News

Catherine Ramey successfully defended her dissertation on Friday, August 14, 2026. Entitled, "An Educational Mission: Gender, Schools, and Canadian Missionaries in Central Angola, 1880s–1920s," the thesis examines the mission education developed by the Canada Congregational Foreign Missionary Society (CCFMS) in central Angola between the 1880s and 1920s.

With a focus on missionary school curricula, Catherine explores the implications of the gendered and racist dimensions of the CCFMS’s mission agenda, especially industrial trades as “manly” occupations and domestic work as “appropriate” labour for girls and women. Drawing on transnational and global frameworks, Catherine argues that Angolans were integral to the establishment of the West Central Africa (WCA) mission.

Jonathan Chan successfully defended his thesis, "Loyalty and Righteousness: Confucianism and the Chinese Community in British Columbia, 1923–1960," on June 23, 2026.

Congratulations Dr. Chan!

University of Northern British Columbia graduate, Lydia Kinasewich, came to the University of Guelph in 2024 to pursue an MA in food history focusing on dairy policy in B. C. Her final project looked into "the history of milk pasteurization policies in British Columbia and consumer resistance to milk pasteurization during the second half of the twentieth century."

Bharathan Chandrasekaran, PhD candidate at the University of Guelph, and Kenneth Hall, MA student at Guelph are this year's essay prize winners. Prizes were announced at the annual conference on March 21.

Grant Schreiber successfully defended his thesis entitled, “‘For ye haue the poore alwaies with you’: Experiments in Charity in post-Reformation Oxford and Aberdeen, 1560-1640,” on Monday, January 5, 2026 at the University of Guelph. 

Congratulations, Dr. Schreiber!

Lisa Baer-Tsarfati successfully defended her thesis entitled, "Condemnation and Control: Ambition in Scotland, 1550–1625," on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. Her dissertation examines ambition as an historically contingent moral and political concept not a transhistorical psychological trait.

Congratulations Dr. Baer-Tsarfati!

Elizabeth Spence graduated in September 2025 with an MA in History from Wilfrid Laurier University. She received a gold medal for academic excellence as one of the top Master's students in a research-intensive or professional master's program. To meet the reward requirements, Elizabeth surpassed the minimum GPA with an 11.75 (A+), a minimum of A- in any course, and her examination committee commended her research paper as outstanding.

Elizabeth's Major Research Paper examined the development of the Pine Point lead-zinc mine in the Northwest Territories as a case study in postwar northern expansion, infrastructure development, and Cold War–era Canadian nationalism.

Learn more about her research and her experience in the Tri-U History program.

Dr. Jacqueline Murray, University Professor Emerita in the Department of History, at the University of Guelph was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in September, 2026.

Dr. Murray's "groundbreaking research in premodern sex, sexualities, genders and bodies has introduced innovative approaches to the study of medieval women and men and established the new research field of premodern men and masculinities," reads the citation.

Recently, Tri-U students held their annual election. Aidan Hughes, PhD candidate at Guelph, Brian Gibbs, PhD student at Laurier, and Vera Zoricic, PhD candidate at Waterloo became the 2025-26 co-presidents. They organize events and encourage community-building among Tri-U students. Check out their bios.

Zachary Deuxberry, PhD, successfully defended his dissertation, "A Window into International Relations in the Pacific Region: The Institute of Pacific Relations during the Interwar Period 1925-1937," at Wilfrid Laurier University on August 5, 2025.