New Tri-U Graduate Students Association (TUGSA) co-Presidents were elected by their peers earlier this Fall 2021. Tri-U Director Dr. Jane Nicholas congratulates the new presidents on their election. She says, “TUGSA does important work to sustain the Tri-U community and I look forward to working with this year’s executive.”
The new co-presidents represent the breadth of research that derives from the many fields of study available in the Tri-University history program. PhD candidate Mallory Davies (top left) at Waterloo researches teen mothers’ integration into public education from the 1970s to present. She recently passed her comprehensive exams in the major field of Canadian History with minor fields in the history of education, and family and gender history.
PhD candidate Christos Floros (top right) at Guelph investigates sports history of the Cold War and post-Cold War era. Specifically, he examines the connection between basketball successes and the cultural evolution of societies in Southeastern Europe during the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Christos also recently passed his comprehensive exams with a major field of Cold War history, and minor fields of modern Europe, and sports history.
PhD candidate Michelle Johnston (bottom left) at Laurier joined the program in 2018 and is currently working on her dissertation proposal which undertakes an historical evaluation of death in rock and roll, specifically, the prevalence of death in the genre since its inception, and the significance that this permeation of death has had upon the music itself and its consumption by audiences as popular media. Her comprehensives major field was Cold War history with minor fields in gender history and cultural history.
The mandate of TUGSA is to support the social, academic, and professional concerns of its membership, made up of all part-time and full-time students registered in the MA and PhD programs of the Tri-U.
TUGSA works to develop a joint student community among the three campuses, often by organizing or co-sponsoring events. For example, they are involved in planning an online Trivia games night for the community together with the Tri-U director for early December 2021. This event will involve both faculty and students. During the pandemic, last year’s presidents Thomas Littlewood, Rebecca Macalpine, and Paul Mansell co-sponsored online events, including social events and professional development opportunities.
Elections for presidents take place each year between September 1 and 30 with the terms of office running from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. Each campus elects their representative to TUGSA. Updates about TUGSA and its activities are made through emails and social media.