Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph
The Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph is the oldest and most eminent academic unit in North America to carry out research, graduate training and teaching on Scottish history and Scottish culture, with special emphasis on their global dimensions. Their graduate program was founded in 1968 hosts special events and public lectures that present current research by graduate students and scholars from Scotland, Canada and elsewhere around the world. The Centre's director is Dr. Kevin James, Professor of History.
The International Review of Scottish Studies, now published through Edinburgh University Press, is supported by the Centre. The current editor is Dr. Kevin James.
Scotland-Canada Academic Partnership
The Scotland-Canada Academic Partnership (S-CAP) is a partnership between the Centre for Scottish Studies and the Scottish Government Office in Canada (SG Canada). The partnership hosts lectures and sponsors visiting research fellowships.
S-CAP aims to:
- Promote communication between scholars in Canada and Scotland with mutual research interests
- Highlight their research to the wider community
- Bring them into closer contact to nurture new research agendas, across a broad range of disciplines and domains.
For more information, see the S-CAP website or contact scottish@uoguelph.ca.
Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
The Institute of Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies (IAMS) encourages research, publishing, and community education on topics in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, culture, and thought. It does this primarily through collaborative publishing ventures, and hosting special events, such as seminars and conferences.
The institute is interested in all dimensions of Mennonite thought and culture, with emphasis on Anabaptist studies, the Canadian experience of Swiss/Pennsylvania German and Dutch/Russian Mennonites, Mennonites of new ethnicities, and global Mennonitism. Learn more about the Mennonites.
Dr. David Y. Neufeld, Assistant Professor of History, is the director.
Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada, Wilfrid Laurier University
The Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada (LCSC) is a university research centre at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Founded in 1991 as the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, the LCSC brings together faculty and students in several research collectives, all focused on different aspects of Canada.
The Centre sponsors many lectures throughout the year and the annual Canadian Military History Colloquium. They also host the Canadian Military History journal.
Work at LCSC falls into four broad research collectives: Communities, Policy Connections, Publics and Social Justice and War and Society.
The Centre's director is Dr. Kevin Spooner, Associate Professor of North American Studies and History.
Medieval Digital Research in Arts and Graphical Environmental Networks Laboratory (DRAGEN Lab), St. Jerome's University, University of Waterloo
The Medieval Digital Research in Arts and Graphical Environmental Networks Laboratory (DRAGEN Lab) was founded in 2016 to provide high-quality research training opportunities for students at all levels. Their digital humanities lab deploys its award-winning collaborative, learner-centred approach to research to generate new knowledge through partnerships.
The DRAGEN Lab is a state-of-the-art digital humanities lab dedicated to providing a scaffolded research, teaching, and learning environment supported by emerging technologies. The Lab is located on the University of Waterloo campus, in southwestern Ontario, Canada.
The DRAGEN Lab benefits from the generous support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, firstly through a $200,000 Partnership Development Grant (2013 – 2018) and, more recently, through a $2,500,000 Partnership Grant (2019 – 2027). That grant places the DRAGEN Lab at the centre of the Environments of Change Project, which its personnel coordinate. Through Environments of Change, a research project aimed at shining light on the historical relationship between premodern people and the natural world in southeastern England, the Lab mobilizes an additional $7,500,000 in matching contributions from a number of institutional and external partners.
The DRAGEN Lab is the creation of Prof. Steven Bednarski. The DRAGEN Lab provides a space for experts (faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, independent researchers), graduate, and undergraduate students to learn and research in teams. In so doing, emerging scholars acquire skills at a faster rate, older students model mentorship, and seasoned researchers benefit from team support.
Rural History, University of Guelph
Research in Rural History at the University of Guelph aims to transcend simplified views and distortions about the past. Historians seek to understand rural men and women, families and communities from their viewpoints as they sought to shape themselves and their society. Rural history includes agriculture and non-agricultural rural activities, society, politics, economy, and institutions.
While most people lived in rural settings until the mid-twentieth century, history has been overwhelmingly written from the perspective of urbanites. Often, rural history has been misunderstood as a contrast with the city: if urban is dynamic, rural is static; if urban is progressive, rural is traditional; if urban is bad, rural is good; if urban is artificial, rural is natural.
Since its origins as an agricultural college, the University of Guelph has devoted its attention to studying and serving rural communities. The Department of History shared this interest and was notably recognized in 2002 by the establishment of the Canada Research Chair in Rural History and in 2014 with the creation of the Francis & Ruth Redelmeier Professorship in Rural History. Today, a number of faculty and graduate students pursue research on rural subjects in widely varied contexts.
The current holder of the Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professorship in Rural History is Dr. Rebecca Beausaert, Assistant Professor of History.
Rural History Roundtable
The Rural History Roundtable is a speaker series that has been in operation since 2002. It hosts scholars of international repute and provides a venue for graduate students to present their latest research.