Learning from History: What is Popular is not Always Right
An evaluation of the recent government decision to ban face veils during the swearing of the oath of citizenship.
Category Archives: Canadian history
Active History on the Grand: Heritage Trees in Ontario
I think that I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree. – Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) While many of us may be familiar with the designation of built heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act, recently municipalities have been using the Ontario Heritage Act to designate individual trees as heritage trees. Municipalities like Burlington, Pelham, Thorold, Cambridge,… Read more »
Secret Lives, Affective Learning
Brittany Luby reflects on Zion Schoolhouse and teaching history through theatre.
New Podcast: Christine McLaughlin on General Motors, History Making, and Power in Oshawa, Ontario
“Sam McLaughlin’s name continues to loom large over the city of Oshawa. But the stories of working people offer alternate versions of history. Spaces in the city ought to be made for commemorating and remembering these stories,” historian Christine McLaughlin (no relation to Sam) recently argued during her talk at a local library in Toronto. McLaughlin’s presentation, “Producing History in… Read more »
The Memorial Library: History without Historians
The failed campaign to “Save the Memorial Library” (STML) at Mount Allison University is a fascinating study of the importance – or, lack thereof – of history in contemporary Canadian culture.
Bill C-309, Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identity during Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act
My Conservative MP sent the following question to his constituents this week: “Debate has now begun on [Conservative] MP Blake Richards’ Private Members’ Bill C-309. The Bill proposes creating a new criminal offence for those that wear ‘a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse’ during a riot or unlawful assembly. This Bill was crafted in… Read more »
Public History: Skills and Opportunities
By Jo McCutcheon Thinking about my work as a public historian and some of the recent and on-going discussions about training in history generally and doctoral training specifically have made me think about the skills and opportunities I try to provide to both students and professional consulting researchers.[1] Mixing academic teaching with entrepreneurialism has given me the opportunity to work… Read more »
From Black Tuesday to Black Friday to Everyday
Discussing money is generally afforded the same privacy as the balance of one’s bank account. Inviting an open conversation about the subject in public, from basic finance to complex economics, is thought to be rude and even poorer politics. It is perhaps the most polarizing field of contemporary journalism because it has absolutely no means of circumventing readers’ class ties… Read more »
What can the past teach us about First Nations’ education?
As an historian of the eighteenth century studying Aboriginal engagement with European forms of higher education, modern-day statistics on First Nations education are startling.
The Political Uses of Public Space: A Podcast of Craig Heron’s Talk on Labour Day Parades
https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Heron-2011-History-Matters-talk.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadOver 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… Read more »