The three universities in the Tri-University Graduate Program in History made seven exciting faculty appointments in the last year with a great diversity of research areas and expertise represented.
Dr. Cathryn Spence was appointed to the Tri-U Graduate Program in History last July at the University of Guelph. Her areas of research include Scottish Women’s and Gender History; Late Medieval and Early Modern Economic History; Social and Legal History of Late Medieval and Early Modern Britain; Urban British History. Her PhD is from the University of Edinburgh.
In July 2022, Deidre McCorkindale (ABD) joined Guelph’s History program as assistant professor in Black Canadian History. She teaches in Guelph’s new undergraduate Black Canadian Studies minor program. McCorkindale’s dissertation is entitled, “What Colour is Intelligence?: Kent County and the Tanser Study.” One of her supervisors is Dr. Barrington Walker, a history professor and the Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Wilfrid Laurier University. McCorkindale will graduate in History from Queen’s University.
Dr. Alex Souchen was jointly appointed as assistant professor in History of Science and the Bachelor of Arts and Science Program this July at the University of Guelph. The History of Science and Technology; War and Society; Environmental History; Consumption, Waste, and Pollution; History of the Oceans; First and Second World Wars; 20th Century Canadian History are his research areas. His PhD is from Western University in Canadian History and Military History.
Dr. Christopher S. Taylor became assistant professor of history after he worked as a definite term lecturer in the department at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Taylor is also Waterloo’s Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism. Taylor has broad research interests which include Race and Racism; Black Canadian history; Caribbean history; Slavery in the Americas; The African and Black Diasporas; Black identity; Migration; Anti-racism; Diversity and Inclusion; Multiculturalism. Taylor’s PhD is from Western University in History with a specialization in Migration and Ethnic Relations.
Dr. Talena Atfield joined the Waterloo faculty in January 2022 as assistant professor. She is a member of the Kanien'kehá:ka Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River. Dr. Atfield’s research, teaching, and supervision interests include Hodinohso:ni history and culture; Indigenous tangible and intangible cultures in collections; the history of collecting Indigenous cultures on Turtle Island; Beadwork, tufting, quillwork, leatherwork, regalia-making; Languages of material cultures; Teioháte kaswenta (Two Row Wampum) – Covenant Chain methodology. Atfield’s PhD is from the University of Toronto in Anthropology.
In July 2022, Dr. David Y. Neufeld joined the faculty at Conrad Grebel University College, an affiliate of the University of Waterloo as assistant professor after being a visiting assistant professor there. Dr. Neufeld’s research areas include Religion and Society in Early Modern Europe; Anabaptists and Anabaptism; and the History of Archives. He also teaches in colonial Latin American history. Neufeld is associate director of the Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies at Conrad Grebel University College. Neufeld’s PhD is from the University of Arizona in History.
Dr. Lianne C. Leddy joined the history department at Wilfrid Laurier University last year and is associate professor. Leddy is a member of the Serpent River First Nation. Dr. Leddy has also been part of the Indigenous Studies program at Laurier Brantford. Research areas include Indigenous History in Canada; Indigenous Peoples and the Environment; and Gender and Indigenous peoples. Dr. Leddy is a graduate of the Tri-University Graduate Program in History and completed her degree at Laurier.
Finally, we note the transition in Tri-U leadership. Dr. Peter Goddard, associate professor of history at Guelph is the new director of the Tri-University Graduate Program in History. His three-year term began in July 2022. He took up the director’s role from Dr. Jane Nicholas of St. Jerome’s University/University of Waterloo who completed her term in June 2022.