By Stacy Nation-Knapper, Andrew Watson, and Sean Kheraj Last year, Nature’s Past, the Canadian environmental history podcast, published a special series called, “Histories of Canadian Environmental Issues”. Each episode focused on a different contemporary environmental issue and featured interviews and discussions with historians whose research explains the context and background. Following up on that project, we are publishing six articles… Read more »
https://activehistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Don-Cummer.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadBy Sean Graham I can understand if there are people who scoff at the thought of another book on the War of 1812. Given the onslaught of commemoration of the war over the past two years, I’ve definitely sensed some fatigue on the part of some historians. From the television commercials to museum exhibitions… Read more »
By Caroline Lieffers Last week a colleague showed me something that I found extraordinary: a round medallion, about the size of a milk cap, hanging from a long necklace chain. Set under the medallion’s plastic cover was a fragile square of loose-weave cotton, once white but now more of a cream colour, printed with a bright blue and yellow flower…. Read more »
By Daniel Ross Every Torontonian has a story about Yonge Street. For nearly a century it was the city’s unquestioned commercial and entertainment hub, the place to go for everything from window-shopping and people-watching to a Saturday night out on the town. Even in today’s diverse, dispersed Toronto it remains our most iconic street. Love it or hate it, like… Read more »
By Sean Carleton Illustrate! Educate! Organize! The Graphic History Collective (GHC) is pleased to announce the launch of their new comic book about the Knights of Labor in Canada called Dreaming of What Might Be: The Knights of Labor in Canada 1880-1900. The comic book is now available for free on the GHC Website. Dreaming of What Might Be examines… Read more »
Heroes and Villains: Rethinking Good and Evil in History 2013-2014 Lecture Series Presented by the Department of History at SFU It can be tempting to look at historical figures as either wholly good or wholly evil; as heroes or as villains. Mahatma Gandhi: high-minded hero. Rodrigo Borgia: scheming villain. This perspective contains elements of truth, but also ignores the more… Read more »
By Greg Kennedy I have recently made a habit of asking this question at opportune moments in classes and public lectures. Hilarious bewilderment usually ensues. Younger people shrug, while older people often get angry because of corrupt senators. I am increasingly convinced that this has become an esoteric question in our modern society. Political scientists for example, would probably answer… Read more »
By Sean Kheraj If there was a weekly prize for active historians in Canada, Ian Mosby would have been last week’s winner. Canadian national news media (including print, radio, television, and web) prominently featured Dr. Mosby’s recently published Histoire Sociale/Social History article, “Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942-1952.” This paper… Read more »
By Krista McCracken Though the government of Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2005, marriage remains a contested point of debate within many Canadian religious denominations. Since the 1980s Christian denominations across Canada have debated and developed policies around human sexuality, marriage, and ordination. Currently, the Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada do not condone gay marriage or the… Read more »
By Lachlan MacKinnon On 30 May 2013, the controversial statue of Edward Cornwallis standing in downtown Halifax was once again thrust into public debate. That morning, the rear of the monument’s base was found to have been graffitotagged with the word “fake.” Similarly, the plaque bearing Cornwallis’s name was defaced with the words “self-righteous ass.” This was the latest salvo… Read more »
