November 2011

Turnpikes and Toll Roads in Perspective

November 30, 2011

by David Zylberberg Last week I presented some of my research at a conference in Boston and drove from Toronto in order to do so. I have not driven in the north-eastern United States in a few years and was quickly surprised to learn that I-90 for most of its length from Buffalo to Boston [...]

Share
Read the full article →

The Political Uses of Public Space: A Podcast of Craig Heron’s Talk on Labour Day Parades

November 28, 2011

Over the past few weeks, cities across Canada have evicted Occupy protesters from camping overnight in public parks.  Opinion remains divided over the tactics of the amorphous movement.  One lawyer recently defended the group by arguing in court that the occupation of Toronto’s St. James Park was a “physical manifestation of the exercise of … [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Announcement: Approaching the Past Workshop

November 27, 2011

Approaching the Past Workshop being held Nov. 29th at the Zion Schoolhouse in Toronto.

Share
Read the full article →

EHTV Episode 10: A Town Called Asbestos V

November 25, 2011

On this final episode of a five-part series on the history of asbestos mining in Quebec, Dr. Jessica Van Horssen examines the effects of the decline of the asbestos industry and its impact on the people of Asbestos, QC. Furthermore, she discusses the internationally condemned policy of the federal government to abandon the use of [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Eating Like Our Great-Grandmothers: Food Rules and the Uses of Food History

November 24, 2011

by Ian Mosby This month’s publication of a colourfully illustrated, revised edition of Michael Pollan’s 2009 bestseller, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, once again has me thinking about the role of historians in contemporary debates about the health and environmental impacts of our current industrial food system. As a historian of food and nutrition, I [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Funneling Controversy: The Keystone XL Pipeline

November 22, 2011

Transborder pipelines are nothing new. There is a long history, forgive the pun, of such enterprises in North America. In fact, Canada has historically been a pipeline pioneer. Yet the Keystone XL project has attracted what is likely unprecedented environmental opposition for a transnational pipeline, including protests featuring celebrities and arrests outside of the White House. Perhaps this pipeline has become a potent symbol of wider dissatisfaction with our current petro-regimes and environmental approaches?

Share
Read the full article →

Museum Closures, Heritage and Cultivating a Sense of Place in Toronto

November 21, 2011

If places have the power to shape our self-perception and how we situate ourselves in the world, as Basso and others have suggested, how has the uneven distribution of historical places influenced the culture and politics of Canada’s largest city?

Share
Read the full article →

EHTV Episode 09: A Town Called Asbestos Part IV

November 18, 2011

The fourth part in a NiCHE EHTV mini-series, by Dr. Jessica Van Horssen, on the history of asbestos mining in Quebec investigates the decades after the Second World War when global awareness of the adverse health effects of asbestos led to import bans and ultimately the decline of the industry. As medical science unequivocally linked [...]

Share
Read the full article →

Active History in an Age of Austerity

November 17, 2011

Budget cuts at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government across the country have targeted cultural and heritage institutions, threatening the integrity of the capacity of Canada to maintain an adequate understanding of its collective past. Just as Margaret Atwood helped mobilize opposition to proposed cuts to Toronto libraries, the challenge for active historians who oppose such measures is to make their opposition public.

Share
Read the full article →

New Review of Perceptions of Cuba: Canadian and American Policies in Comparative Perspective

November 16, 2011

Perceptions of Cuba: Canadian and American Policies in Comparative Perspective By Lana Wylie Reviewed by Mary Stanik, a communications consultant and opinion writer who has been published in a number of major Canadian and American newspapers. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. These are interesting times for anyone in Canada or the United States who takes [...]

Share
Read the full article →

← Previous Entries