On 27 December 2007, Ron Harpelle was interviewed on Radio Canada International's program

"Canadá en las Américas" as part of a story on former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos visit toOttawa. Harpelle spoke on the IDRC's role in Chile's transition to democracy; featuring sound bites from the IDRC Speaker Series with H. E. Ricardo Lagos.

Escuche / Click to listen

 

The Department of History is pleased to announce the publication of British Military and Naval Medicine, 1600-1830, edited by Dr. Geoffrey Hudson, Adjunct Member of the History Department.  The book is published as part of the Clio Medica/Wellcome Series in the History of Medicine (Amsterdam and New York, Rodopi Press, 290 pp).

In addition the History Department is pleased to share the news that Dr. Hudson has won an Excellence in Teaching Award for 2007-2008 at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, where he is an Assistant Professor in the History of Medicine.

 

Standing armies and navies brought with them military medical establishments, shifting the focus of disease management from individuals to groups. Prevention, discipline, and surveillance produced results, and career opportunities for physicians and surgeons. All these developments had an impact on medicine and society, and were in turn influenced by them. The essays within British Military and Naval Medicine, 1600-1830 examine these phenomena, exploring the imperial context, nursing and medicine in Britain, naval medicine, as well as the relationship between medicine, the state and society.

British Military and Naval Medicine challenges the notion that military medicine was, in all respects, 'a good thing'. The so-called monopoly of military medicine and the authoritarian structures within the military were complex and, at times, successfully contested. Sometimes changes were imposed that cannot be characterised as improvements.

British Military and Naval Medicine also points to opportunities for further research in this exciting field of study. Full details are available from the publisher at http://www.brill.com/products/book/british-military-and-naval-medicine-1600-1830
 

 

The Department of History is pleased to announce that Dr. Geoffrey L. Hudson, Adjunct Faculty Member in the Department (and historian of medicine at the School of Medicine), has won a three year grant (2008-2011, $61,407) from the CIHR for a project entitled "Advocating for Full Citizenship: Disabled Persons, Health and Social Policy, and the Ontario Government, 1975-1995". Dr. Hudson is the principal on the grant, and the co-investigator is Mary C. Tremblay, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Rehabilitation, McMaster University.

The history of disability is an emerging and exciting field within the broader fields of the history of health, medicine, and disability studies. As a result of dramatic changes in rehabilitation in the 1960s and 1970s more disabled people had the potential to lead more active lives in society. From the 1970s disability advocacy groups began to seek societal and political change and mounted active campaigns for improvements in transportation, employment, housing, and the elimination of architectural barriers. During this period one of the major government bodies that responded to these concerns was the Ontario Advisory Council on Disability Issues.

Scholars to date have focused on the federal government's role in disability issues from the early 1980s and suggested that provinces followed the federal government's lead. This is not the case, as the Ontario government and its Advisory Council pioneered efforts in the development of broad health and policy initiatives to support the participation of persons with disabilities in all avenues of community life. This is an untold story. The Ontario Advisory Council on Disability Issues responded to emerging issues brought to its attention by government ministries, community groups and agencies, and individuals with disabilities. The Council monitored policies and programs related to disability issues both within government institutions and community agencies and made significant recommendations in broad health and social policy fields (e.g. transportation, attendant care/independent living, employment, assistant technologies).

This study will be accomplished via an examination of the papers of the Advisory Council in the Archives of Ontario as well as interviews with individuals active at the time. The generated data will broaden our understanding of the development and implementation of disability policy and its impact on the health of Canadians. This will include a deeper understanding of the significance of provincial government initiatives, as well as provincial-federal cooperation in this important field of health.

 

For more on the CIHR see http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/ 

 

The Department of History is proud to announce that Whitney Wood has been awarded the AMS Hannah Summer Studentship worth $5,500 by Associated Medical Services. The AMS Hannah Summer Studentship is designed to offer undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about the professional world of historians and encourage future interest in the study of medical history. Under the supervision of Dr. Kristin Burnett, Wood will explore the Vera Roberts' collection housed in the Northern Ontario School of Medicine at the Lakehead University Campus. Wood will produce an article for the Canadian Bulletin for the History of Medicine about the Roberts' collection.

Vera Roberts spent her nursing career serving as a health care provider in the Far North. Her first posting was at a tiny mission hospital in Pangnirtung, N.W.T. (present-day Nunavut) in 1955 where she spent two years working under very basic conditions. For the next thirty years of her career, Roberts worked in small hospitals, remote nursing stations, and travelled to inaccessible and under serviced communities throughout the North. Her career spans important political, economic, and social developments in the history of northern Canada and health care more generally; and in particular reflects the important role nurses played in the post-WWII period in providing this isolated region with essential medical and nursing services.

Associated Medical Services Inc. (AMS) was established in 1936 by Dr. Jason Hannah as a pioneer prepaid not-for-profit health care organization in Ontario. With the advent of Medicare AMS became a charitable organization supporting innovations in academic medicine and health services, specifically the history of medicine and health care, as well as innovations in health professional education and bioethics. For more information about AMS please see http://www.ams-inc.on.ca/.
 

Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity, co-edited by long-time faculty member A. Ernest Epp and Thorold J. Tronrud, has been reprinted by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society. Awarded the Ontario Heritage Book Award following its first publication,  it remains the most thorough examination of the history of what today constitutes the city of Thunder Bay.

 

The city of Thunder Bay was only created in 1970. Yet for over 9,000 years settlements have existed on the sheltered bay that bears the same name. Europeans arrived and established permanent buildings there as early as 1683 and the site achieved significance far beyond its borders almost 200 years ago! Even as an urban centre, the community (formerly Fort William and Port Arthur) is well into its second century.

Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity utilizes the expertise of historians, archaeologists, geographers, sociologists, and urban planners to provide a well-rounded description and analysis of the communities on the shores of Thunder Bay. It explores the site's changing terrain, the story of its first peoples, and the fascinating era of the fur trade. It recounts with verve the boom years of the early 20th century when progress knew no bounds, and reveals the deadly impact of two World Wars and the Great Depression. The community's cultural spirit, its sporting heroes, and its political and economic life emerge with fullness and richness in these pages.

  

This book also features chapters by Department members Ernie Epp, Patricia Jasen, and former member Bruce Muirhead.�

 

Elinor Barr's (HBA 1980) history of the Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway, Thunder Bay to Gunflint: The Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway has been reissued by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society. 

 

The PAD&W began as an international railway, running from Port Arthur to Fort William, Westfort, Slate River, Stanley, Silver Creek, Hymers, Silver Mountain, Whitefish Lake, North Lake, Leeblain and Gunflint terminating at Paulson Iron Mine in Minnesota. This is the story of the political intrigue that swirled around its beginnings, and the fascinating individuals who guided its destiny.

Elinor Barr has written about many aspects of Northwestern Ontario's past including railroading in Ignace, logging along the Pigeon River, mining at Silver Islet, the mystique of White Otter Castle, and the Swedes who founded the Scandinavian Home Society. She is a graduate of Lakehead University and a member of The Writers' Union of Canada. Elinor is currently a Research Associate with the Lakehead Social History Institute and is working on a history of Swedish immigrants to Canada.

 

Thunder Bay to Gunflint: The Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway  can be purchased at most local bookstores or directly from the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society by contacting (807) 623-0801.

 

For more information on books written by the Department of History's former undergraduate and graduate, click here.

The Department of History is pleased to announce that Dr. Bruce Strang is one of this year's six winners of the Lakehead University Contribution to Teaching Award. 

 

The Contribution to Teaching Award is designed to recognize significant contributors to teaching performance at Lakehead University. Up to six instructors/professors, three from Arts and Sciences and three from Professional Schools and Faculties, may be recognized with a Contribution to Teaching Award. Each award includes a $100 prize.

The Department of History is also proud to announce that Dr. Bruce Strang is the 2008 winner of the Lakehead University Distinguished Instructor Award.

 

The Distinguished Instructor Award is Lakehead University's most prestigious teaching award. It recognizes a significant contribution to teaching excellence and educational innovation and leadership at Lakehead University over a number of years.

 

The recipient of the Distinguished Instructor Award will be honoured during a public lecture. In addition, a monetary award of $2,000 is provided.

 

 

 

Adjunct Associate Professor Dr. Lori Chambers has received the Alison Prentice award for her most recent book entitled Misconceptions: Unmarried Mothers and the Ontario Children of Unmarried Parents Act, 1921-1969.  This award is a major honour and is presented every three years to the best book in Canadian women's history (published during the three-year period). Contending books are judged by a panel of experts in the field.

Dr. Chambers has now won this award twice, for this work and for her first book entitled Married Women's Property Law in Victorian Ontario (1997).  She is the first person to receive this two-time honour!

 

The Department of History is pleased to announce that the orientation-related efforts of honours history student David Grad have been recognized by the National Orientation Directors Association (NODA).

David's orientation contributions were recognized at a recent NODA conference held at the University of Waterloo.  In the Student Leader from a University with a Four-Year Undergraduate Program category, Mr. Grad was awarded a commemorative plaque and a $100 gift certificate from the Lakehead University Alumni Bookstore.  Additionally, his conference registration fee was refunded, and his contributions will be further acknowledged at the National NODA conference, to be held in Boston, MA, in October 2008. 

Originally from Sarnia, Ontario, David is currently enrolled in Lakehead's Concurrent Education program with a focus on history and individual and society.  Brendan Hughes, Orientation and Commuter Services Officer and David's supervisor, wholeheartedly nominated Grad for the award because of the natural leadership qualities the young man consistently exudes.  "He is charismatic, inspiring, and leads by example.  He also knows how to delegate while empowering others - which some say is the most difficult and defining attribute of a good leader." 

Grad, a people person who does his utmost to make a positive impact on those around him, is an active member of the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU) Events Committee as well as the University's Student Ambassador Program.  "I like knowing that I'm in a position to have a positive influence on the lives of incoming students," Grad explains.  "Maybe I can give them an experience they'll remember 20 years from now when they're recounting their Lakehead University experience."

Through the Office of Admissions and Recruitment, Grad began his role as a Student Ambassador in the fall of 2007, when he volunteered to help with orientation programming and execution.  "David supported the orientation planning process more than any other volunteer, and logged more than 200 volunteer hours during that time," notes Hughes.  Grad has since been hired by Lakehead's Office of Admissions and Recruitment on a part-time basis, and helps with the major undertaking of developing the 2008 Orientation Guidebook. 

NODA comprises nine regions across North America.  Lakehead University falls in the Region 7 category, which encompasses Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.  Through its awards, scholarships, and internship program, NODA encourages excellence in orientation, retention, and transition programming.  Awards for outstanding professionals and contributors to the field as well as excellence in publications are presented annually, as are student leaders in each region.  For more information about NODA, please visit www.nodaweb.org.

 

(Source: Lakehead University Office of Communications, May 15, 2008, Thunder Bay, ON)

 

The Department of History is pleased to announce that Dr. Lori Chambers, Department of Women's Studies, and Dr. Todd Dufresne, Department of Philosophy, have been named as the two inaugural Social Science and Humanities Research Chairs at Lakehead University. Both Dr. Chambers and Dr. Dufresne are Adjunct members of the Department's undergraduate and graduate programs.

 

The Lakehead University Research Chairs recognize high quality research, scholarly and creative achievement by providing a two-year research grant to support an individual's program of research.   Building on the Canada Research Chair program, the Lakehead University Research Chairs are a key element in retaining outstanding research talent at our institution.   In addition, this program will contribute towards the achievement of our Strategic Research Plan goal - to become one of the top 25 research-intensive universities in Canada in the next 5-10 years.  

 

For more information on Dr. Chambers, go to

 

For more information on Dr. Dufresne, go to  http://history.lakeheadu.ca/?display=page&pageid=80