Steve Rockel wins Joel Gregory Prize
Steve Rockel's Carriers of Culutre: Labor on the Road in the 19th Century East Africa (2006) has won the Joel Gregory Prize for the best book in Africa in any discipline by a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant, or an African who studied in Canada, published in the years 2006 and 2007.
Posted: May 14, 2009
David Wilson wins James S. Donnelly Prize
David Wilson's Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Volume I: Politics, Reason, and Passion 1825-1857/ is co-winner of the tenth annual James S. Donnelly prize for best book in Irish history and social sciences, awarded by the American Conference for Irish Studies.
Posted: May 12, 2009
In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Maurice Careless
February 17, 1919 -- April 6, 2009
James Maurice Stockford Careless, Ph.D., the foremost Canadian historian of his generation, died on April 6th in Toronto. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981 and won the Governor General’s Award for Non-Fiction Writing twice: once in 1953 for Canada: A Story of Challenge, and a decade later for Brown of the Globe. Dr. Careless made his mark in developing the ‘Metropolitan’ theory of Canadian history.
Born in Toronto on Feb.17, 1919, J.M.S. Careless – Maurice – to family and friends – received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1940 from the University of Toronto. He subsequently attended Harvard University; receiving his Master's degree in 1941 and, after World War II, his Ph.D. in 1950. During the war, Dr. Careless worked in Naval Service Headquarters at Ottawa, then transferred to the Department of External Affairs, where he served as Canadian Diplomatic Officer aboard the prisoner-of-war exchange ship Gripsholm.
Dr. Careless began teaching at the University of Toronto in 1945. He became an Assistant Professor in 1949, full Professor in 1959 and served as Chairman of the Department of History from 1959 to 1967. In 1977 he was appointed to the prestigious position of University Professor and upon retirement in 1984, became University Professor Emeritus. Dr. Careless also served as President of the Ontario Historical Society in 1959 and Vice-Chairman of the provincial Archaeological and Historic Sites Board. His other honours include being chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and winning the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal; the Order of Ontario, and the National Heritage Award. He was fond of reminding his students that “nothing in history is inevitable until it happens.”
A noted raconteur and artist, Dr. Careless was also a devoted family man who took great delight in his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his beloved wife Elizabeth (Betty) Isobel Robinson; five children: Anthony (Sue), Virginia, Richard (Dona), Andrea (Doug), and James (Sue); as well as ten grandchildren: Jonathan, Jill, Philip, Anne, Sheena, Tara, Dylan, Teagan, Robin and Leah.
His funeral will be held at 11am on Wed. April 15th at Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskin Ave., followed by a reception at Massey College. If desired, donations may be made to The Salvation Army, 1645 Warden Ave., Toronto, M1R 5B3. Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.
Posted: April 7, 2009 (Updated: April 9, 2009)
Professor Shafique Virani's book "The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation" has been awarded the Farabi International Award and awards from UNESCO and ISESCO
Professor Shafique Virani's book, "The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation" has been awarded Iran's highest honor for research in the humanities, the Farabi International Award, as well as awards from UNESCO and ISESCO. It had previously received awards from the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. For the Farabi Award, Dr. Virani was flown to Iran as a guest of state, was presented the prize by the president, Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and was given a guided tour of many places of historical and cultural significance throughout the country. The book is the first by Oxford University Press to have its own trailer, which can be viewed at http://www1.utm.utoronto.ca/shafiquevirani/ima/.
Posted: January 15, 2009
NEW! History undergraduate courses added for the January session
HIS329H1-S, Globalization History
W12-2pm
Instructor: TBA
This course will explore ways in which “globalization” is a profoundly significant and deeply rooted historical process. Although emphasis will be placed on the 19th and 20th centuries, some of the economic, political, cultural, and technological forces shaping the past millennium will also be considered.
Recommended Preparation: HIS 103Y1
HIS496H1-S, L0501, Topics in History: War and Identity in Canadian History
W10-12
Instructor: TBA
This course considers the significance of war for Canadian history from the establishment of New France at the outset of the seventeenth century to the recent history of Canada's involvement in the so-called war on terror. Topics that will be explored include gender and war, national mythologies and war, state policy and citizenship, home front society, war front experience and cultural meanings associated with or resulting from war. Students will read secondary works and discuss some primary sources in seminars.
HIS496H1-S, L0601, Topics in History: Historiographical Issues in Post-War Japan
T2-4
Instructor: C. Takagaki
This course will examine issues that have arisen in postwar Japan to provoke discussion into some basic questions concerning the study of history, i.e. how do we study history, who creates history, how is history used, is history "important"?
Posted October 27, 2008
University Professor Emeritus John Beattie is the winner of of the American Society of Legal History's Sutherland Prize
University Professor Emeritus John Beattie of history and the Centre of Criminology is the winner of the American Society of Legal History's Sutherland Prize. The prize, named in honour of the late Donald Sutherland, a distinguished historian of the law of medieval England and a mentor of many students, is awarded annually to the author or authors of the best article on English legal history published in the previous year. Beattie won the prize, announced Nov. 15 during the society's annual meeting in Ottawa, for his article, Sir John Fielding and Public Justice: the Bow Street Magistrate's Court, 1754-1780, published in Volume 25 of Law and History Review.
Posted November 26, 2008
Chris Pennington (UTSC) has been nominated in TVO's Best Lecturer Competition
The Best Lecturer Competition invites Ontarians to nominate professors whose love of learning has helped to stimulate imaginations, open eyes and push boundaries in institutions of higher learning across the province. A panel of judges will choose 10 finalists from the nominee list to deliver televised lectures on TVO's Big Ideas program. Television viewers who watch the program will have a chance to grade each of the finalists and cast their votes for TVO's Best Lecturer. Finalists will be chosen for the ability to present complex ideas with clarity, energy and authority. The top 10 finalists are scheduled to be announced in early December. Then final lectures will begin airing on TVO on Saturday, Feb. 28. The winner of the competition will receive a $10,000 scholarship for his or her school from TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, the competition's sponsor.
Posted November 26, 2008
Professor Michael Marrus wins Holocaust Education Foundation award
Professor Michael Marrus, the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Chair Emeritus in Holocaust Studies, has been awarded the Holocaust Educational Foundation's Distinguished Achievements Award in Holocaust Studies and Research. The award was present October 30, 2008, at the Lessons and Legacies conference.
Posted November 3, 2008
Professor Thomas Lahusen wins film directing award
Professor Thomas Lahusen, Canada Research Chair in History, Arts and Culture, has won the "Best Directing" award at the second Issyk-Kul International Film Festival of the Shanghai Organization of Cooperation, held in October, 2008. The award was made in recognition of Professor Lahusen's film, "The Province of Lost Film," co-directed with Alexander Gershtein and Tracy McDonald; the film evokes the lost world of Soviet cinefication (the effort to take film to even the remotest parts of the old U.S.S.R.).
Posted November 3, 2008
Professor Michael Marrus named to the Order of Canada July 1 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean
Governor General Michaëlle Jean cited Marrus, a member of the Department of History and a former dean of the School of Graduate Studies, for "his contributions as a scholar and historian, notably on the history, causes and consequences of the Holocaust," naming him a member of the Order of Canada.
Posted September 26, 2008
Professor Shafique Virani wins BRISME prize
Shafique Virani's book, The Ismailis in the Middle Ages, was recently declared a co-winner of the annnual Book Prize of BRISMES, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. The announcement is below.
"This fascinating and elegantly written book deals with a little known area of later medieval Islamic history, namely that of the Ismailis after the Mongol destruction of Alamut in 1256.The author draws on a wide array of Arabic and Persian sources, providing new and valuable information on the fate of the Ismailis in the period 1256-1500. The author gives an admirably lucid account of the history of both events and doctrines, and explains how the Ismailis survived in hostile environments, using a variety of stratagems."
Posted September 15, 2008
Professor Michelle Murphy wins Ludwig Fleck Prize
Michelle Murphy's recent monograph, Sick Building Syndrome and the Problem of Uncertainty (Duke, 2006) has been awarded the Ludwig Fleck Prize, sponsored by the Society for Social Studies of Science. The prize was awarded at the society's annual meeting this past August, in Rotterdam. The Fleck Prize is awarded annually for the best book in the area of science and technology studies, and each year the prize committee considers publications for three years, so that Sick Building Syndrome competed with books with copyright dates from 2005-2007. Eligible fields include, but are not limited to, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, political science, economics, geography, psychology and fields outside long established disciplines. For further information on the prize, go to http://www.4sonline.org/fleck.htm. To find out more about Sick Buildings Syndrome, go to http://www.dukeupress.edu/books.php3?isbn=978-0-8223-3671-6
Posted September 9, 2008
Professor Iacovetta wins CHA's Macdonald Prize
It's a pleasure to let you know that our UTSC colleague, Franca Iacovetta, has won the Canadian Historical Associations for the best book published in Canadian History. Franca's winning volume is Gatekeepers: Reshaping Immigrant Lives in Cold War Canada, published by Between the Lines.
Franca is the thirtieth winner of the Macdonald Prize; previous grad. department winners are Jan Noel, for Temperance Crusades before Confederation (1996), and Allan Greer, for Peasant, Lord, and Merchant: Rural Society in three Parishes 1740-1840 (1986).
Please join us in congratulating Franca on this splendid achievement.
*Study History Abroad this Summer*
This year UofT is offering three HIS courses as part of the Summer Abroad programs:
HIS385Y History of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
HIS395Y The Italian Mosaic: The Independent States of the Peninsula (Italy)
HIS395Y The City in Central Europe: Vienna, Budapest, Wroclaw, and Prague (Central Europe)
Full (preliminary) course outlines are available on the Summer Abroad website (URLs are listed below, along with brief course descriptions).
There is significant FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE available for students participating in the Summer Abroad program (particularly for students going to Hong Kong). The awards application deadline is this Friday, February 1: http://www.summerabroad.utoronto.ca/index.php?/newlook/indexx/C48/_/banner
The general Summer Abroad application is due on March 1 (for students not requesting financial assistance): http://www.summerabroad.utoronto.ca/index.php?/newlook/indexx/C106/Application/Application/Application
For all courses listed below students will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Professor Heidi Bohaker is the recipient of two article awards
Prof. Heidi Bohaker of the Department of History has won the American Society for Ethnohistory's 2006 Robert F. Heizer article award for the best article in the field of ethnohistory in the award year. Professor Bohaker won the award for "Nindoodemag: The Significance of Algonquian Kinship Networks in the Eastern Great Lakes Region, 1600-1701," The William and Mary Quarterly 63.1 (2006), 23-52. This essay also received the 2006 Richard L. Morton award from the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture for a distinguished article published in the William and Mary Quarterly by an author in graduate study at the time of submission.
In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Rebecca V. Colman
COLMAN, Professor Rebecca V. died quietly at her home in Bordeaux, France, on September 12, 2007, at the age of 86. She achieved a ''magnificent teaching record'' at Oxford, York University (Toronto), and the University of Toronto History Department, while publishing articles of significance in medieval history. Professor Colman is survived by her husband John; son Charles and his wife Pamela; daughter Julia and her husband Ludovic Bois; grandson David; and granddaughter Laura.
Grad Student Awards
Greetings from the Graduate office.
We have much happy news to report from this past academic year. Once again, one of our recent PhDs has won the CHA’s John Bullen Prize for the Outstanding Dissertation in Canada. This time it is Bruce Retallack for his thesis entitled: “Drawing the Lines: Gender, Class, Race and Nation in Canadian Editorial Cartoons, 1840-1926” (Supervisor: Paul Rutherford). For the list of previous winners, see http://www.cha-shc.ca/english/activ/prizes_prix/bullen.cfm
One of our MA students, Lilia Topouzova, is the author of a documentary “The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories” that was recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival. http://www.filmtank.net/index.php?en_moskitos
Congratulations to Samuel Cohen, in medieval history, for winning the Chancellor Jackman Graduate Student Fellowship in the Humanities.
Finally, congratulations to all of you who have defended your dissertations, found positions, passed your comprehensive exams, and won outside funding. Here is the list of this year’s CGS, SSHRC and OGS winners:
AWARDS WON FOR 2007-08
Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral (CGSD)
Edward Ho
Meaghan Marian
Bradley Miller
Margaret Schotte
SSHRC
Laurie Bertram
Samuel Cohen
Christopher Parsons
OGS
Auri Berg
Meaghan Marian
Christine Berkowitz
Denis McKim
Laurie Bertram
Bradley Miller
Nancy Catton
Jutta Paczulla
Samuel Cohen
Stuart Parker
Julie Gilmour
Christoper Parsons
Geoffrey Hamm
Margaret Schotte
Edward Ho
Heather Shaw
Erin Hochman
Candace Sobers
Mark Laszlo-Herbert
David Stiles
Amanda Lepp
Andrew Tracy
Posted: June 21, 2007
Grad Student wins Canadian Association of Slavists Essay prize
The Canadian Association of Slavists Annual Essay Contest for best Graduate and Undergraduate Essays for 2006 have been awarded to Auri Berg and Talia Zajac.
The graduate prize goes to Auri Berg of the University of Toronto for an essay entitled "From Town to City: Urbanization and Social Integration in late 19th Century Nizhnii Novgorod." The essay was nominated by Prof. Robert Johnson.
The undergraduate prize goes to Talia Zajac of the University of Toronto for an essay entitled "Silk and Crosses: Contextualizing the Rus' Conversion of 988 in Byzantine and Rus' Sources." The essay was nominated by Prof. Nicholas Everett.
The winners in the competition will receive a one-year paid membership in the Canadian Association of Slavists, and a $250 reimbursement to help cover the expenses of participating in the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Slavists (to be held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 2008). Additionally, the winning submissions will be considered for publication in Canadian Slavonic Papers.
The executive of the Canadian Association of Slavists and the Department of History congratulates these students on their excellent academic work.
Posted: May 25, 2007
In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Harold I. Nelson
NELSON, Harold Ira Peacefully at his home, Monday, March 19, 2007 in his 88th year. Beloved husband of the late Helen Mary Nelson (Warnock). Dear father of Lora Nelson and William Harold Nelson. Professor Emeritus of the History Department, University of Toronto. Relatives and friends will be received at the TRULL FUNERAL HOME 'NORTH TORONTO CHAPEL', 2704 Yonge Street (5 blocks south of Lawrence) on Tuesday, March 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. A funeral service will be held at EGLINTON ST GEORGE'S UNITED CHURCH, 35 Lytton Blvd. on Wednesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. A reception will follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, donations to the charity of one's choice would be appreciated.
Grad Student wins Canadian Journal of History 2006 Graduate Essay Competition
"Congratulations to Jutta Paczulla for winning the Canadain Journal of History 2006 Graduate Essay Competition. Jutta's essay, entitled "Talking to India: George Orwell's Work at the BBC, 1941-1943" will be published as an article in the next issue of the Canadian Journal of History (2007)."
Grad Student Awards
As we take stock of this past academic year, congratulations are in order for some of our stellar graduate students. As you have no doubt heard, doctoral student Lisa Helps has been awarded the prestigious Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. Ms. Helps is one of only 15 winners-- in all disciplines-- from across Canada. This prestigious scholarship includes a stipend and travel allowence. Lisa's thesis explores the history and representation of vagrancy and homelessness in Canada and the US.
Recently graduated PhD Deborah Neill won the Canadian Historical Association's John Bullen prize for the best dissertation in history completed during the 2004-05 academic year. Ms. Neill's thesis "Transnationalism in The Colonies: Cooperation, Rivalry, and Race in German and French Tropical Medicine, 1880- 1930" was defended in September 2005. Deborah deftly combines the histories of medicine and colonialism in a comparative framework.
Doctoral student Jutta Paczulla received the Jackman Graduate Student Fellowship in the Humanities starting in 2006-07. Ms. Paczulla's dissertation is entitled "Mirrors of Justice: East German Trials of Nazi Perpetrators in the 1970s".
Congratulations as well to our CGS, SSHRC and OGS winners! Well done.
In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Peter Brock
BROCK, Peter
Professor Emeritus of History, University of Toronto, died peacefully at home on Sunday, May 28 after a 10 month illness with cancer.
He was 86. Fluent in many languages and the author of 30 books and numerous articles, Peter was a pre-eminent authority on Polish and East European history and the world's foremost scholar of pacifist history. ''No ideology,'' wrote Oxford political scientist Martin Ceadel, ''wes more to one academic than pacifism owes to Peter Brock. That the scope andrichness of its historical tradition can now be recognized is largely the result of Brock's sympathetic and dedicated scholarship, which was begun when pacifism was an unfashionable subject.''
Born on the Island of Guernsey, United Kingdom in 1920, Peter was a conscientious objector in Britain during World War II. He was briefly imprisoned, served out the rest of the war on alternative service and worked as a volunteer in the Anglo-American Quaker Relief Mission in postwar Poland. He obtained doctoral degrees in history from the Jagiellonian University of Cracow, Poland, and Oxford University. He taught in history departments at the University of Alberta, Smith College, Columbia University and at the University of Toronto, the latter since 1966. Brock was the recipient of many honours and awards, including the degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of Toronto in 1991.
In 1958 Peter Brock married Carmen Williamson, a Quaker born in Jamaica who died in 1998. Over forty years of married life they shared laughter, humour, a love of music and travel, and a commitment to pacifism. Peter chose their memorial plaque at the foot of a giant American elm tree in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto to read, ''Let us be aware of the source of being common to us all and to all living things.''
Peter is survived by several nephews and nieces in Guernsey and the USA, many friends around the world and a devoted group of friends and colleagues in Toronto who cared for him in his illness.
In December, 2005, Peter was feted by colleagues and friends in a dinner atMassey College, University of Toronto.
Peter Brock is remembered for his vast knowledge, ability to listen and empathize, storytelling, concern for his graduate students and for the state of the world. He kept in touch with colleagues and friends throughl unches and correspondence and, shy at times, stayed in charge. A loving man of convictions, his many essays and books (2 of which were published this year) will carry on his work.
There will be a private funeral with cremation. A memorial service for Professor Brock, to be announced later, will take place at the University of Toronto in early fall.
It is requested that in lieu of flowers, donations remembering Peter Brock be made to The Canadian Friends Service Committee, 60 Lowther Avenue, Toronto, Ont., M5R 1C7.
Posted: June 2, 2006
Professor Ken Barlett Receives President's Teaching Award
The President’s Teaching Award recognizes faculty with a  career commitment to teaching excellence. One of the 5 recipients of the inaugural President’s Teaching Award 2006-07 is Prof. Ken Bartlett of the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Science and the Office of Teaching Advancement. Recipients of the President’s Teaching Award will be designated as a member of the Teaching Academy for a five-year period. Academy members will meet periodically to discuss teaching-related matters and will advise the Vice-President and Provost and the Office of Teaching Advancement. The selection was based on the following:
- excellence in the classroom
- innovation in the development and delivery of the curriculum
- publication of textbooks or books or articles on pedagogy
- participation in major conferences or meetings relating to pedagogy
- national or international recognition and letters of reference attesting to the nominee’s leadership in teaching
posted: May 10, 2006
Professor Rick Halpern Appointed Principal of New College
Prof. Rick Halpern of the Department of History has been appointed by the Academic Board as Prinicpal of New College for a five-year term, beginning July 1, 2006 and ending June 30, 2011. Prof. Halpern came to the Department of History, University of Toronto in 2001 as the first Bissell-Heyd Professor of American Studies. Since 2004, he has served as Director of the Centre for the Study of the United States at the Munk Centre for International Studies.
Prof. Halpern specializes in modern U.S. history and has written extensively on race and labour in a transnational context. His publications include:
- Slavery and Emancipation (2002)
- Two Souths: The American South and the Italian Mezzogiorno (2001)
- Racializing Class, Classifying Race: Labour and Difference in Britain, the USA and Africa (2000)
- Down on the Killing Floor: Black and White Workers in Chicago’s Packinghouses (1997)
Prof. Halpern is currently working a study of migrant and contract labour in the US South and South Africa. He is also collaborating with Richard Follett at the University of Sussex on a project focusing on the Louisiana sugar economy.
posted: May 10, 2006
Professor Allan Greer is Co-Recipient of Book Award
Prof. Allan Greer of the Department of History is the co-recipient of the American Society for 18th-Century Studies’ Annibel Jenkins Biography Prize, awarded biennially to the author of the best book-length biography of a 17th- or 18th-century subject. Prof. Greer won the award for Mohawk Saint: Catherine Tekakwitha and the Jesuits, published by Oxford University Press.
posted: May 10, 2006
Vicky Dingillo wins Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Staff Award
 Congratulations to Vicky Dingillo on winning a Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Staff Award for 2006. The general criteria for the awards are:
- made an outstanding contribution in support of the Faculty's mission of teaching and research excellence;
- earned the respect of colleagues for their professionalism and team work, and contribution to morale;
- demonstrated commitment to the Faculty by performing services beyond the requirements of their job responsibilities;
- made an impact beyond their immediate unit or department.
Vicky's nominators included staff, faculty, and graduate students in this department, as well as a mix of faculty and staff from many other units on all three campuses. All of us know how much Vicky does within our department, but not everyone is aware of her work conducting workshops for new academic administrators, the generosity with which she mentors new administrators long after those workshops are over, and her important role in the network of "old pro" academic administrators who contribute so much to the success of the University of Toronto's work.
posted: March 13, 2006
Dr. Margaret MacMillan named to the Order of Canada
The History Department congratulates Dr. Margaret MacMillan on her appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest distinction after companion. As Ailsa Ferguson writes (news@uoft, Feb 8/06): “What makes Margaret MacMillan such an innovative historian and educator,” her citation states, “is her gift for story telling.” Through her engaging lectures, laced with intriguing anecdotes, she has captivated generations of students. As well, her talent for popularizing history gave rise to her internationally renowned bestseller Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, providing fresh insight into historical and geopolitical developments that continue to have currency today. Considered one of Canada’s leading public intellectuals, MacMillan is warden designate of St. Anthony’s College at the University of Oxford.
Generous bequest for graduate study in Canadian History
The Department of History recently received a very generous bequest from the late Jeanne Armour. The Jeanne Armour fellowships in Canadian History will be awarded to graduate students who are undertaking a course of study relating to Canadian History. Financial need and academic merit will both be considered in attributing the fellowships.
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