#UofTGrad16: The 39-year academic journey of Clive Davies

Congratulations from the department to history specialist Clive Davies! The Woodsworth grad is the oldest BA graduate, at 79, of this year’s convocations.

UTSC History Faculty Hosting Scarborough Fare Conference, 22-25 June 2016

On June 22-25, University of Toronto history faculty on the Scarborough campus will host the Joint 2016 Annual Meetings and Conference of the Association for the Study of Food and Society; the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society; and the Canadian Association for Food Studies – the first time the three organizations have met together.

Entitled Scarborough Fare, the conference will showcase the University of Toronto Department of History’s new Ph.D. field in Food History, the first such dedicated field in a North American university. At least five current Ph.D. students have a major or minor field in food history.  With more than ten faculty who have written scholarly works on food history or taught courses in the field, the University of Toronto is the foremost center for food history research in the world. History faculty also took a leading role in establishing the Culinaria Research Centre at UTSC as a tri-campus hub for food studies research.

The conference emphasizes the changing nature of food production, distribution, and consumption as people, goods, foods and culinary and agricultural knowledge move over long distances and across cultural and national borders. It explores the development of cities and their transnational marketplaces where new and old migrants, entrepreneurs and emerging migrant-origin middle classes settle in suburbs such as Scarborough, rather than in older downtown districts such as the historic Toronto Chinatown along Spadina. To understand global and local food systems, we must give due attention to migrants, whether from rural districts or from cities, for they have historically provided the knowledge and labour to feed societies, while also altering the foodways of long-time natives of the areas where they settle.

The conference will feature cultural events, art installations, field trips, and a banquet that highlight the diverse communities and cuisines of Scarborough and the Greater Toronto Area.

For more information, please visit the website: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/conferences/scarboroughfare

CFP for “The Other 60s: A Decade That Shaped Canada and the World”

To mark the 150^th Anniversary of Confederation, on Saturday 22 April 2017 the History Department, University of Toronto, will be hosting a day-long workshop titled “The Other 60s: A Decade That Shaped Canada and the World.” The intent of the workshop is to discuss the global context in which the Canadian federation emerged and, ultimately, provoke a larger public discussion.

Please find below the call for papers due on Friday 24 June 2016.

Call for Papers

The Other 60s: A Decade That Shaped Canada and the World

Saturday April 22, 2017

Department of History, The University of Toronto

Co-Chairs: Paula Hastings & Heidi Bohaker

We invite proposals for papers to be presented at a day-long workshop intended to provoke public discussion about the larger global context in which the Canadian federation emerged.  We invite papers that will stimulate thoughtful and engaged conversation about mid-nineteenth events and developments.  What do they say about Canadian Confederation and what do they reveal about the political formations in the world in which we now live?  To ensure that the conversation continues, we intend to gather the workshop presentations into an edited volume of short essays, intended for a broad audience.

We invite paper submissions (papers only, not entire panels) on the following themes:

• Confederation in global context
• Colonialisms, Empires and Indigeneity
• The Idea of Sovereignty
• Wars and Revolutions in the 1860s
• Federalisms, Nationalisms, and Nation/State formations
• Infrastructure, Technology, and Economy in the 1860s
• Memories, Commemorations, and the Invention of Traditions

Deadline for submissions:  FRIDAY JUNE 24, 2016.

Please submit a 250-300 word abstract and c.v. to other60s@utoronto.ca. For further information, please contact other60s@utoronto.ca.

Appel de communications

The Other 60s: A Decade That Shaped Canada and the World

Samedi 22 avril 2017

Department of History, The University of Toronto

Co-Présidentes : Paula Hastings & Heidi Bohaker

Nous sollicitons des propositions de communications pour un atelier de recherche visant à encourager des discussions de grande envergure sur le contexte global dans lequel la fédération canadienne a émergé. Nous cherchons des communications qui inciteront des échanges enrichissants et impliqués sur les événements et développements du milieu du XIX^e siècle. Que nous apprennent-ils de la Confédération canadienne et que révèlent-ils des formations politiques dans le monde contemporain? Afin d’assurer la suite de la conversation, nous prévoyons publier les présentations dans un volume édité de courts essais visant un large public.

Nous sollicitons des communications (seulement et non pas des séances entières) portant sur les thèmes suivants :

• Confédération dans le contexte global
• Colonialismes, empires et autochtonicité
• Le concept de la souveraineté
• Guerres et révolutions des années 1860
• Fédéralismes, nationalismes et les formations d’États/nations
• Infrastructure, technologie et économie pendant les années 1860
• Mémoire et invention de la tradition

Date limite pour les soumissions: VENDREDI 24 JUIN 2016.

Veuillez soumettre un résumé de 250 à 300 mots et un CV à other60s@utoronto.ca. Pour plus de renseignements, veuillez contacter other60s@utoronto.ca.

Digital Teaching & Research project headed by Laurie Bertram on the Sex Trade in Toronto featured in Globe & Mail

Over the past year, Professor Laurie Bertram has been engaging her 400 level seminar students in a research project to plot the geographical location of the sex trade in 19th century Toronto:  where were the brothels? The arrests and prosecutions? The ‘reformatories’ meant to encourage women to leave the profession?  The students’ work has turned up some interesting results, as featured in an exhibition and on-line map that the Globe and Mail reports on here:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/story-of-torontos-19th-century-sex-trade-uncovered-by-professor-students/article30020414/

Congratulations to Ruth Sandwell: Promotion to Full Professor

We are happy to share the news that Professor Ruth Sandwell has been promoted to the rank of Full Professor. While her primary appointment is with OISE, Professor Sandwell holds a cross-appointment with the History Department and has long made important contributions to our Department, and to the training of our graduate and undergraduate students.

Please join us in sending congratulations to Professor Sandwell on this important achievement!

Michael Bliss is first historian to be inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

On 14 April, University Professor emeritus Michael Bliss was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, the first time that this organization has so honoured an individual who is not a medical doctor or scientist.  Warm congratulations Michael!  For more information, see the CMFH site at: http://cdnmedhall.org/inductees/michaelbliss .  See also: http://news.utoronto.ca/canadian-medical-hall-fame-welcomes-u-t-faculty-alumni-its-ranks

Congratulations to Melanie Newton on Outstanding Teaching Award!

We are very pleased to share the news that Professor Melanie Newton has won the FAS Outstanding Teaching Award for 2015-2016. This award recognizes Professor Newton’s excellence in undergraduate teaching and her ongoing contributions to undergraduate education in the Faculty of Arts and Science (St. George).

In addition to her undergraduate and graduate courses in Caribbean history and culture, slavery, and the Atlantic World, Professor Newton was Director of the Caribbean Studies Program from 2012-14. In this role, she worked to create major curriculum changes and increase the number of course offerings in the program.

Please join us in sending our congratulations to Professor Newton!

Shafique Virani, TED x Talk

Professor Shafique Virani, recently delivered a TED x Talk titled “The Clash of Ignorance”. Please see below for more information.

The Clash of Ignorance | Shafique Virani | TEDxUTSC

With shocking evidence, hilarious anecdotes, heart-wrenching personal stories, and brilliant insights into world events, Dr. Shafique Virani urges us to confront the Clash of Ignorance between the West and the Muslim World, replacing walls of misinformation with bridges of understanding. Appealing to the best in human nature, Dr. Virani presents a visionary path forward, and inspires hope for a better future.

Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto, founding Director of the Centre for South Asian Civilizations, and past Chair of the Department of Historical Studies, Dr. Shafique Virani (PhD, Harvard University) is an award-winning author and internationally recognized public speaker who has addressed people from over 50 countries and audiences of over 15,000. His book, The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation, is believed to be the first academic book of any major university press to have had its own book trailer. Describing him as “a visionary,” the United Nations honored him for dedicating his efforts “to the cause of extending the frontiers of knowledge and the welfare of humankind.”

The talks may be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoyNrlMNBvw

Prof. Kevin Coleman has been featured in Slate Magazine

Slate Magazine just published a story on Prof. Kevin Coleman’s book, A Camera in the Garden of Eden.

Here is the link to the story: http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2016/02/29/rafael_platero_paz_s_photographic_history_of_el_progreso_honduras_in_a_camera.html

 

History featured in U of T series ”Forecasting 2016”

History featured in U of T series” Forecasting 2016” showing how some disciplines and departments are changing: http://news.artsci.utoronto.ca/all-news/forecasting-2016-and-beyond-history-near-middle-eastern-civilizations-and-archaeology/.