Category Archives: Papers

New Paper: Alan MacEachern’s “A Polyphony of Synthesizers: Why Every Historian of Canada Should Write a History of Canada”

ActiveHistory.ca is happy to announce its first paper of 2012: “A Polyphony of Synthesizers: Why Every Historian of Canada Should Write a History of Canada,” by Alan MacEachern. Here is Alan’s introductory blurb: The following was my contribution to a 2010 Canadian Historical Association roundtable, “So What IS the Story? Exploring Fragmentation and Synthesis in Current Canadian Historiography.” In it,… Read more »

Education for Sale: The Culture Industry and the Crisis in University Education

Britain’s investment in post-secondary education was, not unlike Canada’s, a post-war phenomenon that saw university education entrenched firmly within the public sector as part of the new welfare state. Since then, we’ve seen Britain move from largely free university education after World War II to the imposition of moderate tuition fees in 1998 and then to the current tripling of that figure to 9,000£.

New Papers: So What Is the Story? Exploring Fragmentation and Synthesis in Current Canadian Historiography

The editors of ActiveHistory.ca are proud to present a round table on the current state of Canadian History writing and teaching by Ruth Sandwell, Lyle Dick, Peter Baskerville and Adele Perry. The round table includes an introduction by Sandwell and Dick and four short papers from the authors. Prologue The idea for this forum arose from a discussion between Ruth… 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 »

New ActiveHistory.ca Paper – Cancun Summit: The True Reasons for the ‘Failure’ of the Green Movement by Jean-François Mouhot

As the 2010 UN Climate summit in Cancun seems unlikely to make any significant advances, the green movement has been blamed for failing to convince the public that action on climate change is both urgent and necessary, in particular because of its refusal of technologies such as nuclear energy and geo-engineering. However, looking at a previous period of “boom and… Read more »

New Active History Paper: Citizenship Literacy and National Self-identity by Larry A. Glassford

Abstract The content of history textbooks and curriculum is an important factor in the political socialization of succeeding generations of students. This study of representative classroom textbooks authorized for use in Ontario at three distinct eras of the 20th century shows how the main lines of interpretation have shifted over time. During the pre-World War II era, the persistent underlying… Read more »

Translated Paper: “Why is Vietnam Recovering, while Cuba is Sinking?”

Today we published a translated English version of the first paper ActiveHistory.ca “Why is Vietnam Recovering, while Cuba is Sinking?” written by Yves Montenay, and translated by Michael Poplyansky.  Here is the abstract: Abstract Before going their separate ways, Vietnam and Cuba followed similar political and economic paths, making the impact of economic freedom on each country’s development very clear,… Read more »

New Active History Paper: David Webster, Narratives of Colonization, Decolonization and Recolonization in Papua

We are happy to publish a paper by David Webster of the University of Regina. This is the third paper written for ActiveHistory.ca. Check back next week for a translation of our first paper: Yves Montenay, Pourquoi le Vietnam s’en tire et Cuba s’enfonce. If you would like to contribute a paper to this website please consult our Paper Guidelines… Read more »