's Award - Jazmin Beddard was awarded a President's Award at the Orillia Convocation. Jazmin is a History/Anthropology double specialization student in the HBASc program. He is the third student majoring or specializing in history in the last two years who has won a President's Award, the highest academic award given at Lakehead.

MA Student President's Award - Graduating Masters student Ulysses Patola is the winner of the 2013 President's Award (Graduate). This is the second straight year a history student in Thunder Bay has been awarded a President's Award, one of the highest honours given to graduating students. Click here to read more about Ulusses' achievement.

Dean's Scholar Winner - Kimberly Shirley (HBA 2013) is the inaugural winner of the Dean's Scholar Award for the Department of History. Click here to read more.

Alumni Accomplishments:

Former MA Student's first book published  - Charles Nathon Hatton (MA 2007) has had an eventful year. He recently graduated from the University of Waterloo with a PhD in History and he is also the author of a brand new book entitled Rugged Game: Community, Culture, and Wrestling at the Lakehead to 1933. Click to read more.

Alumnus Hired as CAO of Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society - Alumnus and current Master of Arts student Nick Sottile (BA 2005; HBA 2009) has joined the staff of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society as its Chief Administrative Officer. Click here to read more.

Where are they now?
-
Jennifer Elvish (BA 2008) is a library technician within the Lakehead's new Law School.

- Leslie Bode (HBA 2004) is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Nottingham who is an Archaeobotanist working on reconstructing early human diets in the Near East.

Alumni Spotlight - For more about the activities of the Alumni Association of Lakehead University, click here.

Faculty & Staff News:

Department Member Awarded SSHRC Grant - Congratulations to Dr. Valerie Hebert for being awarded a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for her project "Post-Atrocity Justice in Colonial French Congo: The Gaud-Toqué Affair, 1903-1905." Her project will study nascent transnational culture around human rights through the lens of protests against colonial atrocities in French Congo.

History Professor Elected to Ontario Historical Society Board of Directors - Michel S. Beaulieu, Chair and Associate Professor of History, has been elected to the Ontario Historical Society's Board of Directors. Click here to read more.

New Book Chapter by Contract Lecturer - "The Fur Traders’ Garden: Horticultural Imperialism in Rupert’s Land, 1670-1770," a new book chapter by Beverly Soloway, appears in Irish and Scottish Encounters with Indigenous Peoples (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013). Click here to find out more about the book.

History Professor Comments in Globe and Mail on Future of Crown Corporation - Ronald N. Harpelle discussed with the Globe and Mail the International Development Research Centre's unique organizational approach and its contribution to research in the developing world. Click here to read more.

History Professor Elected to Executive of CASID - Ronald N. Harpelle has been elected to serve as a member at large of the Executive Committee for the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID). Click here to read more.

 

Some Important Dates:

Fall Orientation - 6 Sept
Start of Fall Term - 9 Sept
Department Awards - 18 Sept
Thanksgiving - 14 Oct
End of Fall Term - 2 Dec
Fall Exams - 5 to 17 Dec
Start of Winter Term - 6 Jan


Student Corner:

"In first year I was struggled with the transition to university... I decided that I should talk with some of my professors at Lakehead. At first I was nervous, I was scared they would be unapproachable, but I quickly found out the opposite. They really helped me come up with a plan of action for that year."
~ Carlee Crowe, HBA/BEd
Click here to read Carlee's full story.


"The professors are extremely supportive, dedicated, open, and are always willing to help and do an excellent job of encouraging student to seek assistance when needed."
~ Jonathan Ho, HBA/BEd
Click here to read Jonathan's full story.


Upcoming Lectures / Events of Interest:

10 October - Northern Ontario History of Health and Medicine Group Speaker: "Healing Tourism in the 14th Century: Search for Healing from Saints and University-trained Medical Practitioners"

10 October - Chair Visit to Orillia Campus

22 October - Thunder Bay Museum Lecture Series
Charlie Brown on "Brill Buses of Thunder Bay"

26 October - LUHS 2nd Annual Archive Crawl

2 November - Conference: "The Canadian Armed Forces as an Instrument of Canadian Foreign Policy"

26 November - Thunder Bay Museum Lecture Series
Bill Skrepichuk on "Working History of A 3-Masted Schooner On Lake Superior In the 1880s"

Check http://history.lakeheadu.ca for more information about department events.


Useful Departmental Links:

Undergraduate Program Information
Graduate Program Information
Faculty Information
History Essay Guide


The Student Success Centre

The Student Success Centre combines the former services of academic advising, orientation, academic support and career and co-operative services into one central location. Click here to find our more.


Your Graduate Coodinator... why you should speak with him..

The Graduate Coordinator is the first point of contact for graduate students and the Office of Graduate Studies. Dr. Ronald Harpelle can be reached at harpelle@lakeheadu.ca

Your Chair... and why you should speak with him..

One of the main roles of the Chair of the Department is to help you with questions regarding courses, the program, and the university. He is also here to address any concerns you may have. Dr. Beaulieu's office is located in Ryan Building 3013.

His email address is michel.beaulieu@lakeheadu.ca

He can also be reached by phone at (807) 343-8341.

Department of History
955 Oliver Road
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1

p: (807) 346-7725
e: gail.fikis@lakeheadu.ca
Lakehead University Orillia Thunder Bay

The Department of History welcomes any comments, feedback, suggestions, and contributions.
Copyright 2013 Lakehead University. All rights reserved.