News

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.

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.

Megan Blair, successfully defended her thesis entitled, "Teenage Feminists: High School Students and the Women's Movement in Ontario, 1968-1980," on Wednesday, May 28 at the University of Waterloo. Her dissertation was accepted "as is and without any revisions."

Congratulations, Dr Blair!

Dr. Jamie Zettle successfully defended his dissertation on April 30, 2025, at Waterloo. Entitled "Evidence of an Emerging Homosexual Subculture during World War II in Case Studies of Queer Clandestine Agents," Zettle's work traces the uneven emergence of a distinct homosexual subculture during World War II through case studies of two queer clandestine agents operating in France from the Special Operations Executive and the United States Army Military Intelligence organization.

Sara Wilmshurst, first-year PhD student at the University of Guelph, discusses the value of her volunteer experience with the online journal, Active History.

Dr. Eric Vero successfully defended his dissertation on February 11 at Waterloo. It was entitled "Freaking Fans: An Oral History of Disability in Fan Spaces."

Trevor Parsons, PhD candidate at Waterloo, and Elizabeth Spence, MA student at Laurier are the 2025 Tri-U essay prize winners. Winners were announced at the conference on March 1.

Brianne Skylar Casey, a proud Métis woman, scholar and talented artist, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at the age of 23 after a hard fought battle with cancer. Brianne had nearly finished her MA in History at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) and was accepted to the PhD program. She was an active part of the Tri-University Graduate Program in History family. 

Dr. Sam Hossack defended her timely dissertation, “A Broken History:  Examining the Events, Experiences, and Narratives of the High Arctic Relocations, 1950-2010,” on January 10, 2025 at the University of Waterloo.