Elizabeth Spence, MA
In September 2025, Elizabeth Spence graduated 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. Elizabeth surpassed the minimum GPA requirements with an 11.75 (A+) [minimum was 10.5 (A)], a minimum of A- in any course, and an outstanding research paper commended by her examiners. During her studies, Elizabeth received the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canadian Graduate Student (CGS) Master's Research Grant and several other scholarships. In 2025, she won the Tri-U MA Essay Prize for best paper in an MA course nominated by its professor. In the following comprehensive email interview, Elizabeth shares her research and study experience.
Interview with Elizabeth Spence, MA 2025
- from email correspondence, December 17, 2025.
Map of Spence's MRP study area including Pine Point, Fort Resolution, and surrounding communities. From Paul Duprez, The Pine Point Mine and Development of the Area South of Great Slave Lake (Winnipeg: Center for Settlement Studies, 1973), xxiii.
What was your Major Research Paper about?
My Major Research Paper entitled, "'The Most Modern Town North of ‘60': Pine Point and the Making of Canada’s Cold War Northern Identity," was supervised by Dr. Lianne Leddy. It 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. Building on research interests that first emerged during my undergraduate seminar work, the project explored how federal policy, extractive industry, and transportation infrastructure—particularly rail and road construction—were mobilized to imagine and assert the North as a national space. At the same time, the paper traced how these development projects intersected with Indigenous land use, governance, and emerging land-claims politics, revealing the tensions between state-driven visions of progress and local northern realities.
What did you learn through the process of doing your research?
Through the research process, I learned a great deal about adaptability and methodological flexibility. Working with archival sources meant following unexpected leads, adjusting research questions as new evidence emerged, and navigating gaps or silences in the historical record—particularly when working with sources produced by federal agencies and corporations. I also gained experience synthesizing a wide range of materials, including government reports, commissions, newspapers, and corporate and transportation records, and learned how to situate a localized case study within broader historiographical debates about nationalism, resource extraction, and northern development.
From Spence MRP: Front page of The Pine Pointer, ("Would the last Person Leaving Pine Point Please Turn Out the Lights," The Pine Pointer, April 14, 1983.
Why did you study History in the Tri-U MA program at Laurier? Was there a connection to your undergraduate experience?
My decision to pursue an MA in History at Laurier and within the Tri-University program felt like a very natural progression from my undergraduate experience. I completed my undergraduate degree in History at Laurier, alongside the Management Option. During that time I felt as though I developed strong relationships with faculty members and became deeply embedded in the Laurier academic community. That sense of continuity, mentorship, and intellectual support was a major factor in my decision to continue my studies there at the graduate level.
From what I understand, Laurier’s History program is distinctive in the opportunities it offers undergraduate students to engage in advanced, original research, and this structure played a key role in shaping my academic trajectory. I ultimately chose to complete the Research Specialization, which allowed me to take two fourth-year seminars and develop sustained, independent research projects. Through this experience, I discovered a genuine passion for archival research, primary-source analysis, and building historically grounded arguments, while also having the opportunity to dive more deeply into subjects that interested me and to identify areas of research I was eager to continue exploring at the graduate level.
I also benefited from opportunities within the Laurier Archives. During my undergraduate degree, I worked with archival materials related to the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (my paper “The Canadian Arctic Resources Committee National Workshops on People, Resources and the Environment North of ‘60: The Role of the 'Honest Broker' in Northern Development and Canadian Environmentalism, 1972-1983” won Laurier’s Library Undergraduate Research Award), and I was able to build on that experience during the MA by returning to these holdings for one of my seminar papers. Being able to develop sustained familiarity with a specific archival collection across both undergraduate and graduate study was a significant advantage of the program and reinforced the value of the Tri-U’s integrated academic and research environment.
The Tri-University structure was a major draw. The ability to take courses at Laurier, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Guelph offered a rich and flexible academic experience. Over the course of my MA, I took seminars at all three institutions, which allowed me to engage with different teaching styles, seminar cultures, and methodological approaches. This breadth strengthened my critical thinking and helped me refine my own research interests and scholarly voice.
What roles did you play as an MA student? What did they contribute to your academic career?
I was a TA for Business History, which gave me a clearer sense of how students engage with historical material outside of a history program specifically, and helped me think more carefully about how to present historical arguments, sources, and context to a non-specialist audience. I also worked as a Research Assistant for my supervisor, Dr. Lianne Leddy, contributing to her collaborative research with Dr. Mark Humphries on the use of AI for the transcription of historical documents.
Together, these roles helped shape how I think about historical work more broadly. Both experiences reinforced my interest in research-driven work, encouraged me to think carefully about methodology and audience, and played an important role in shaping my academic development during the MA.
What are your thoughts about the Tri-U History program?
Overall, my experience in the Tri-University History program was extremely positive. What initially drew me to the program was its strong sense of community, which I found carried through at all three institutions. The program felt collegial and supportive rather than competitive, and I benefited greatly from the close working relationships I was able to build with professors at Laurier, Waterloo, and Guelph. Faculty across the Tri-U were consistently generous with their time and expertise, and the seminar structure encouraged meaningful discussion, collaboration, and sustained engagement with research.
One of the most valuable aspects of the program for me was access to resources across the Tri-U, particularly library and archival support. I made extensive use of the Laurier Library and Archives throughout my MA. The library staff were exceptionally knowledgeable and supportive, especially as my MRP research required ordering large amounts of microfilm and other materials from external institutions. Their willingness to accommodate my requests and help navigate interlibrary and archival systems was essential to the success of my research.
What are your future plans?
Looking ahead, I hope to continue building on the research projects and questions that developed during my MA. My work on the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, my research on The Forest Rangers (Tri-U MA Essay Prize), and, importantly, my MRP on Pine Point have all shaped a broader set of interests around Canada and the North, Cold War nationalism, resource development, and the ways these themes have been constructed and contested in policy, media, and historical writing. These projects have given me a strong foundation for a longer, more sustained research agenda that I would like to continue to develop.
My intention is to pursue a PhD in History, ideally within the Tri-University program. The collaborative structure, supportive academic community, and access to faculty and resources across Laurier, Waterloo, and Guelph make it an ideal environment for the kind of work I hope to undertake.