Darren Ferry speaks on Mechanics' Institutes: Friday March 30, 2:30 pm

From Dr. Derek Neal:

Greetings to all,

The Department of History invites you to join us for our final presentation of the academic year, Friday, March 30 at 2:30 pm in room A122. Darren Ferry, of Nipissing's Muskoka Campus, will present a paper entitled "Open to All Classes on Terms of Perfect Equality: The Association of Mechanics' Institutes and the Establishment of Adult Education in Ontario, 1868–1895."

For a generation before 1895, what we would now call adult education in Ontario was largely undertaken by the Mechanics' Institutes, which provided a much wider range of instruction than their name would imply. Historians have generally considered their efforts unsuccessful, but Dr Ferry will challenge this received opinion, with reference particularly to the farmers, bookkeepers, clerks and young women who took advantage of the Institutes' evening classes during this period.

As always, the talk is free of charge, refreshments are provided, and everyone is welcome.

Hoping to see you there,

Derek Neal

Borislav Chernev speaks: "The Future Depends on Brest-Litovsk": March 16, 2012, 5 pm

From Derek Neal:

The Department of History is pleased to invite you to a special presentation on Friday, March 16 at 5:00 pm in Room A226, entitled "'The Future Depends on Brest-Litovsk': War, Peace, and Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe, 1917–1918."

 Our guest speaker is Mr. Borislav Chernev, doctoral candidate in History at the American University in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Chernev will discuss previously overlooked aspects of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Conference which took place between December 1917 and March 1918 in an attempt to resolve the hostilities in the Eastern European theatre of the First World War. Focusing on the importance of Austrian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian delegations, the presentation will emphasize the domestic implications of peacemaking, and ask how the conference contributed to transmuting World War I into later national and social revolution in the vast region affected by the treaty.

 As in the History Seminar Series, the talk is free of charge, everyone is welcome and refreshments will be provided.

Nestar Russell speaks on the Milgram experiments and the Holocaust, Dec. 9, 2 pm

History Seminar Series: Andrew Taylor, University of Ottawa, speaks on oral tradition and written record

From Dr. Derek Neal:

Our next History Department seminar will feature University of Ottawa medievalist Andrew Taylor, who will speak on:
Written Record to Memory: Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia and the Modern Historian

Friday, February 4, 2011
2:30-4:00 pm
Room A 226

Andrew will be using the landmark Delgamuukw land claims case as a starting point to illustrate what we can learn by thinking simultaneously about medieval European history and the history of Canada's relationship with First Nations. In both of these histories, there is a contested relationship between memory, or oral tradition, on the one hand, and the authority of the written word on the other, that greatly affected power dynamics between different groups of people.

Richard Wenghofer speaks: Racialization of Civic Identity in Classical Athens -- Wed. March 25, 10:30 AM, F307

From James Murton:

The final History Department Seminar Series of this year will feature Richard Wenghofer of the Classics program, speaking on "The Racialization of Civic Identity in Classical Athens."

Richard's paper will argue, contrary to received wisdom, that racism did exist in ancient Athens, and it emerged in lockstep with, and as an indirect consequence of, the evolution of democratic political structures and their concomitant social and political ideologies.

Wednesday, March 25, 10:30 am, F307

Refreshments will be served.

Earl and Neal in dialogue -- "Cruelty in History: A Conversation" -- an appreciation

I always enjoy the seminars from the history seminar series here at Nipissing University, and today's was no exception. The subject was well-chosen, and the discussants did it justice. They actually were talking to each other, but without excluding the audience, which was numerous. Indeed, the audience was pulled right in and proved to have plenty to say. I include a couple of pictures.

Reminder: Earl and Neal talk about cruelty in history, Friday, March 13, 2:30 pm, Room A224

How pertinent is "cruelty" as a term of historical analysis? Is the historian who refers to a given custom, episode or individual "cruel" making a useful judgment, or one that obscures historical knowledge? In dwelling on "cruelty" in history do we sometimes run the risk of buying into the investments of particular audiences or interests? And how do we teach about cruelty in history without becoming sensationalistic or exploitative?

Derek Neal and Hilary Earl will explore these questions in a conversation that investigates cruelty (as defined both by historical actors and by present-day historians) in a range of historical settings from premodern times to the present, with particular focus on Dr. Earl's research into twentieth-century war and genocide.

Jennifer Farooq speaks tomorrow

Reminder: Cooper speaks on justice in ancient Athens

Craig Cooper, Dean of Arts and Science and classicist, will speak on Friday, Feb.13 2:30 pm, A224, on "Determining Justice in Classical Athens." Abstract here.

All welcome!