Category Archives: Does History Matter?

Catastrophic Flooding: Manitoba’s Perennial Challenge

This originally appeared on the Network in Canadian History and Environment [NiCHE] group blog, Nature’s Chroniclers. Shannon Stunden Bower’s given us permission to repost it here. Southern Manitoba has flooded. Again. Given the large number of notable floods that have occurred in the past few years, this must be a surprise to precisely no one, environmental historian or otherwise. Traversed… Read more »

The Toronto Star’s Lackluster Coverage of the American Civil War Anniversary

By Matthew Furrow Let me tell you about a newspaper article I just read and what it taught me about history. Apparently, this week marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. (The war started because southern forces fired the first shot, although it’s not clear why). This is a “Big Deal,” at least to certain… Read more »

Stewart Brand and the Nuclear Renaissance that Should Not Be

By Lisa Rumiel Note: Again, the author would like to thank Linda Richards for her helpful comments and suggestions in preparing this article. It is time to stop claiming that a nuclear renaissance is the solution to the current environmental crisis.  I’m talking to you, Stewart Brand.  A sort of Nostradamus of technological and environmental thought, Brand is one of… Read more »

Historians and Global Warming

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As part of a small but growing number of environmental historians exploring the relationship between climatic changes and human affairs, Dagomar Degroot discusses how he is drawn into modern debates about global warming whether he likes it or not.

Left History Theme Issue on ‘Active History,’ Launching a New Paper

ActiveHistory.ca and Left History are delighted to announce the launch of Left History’s theme issue on Active Histories. We are also delighted to launch our sixth short paper on our website, “Disappointment, Nihilism, and Engagement: Some Thoughts on Active History” by York University SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow Stuart Henderson.

Podcast: Ian McKay on the Right-Wing Reconceptualization of Canada

https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/McKay-The-Empire-Strikes-Back.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download Ian McKay, professor of history at Queen’s University, recently delivered an engaging and provocative talk titled “The Empire Strikes Back: Militarism, Imperial Nostalgia, and the Right-Wing Reconceptualization of Canada”.  McKay’s talk was the keynote address of the 15th annual New Frontiers Graduate History Conference at York University. The talk is available here for… Read more »

New paper: What Can “Oral History” Teach Us?

What if the study of the Canadian past was understood as an interdisciplinary field? Steven High’s new paper offers oral history as an example of an interdisciplinary craft that has made such a transition.  High, Canada Research Chair in Public History and Associate Professor of History at Concordia University, examines this and other issues surrounding oral history. ActiveHistory.ca is always… Read more »

Quite the World, Isn’t It? Why Wisconsin Matters to All of Us

It’s one thing for a political leader to take a principled stance against the power of public employee unions in state and local politics. It’s another thing entirely when you threaten to unleash a military force against them. And in raising the specter of calling out the National Guard in a possible showdown with public employees in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has touched one of the most painful scars in American labor history.