Lecture

Two presentations:

Bram Fookes, Billy Bishop Museum: "Ordnance in the Orchard: WW2 and the Militarization of Rural Ontario," and Lydia Kinasewich, History, University of Guelph: "Raw Milk Debates: Rural Producers and Consumer Health Concerns, 1956-91"

The presentation will take place in person at the University of Guelph in Room 132 of the MacKinnon building, and also remotely over Zoom. All are welcome to attend the in-person talk. For the Zoom presentation, please register through Eventbrite.

Join The Art of Solidarity editors Rob Kristofferson, history professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, and Stephanie Ross, McMaster University to learn about their book that delves into the rich tapestry of labour arts and heritage in Canada.

• In person at Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada, 232 King St. N., Waterloo
• On Zoom -  Register for the Zoom livestream

Drawing upon his 20+ years of experience as a War of 1812 reenactor, Tom Fournier will talk about his motivation for being a reenactor.  He will share his memories on the field, travelling the globe, meeting royalty, and even experiencing the paranormal.

Did you know that the Region of Waterloo is home to a Cold War nuclear shelter? Built in 1966 and designed by the same architectural firm responsible for the CN Tower, the bunker was constructed to ensure the continuity of government in the event of a catastrophic nuclear strike.

Join Dr. Sara Matthews for a discussion about how communities imagined nuclear survival and the role of Canadian Cold War propaganda. Together we will explore the visual communication of public safety and consider the question, “how is citizenship constructed in relation to threat?”

Join Dr. Robert Dunbar, University of Edinburgh, for this Scotland-Canada Academic Partnership Inaugural Lecture.

Gaelic, a language with a history of over 1,500 years in Scotland and 250 in Canada, is now a highly vulnerable minority language. It was once the third most spoken language in Canada at the time of Confederation. Professor Dunbar will explore efforts to support Gaelic in Scotland and Canada and the lessons the two communities can learn from each other.

The event will be online, so register for the link.

Dr. Marcel Martel (F. R. S. C.), York University, and Dr. Alex Gagné bring to light a wide range of factors that shaped the early wine industry in Ontario.

The presentation will take place in person at the University of Guelph in Room 132 of the MacKinnon building, and also remotely over Zoom. All are welcome to attend the in-person talk. For the Zoom presentation, please get a ticket to register (registration is free).

Join Dr. Alan MacEachern from the Western University History Department on Tuesday, September 23, 3:30–5:00 pm, McLaughlin LIbrary, Whitelaw Room 246B, University of Guelph for the first lecture in the Rural History Roundtable series for Fall 2025.

Dr. MacEachern's talk draws from his recent book, Becoming Green Gables : The Diary of Myrtle Webb and Her Famous Farmhouse. A few copies will be available for purchase at his presentation, and copies can also be ordered at McGill-Queens University Press.

Register for the Zoom link if you wish to attend remotely.

Join the inaugural Scotland-Canada Academic Partnership Lecture delivered by Professor Robert Dunbar, University of Edinburgh on Zoom.

Gaelic has been spoken for perhaps 1,500 years or more in Scotland, and for over 250 years in what is now Canada. Many Scots are not aware of how widely spoken Gaelic once was in Scotland, and most Canadians are unaware of the fact that at the time of Confederation, Gaelic was likely the third most widely-spoken language in Canada. 

Register for the link.

Dr. Geoff Bird presents his new film, Ways We Remember War: The Battle of Second Ypres and Canada’s Memory, exploring how art, memorials and pilgrimage shape our understanding of Canada’s first battle of the First World War.  Lt. Col. John McCrae is represented in the film, along with artwork from the Canada War Museum, the Brooding Soldier in Belgium, and the landscape of war in Flanders.

Join DRAGEN Lab for an in-person lecture by Dr. Brian D. Lewis from McGill University. George Cecil Ives (1867-1950) was a scion of the English gentry, a sexologist and a criminologist who founded a clandestine “gay rights” organization, the Order of Chaeronea, in the 1890s. More significantly for the historian, he wrote a massive diary, observing and chronicling a sexual revolution: the period when new categories of sexual and gendered identity crystallized in a complex interplay between emerging sexological science and queer subjects. This paper aims to capture the Ivesian bricolage, in context, during this time of momentous change.